WORD FOR WORD: THE UT SPEAKER SERIES

Six-Week Series

Dates: Six Wednesdays, Feb. 18–April 1 (no class March 18)
Time: 6:30–8 p.m.
Location: See Course Locations and Parking page
Series Fee: $150 (discounted to $120 for select groups)
Single Lecture: $30

This diverse, thought-provoking lecture series connects Odyssey participants with UT-Austin professors who speak about a favorite topic drawn from their research and teaching.

February 18

ECONOMIC VIGNETTES FROM REAL LIFE

Daniel Hamermesh, Ph.D., Economics, UT Austin

In this lecture, Daniel Hamermesh illustrates how economic principles can be found everywhere, from popular film to political rhetoric to family dynamics.

February 25

RENAISSANCE ARCHITECTURE AND THE LANDSCAPE OF TUSCANY

Ann Johns, Ph.D., Art and Art History, UT Austin

While the Renaissance architecture of Tuscany's cities—Brunelleschi's Florentine dome, Michelangelo's Laurentian Library—is renowned, equally important are the lesser known architectural treasures that adorn the landscape of Tuscany. We will examine a wide variety of architecture, including monasteries, shrines, villas, and planned villages, all of which are closely tied to the urban architecture of Florence, Siena, and other cities of central Italy.

March 4

PORTRAITS OF THE ARTIST AS A YOUNG WOMAN: FEMALE ARTISTS IN FRANCE, 1785–1850

Alexandra K. Wettlaufer, Ph.D., French and Comparative Literature, UT Austin

The talk will explore the construction of female artistic identity in France through images of women painters in the atelier. In discussing a number of female artists, from Adelaide Labille-Guiard to Amelie Cogniet, who were famous during their lifetimes and nearly forgotten today, we will consider questions of art, gender, and identity in nineteenth-century France.

March 11

THE EVOLUTION OF DESIRE: STRATEGIES OF HUMAN MATING

David Buss, Ph.D., Psychology, UT Austin

The lecture covers the strategies of human mating, including casual sex, committed mating, mate poaching, infidelity, mate guarding, jealousy, and sexual conflict.

March 25

DECONSTRUCTING IMAGES OF HOLLYWOOD'S AFRICA

James Wilson, Ph.D., History, UT Austin

This lecture examines the impact of Hollywood's representation of Africa. Exploring the myths and stereotypes that fed Western justifications to control the affairs of Africa, Professor Wilson discusses the era of mercantilist empires and the slave trade, nineteenth-century constructions of Africa as the "heart of darkness," and Hollywood's creation of Africa as the land of exotic jungles, home of Tarzan, and "primitive tribes" longing for civilization and "uplift" from Western nations.

April 1

DEMOCRACY IN LATIN AMERICA: THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE UGLY

Henry Dietz, Ph.D., Government, UT Austin

Latin America has (with the exception of Cuba) been democratic since the late 1980s, a fact that is unprecedented for the region. But it clearly has its weak points: surveys point to frustrations, complaints, and a variety of shortcomings. Why has democracy succeeded for as long as it has, and what are some of its weaknesses and difficulties?