UF brings speakers over next 18 months to examine higher education

September 9, 2011

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — A 12-part public speaker series on universities begins Monday at the University of Florida.

Organized by the UF Center for the Humanities and the Public Sphere, this series will draw upon the expertise of humanists from the U.S., Canada, Europe and Africa to respond to unprecedented challenges to the humanities and the fundamental objectives of higher education.

Over the next 18 months, “Rehumanizing the University: New Perspectives on the Liberal Arts” will bring 12 scholars to Gainesville to address shifts in the educational landscape caused by diminished state and federal resources, the corporatization of university administration, and the devaluing of the liberal arts and sciences in an increasingly technological environment.

Each speaker will demonstrate from the perspective of a different humanities discipline how universities and their faculty can adapt to these changes, and how they can use their expertise to further their teaching mission and catalyze social change. Speaker topics will range from the legacies of exclusionary policies to the place of local communities, gender, race, digital technologies, museum collections, and internationalization in higher education. In examining the intellectual responsibilities of universities to local communities and indeed the world, this series will re-assert the vital role of the humanities in helping universities and their publics navigate this time of radical change and beyond.

Here is the schedule:

Sept. 12, 7:30 p.m., Smathers Library 1A, University of Florida
“Something Wicked This Way Comes: How to Save the University”Cary Nelson, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
In the face of coordinated political assaults on universities, Nelson will discuss how faculty and students can unite in solidarity to counter and defeat these destructive forces.

Oct. 9 , 2 to 3 p.m., Millhopper Branch Library
Leslie Harris, Emory University
“Hurricane Season: Life in Twentieth-Century New Orleans”Harris, a historian of urban America, will interweave her own family’s history with the history of New Orleans to understand better the impact of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

Oct. 10, 7:30 p.m., Smathers Library 1A, University of Florida
Leslie Harris, Emory University
“Using Diverse Histories to Transform University Communities”Harris will discuss Emory University’s Transforming Community Project, which uses the history of racial inequality at the institution to inspire individuals to promote ethical practices around the core values of diversity and accessibility.

Nov. 14, 7:30 p.m., Smathers Library 1A, University of Florida
Emily Apter, New York University
“In-comparative Literature: On the Problem of Untranslatability in Literary Studies”Apter will examine how the inability to translate certain terms or concepts challenges international diplomacy, runs security risks, and creates a dangerous gap between speakers’ intentions and what is actually understood.

All events are free and open to all and include time afterward for questions or discussion. For more information on these and future talks in Rehumanizing the University, visit http://www.humanities.ufl.edu/.

“Rehumanizing the University” is co-sponsored by the UF Center for the Humanities and the Public Sphere (Rothman Endowment), the Harn Eminent Scholar Chair in Art History Program, the UF Honors Program, the Alexander Grass Chair in Jewish History at UF, the UF International Center, the UF Office of Research, UF College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, the UF Center for Jewish Studies, the UF Libraries, the UF College of Public Health and Health Professions, the UF France-Florida Research Institute, the Hyatt and Cici Brown Endowment for Florida Archaeology, the UF Department of History, the UF African American Studies Program, the UF Center for Women’s Studies and Gender Research, UF College of Design, Construction and Planning, and the Alachua County Library District.