The University Lecture Series will continue this year with a series of speakers whose names are pulled from syllabi across campus.

Tobias Wolff, author of ‘Old School,’ which was required reading for ETS 107 and College of Visual and Performing Arts students, will be the first speaker to kick off this year’s Syracuse University Lecture Series at 4:30 p.m. on Oct. 7, discussing how writers use their lives in their works, and relate imagination and memory.

In addition to Wolff, six other individuals will speak at the series, and all lectures will take place in Hendricks Chapel, unlike in previous years.

‘Hendricks is the largest venue shy of Goldstein,’ said Esther Gray, coordinator of the lecture series. ‘And Goldstein is difficult to get.’

Gray said attendance at the lectures has increased over the three years the program has been in existence. Last year, attendance ranged from 600 to 1800 people, which ended up being a problem.

‘We had to turn people away,’ she said.

Speakers are selected by the University Lecture Series Advisory Board on the basis of requests received from students and faculty, Gray said. The board tries to schedule speakers who bring a cross section of certain fields, and the series’ goal is ‘equal representation.’

Gray said that sometimes the board has a specific speaker in mind but ends up not booking the lecture due to expensive booking prices and the unavailability of a speaker. ‘It just evolves,’ she said.

There is an on-going list of people who are potential speakers each year and sometimes go on and off the list, Gray said.

‘It’s hard to know what is going to be a timely topic,’ Gray said. ‘If you want the good people, then book ahead.’

Students can learn a great deal from the lectures even if the topic is unrelated to a student’s major or disagrees with a student’s personal opinion, Gray said, because this series brings people of the highest caliber in their specific fields.

‘It’s about learning how to make critical thinking,’ she said.

Nancy Sharp, professor of communications and a member of the Lecture Series Advisory Committee, thinks this year’s lineup will be a great additional component of SU’s educational experience.

‘I think it is a spectacular lecture series overall,’ she said. ‘No other university to my knowledge has as outstanding a lecture series as we have.’

While Sharp had no hand in selecting the speakers for this year’s series because she was abroad in London, she did say that students are missing the boat if they don’t take advantage of the lecture series because it can be a very transforming evening.

Tim Vienckowski, a sophomore photography major, said he attended a lecture given by David McCullough, author of ‘Brave Companions,’ last year because it was required for his honors seminar.

‘It was pretty good,’ Vienckowski said.

He also said he would consider attending a lecture this year once he knew who was speaking.

Gray encourages students to take advantage of this ‘fantastic’ program.

‘It’s an opportunity to come to SU and be able to hear from intellectuals, architects, scientists and psychologists,’ Gray said. ‘It’s an incredible opportunity.’

Other lecturers on this year’s series include:

P.J. O’Rourke, a political satirist, will speak at 7:30 p.m. on Oct. 19, which will be ‘perfectly timed before election day,’ Gray said.

Neil deGrasse Tyson, an astrophysicist, will lecture on America’s future on the frontier of cosmic discovery at 7:30 p.m. on Nov. 9.

Paul Goldberger, author and architecture critic currently at The New Yorker magazine, will speak at 7:30 p.m. on Nov. 16.

Maya Lin, a sculptor and the architect who designed the Vietnam Veterans’ Memorial in Washington, D.C., will speak at 4:30 p.m. on March 8.

Robert Egger, an activist for the homeless and president and founder of the D.C. Central Kitchen in Washington, D.C., will speak at 7:30 p.m. on March 29.

Bill Moyers, a broadcast journalist who is retiring from PBS at the end of the year has also agreed to be a part of the lecture series. The date and time of the event is to be announced, but Gray said she hoped it would be sometime in March.

Published on September 1, 2004 at 12:00 pm