Speakers & Convocations

Bill Viola - Tuesday, April 16, 2013 | 11:10 a.m.

Bill Viola is internationally recognized as one of today’s leading artists. For 40 years he has created videotapes, architectural video installations, sound environments, electronic music performances, flat panel video pieces and works for television broadcast. Viola is a contemporary video artist whose artistic expressions focus on the ideas behind fundamental human experiences such as birth, death and aspects of consciousness. Featured in museums and galleries worldwide as well as private collections, his work explores new media through electronic, sound and image technology. His video installations, distinguished by their precision and direct simplicity, employ state-of-the-art technologies.

Film Screening Schedule | Biography | A conversation with Bill Viola | Quotes & Texts

 

Honors Day Convocation

“Liberal Arts Education: A Catalyst for Thought into Action”

Thursday, May 23, 2013 | 11:10 a.m.

Claudena Skran, Professor of government and Edwin & Ruth West Professor of Economics and Social Science at Lawrence University

A member of the Lawrence faculty since 1990, Claudena Skran is a scholar of international affairs, whose research focuses on the role of international organizations in providing emergency relief and the resettlement of refugees. In 2005, she was awarded a U.S. Fulbright Scholars grant and spent six months in Sierra Leona studying the role of NGOs in refugee resettlement following the country’s 10-year-long civil war. Since coming to Lawrence, Skran has led more than 40 students on trips to the West African nation. She founded her own NGO — Kids Give — a scholarship program that today is financially supporting nearly 500 students at three different schools in Sierra Leone. She is the author of Refugees in Interwar Europe: The Emergence of a Regime and the holder of the Edwin & Ruth West Professor of Economics and Social Science chair. After earning her bachelor’s degree from Michigan State University, she earned master’s and doctorate degrees from Oxford University, which she attended as a Rhodes Scholar.

Previous 2012-2013 Convocation Speakers

Matriculation Convocation
Thursday, September 13, 2012 | 11:10 a.m.

“Thought into Action”
President Jill Beck, Katherine Handford, lecturer of music and university organist, and Catherine Tatge, artist-in-residence.

Thursday, October 11, 2012 | 11:10 a.m.

“Butch, Sundance, and Australia: Making the Leap From Thought to Action”
Larry Robertson

Larry Robertson, award-winning author and founder of Lighthouse Consulting, which guides entrepreneurial ventures, their leaders, and those who invest in them.

Thursday, January 24, 2013 | 11:10 a.m.

“Crossing the Fox River: From Thought to Action”
Lynda Barry

American cartoonist and author known for her weekly comic strip Ernie Pook’s Comeek and the books The Good Times are Killing Me and What It Is.

Main Hall Forum

Main Hall Forum presents a wide range of lectures by Lawrence faculty and distinguished guest speakers on historical and contemporary issues and recent scholarship in the humanities.

Science Hall Colloquium

The Science Hall Colloquium presents a series of cross-disciplinary lectures that address research developments in diverse areas of the natural, physical and social sciences.

Fine Arts Colloquium

The Fine Arts Colloquium presents several occasional lectures during the academic year that touch on topics related to art, art history, and theatre.

The Mojmir Povolny Lectureship in International Studies

Established in 1987 and named in honor of long-time Lawrence government professor Mojmir Povolny, the lectureship promotes interest and discussion on issues of moral significance and ethical dimensions.