Media Contact: Micki Leventhal 312-369-4899 or mleventhal@colum.edu
CHICAGO, IL (September 2, 2008) – The fifth year of Columbia College Chicago’s signature public event, Conversations in the Arts, will celebrate the foundational philosophy of the college by welcoming public intellectuals who have made significant contributions to new outlooks and advocacies in the areas of educational equity, learning theory, creative activism, diversity in the arts and economic development. Speakers for the Founders Lectures are: Jonathan Kozol, Sir Ken Robinson, Anna Deavere Smith, and Richard Florida. Each program will include a lecture, followed by audience Q & A moderated by a member of the Columbia faculty. History and details regarding the Conversations in the Artsseries, the Founders Lectures and full biographies of the speakers can be found at www.colum.edu/conversations
All events take place at Columbia’s Film Row Cinema, 1104 S. Wabash, 8th floor, and begin at 7:30 p.m. Founders Lectures are free and open to the public, however space is limited and tickets are required. Tickets can be reserved through the Columbia Ticket Center on a first-come, first-served basis, two months before each event. Call 312-369-6600.
Jonathan Kozol, author of Savage Inequalities, Death at an Early Age, and numerous other works arguing for the rights of children and a more democratic system of public education, speaks on Monday, October 20 as part of Columbia’s Creative Nonfiction Week http://www.colum.edu/specialevents/cnfw/. Kozol will discuss “A New War on Poverty: Equality and Opportunity in America.”
Sir Ken Robinson, Ph.D., author of Out of Our Minds: Learning to be Creative and the Robinson Report All Our Futures: Creativity, Culture and Education, is an internationally recognized leader in the development of creativity, innovation and human resources. He brings his engaging speaking style to Columbia on Tuesday, December 2, as he challenges educators to teach youth to be creative thinkers rather than merely good workers.
Anna Deavere Smith, author of the plays Fires in the Mirror and Twilight: Los Angeles 1992 and professor of theater at the Tisch School of the Arts at New York University, uses her singular brand of theater to explore issues of community, character and diversity in America. Her artistic contributions and social advocacy have been recognized with a MacArthur Foundation “genius” Fellowship. On Tuesday, January 27, 2009, Smith shares her ideas on “Engaging the World: The Role of the Artist in Society.”
Richard Florida, Ph.D., author of the bestselling book The Rise of the Creative Class, is an urban studies theorist whose work has effected change in the way regions, nations and companies compete. The founder of the Creative Class Group and one of Esquire Magazine’s “Best and Brightest in America,” Florida will discuss economic development and creativity on Thursday, April 30, 2009.
“The timing of the Founders Lectures is especially significant because 2009 marks the 40th anniversary of the formulation of the college’s mission statement,” says Mark Kelly, vice president of student affairs. “As we move into the future, we want to reconnect Columbia to the vision and mission that helped to create the modern college and that will also help to chart a path for the next 40 years.”
Over the past four years, Conversations in the Arts has welcomed famous individuals whose contributions to arts, culture and education exemplify the humanistic qualities and values that are part of the Columbia College Chicago educational experience. Since the series’ founding in 2004, the public has enjoyed the personal and inspiring stories of legendary figures including Laren Bacall, Ben Vereen, Mary Tyler Moore, Julie Andres, James Earl Jones, Debbin Reynolds, Joan Lunden, Richard Roundtree, Salman Rushdie, Jane Alexander, Edward James Olmos, Diahann Carroll and Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni.
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