Speaker Series

Tennessee Governor Phil Bredesen and First Lady Andrea Conte, joined by Belmont University, former Senator Howard Baker and the University of Tennessee's Baker Center for Public Policy, the Freedom Forum First Amendment Center and the Tennessee Business Roundtable, are hosting a forum on civil discourse in American politics. Featuring prominent national media and political figures, the forum will be a prelude to the 2008 Town Hall Presidential Debate at Belmont on October 7.

Deana Claiborne, past President of the League of Women Voters of Tennessee, will speak about women's right to vote. Ms. Claiborne is an avid proponent of voter registration efforts and frequently speak on voting issues in this county. She has organized two Tennessee statewide and regional gubernatorial debates and the statewide Senate debate between Harold Ford Jr. and Bob Corker, served on the Disability Advisory Committee to Senator Bill Frist, is currently on the Disability Advisory Committee to U.S.

Join us for an evening to discuss how major energy-related institutions in Tennessee are responding to and helping resolve the energy challenges we face today. High ranking officials from Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Tennessee Valley Authority, UT’s Biofuels Initiative, and the Governor’s Energy Policy Task force will share their perspectives about this critically important issue. An audience question-and-answer session is encouraged after the presentation

Dr. Louis Gross, professor of ecology and evolutionary biology and mathematics and director of the National Institute for Mathematical and Biological Synthesis at The University of Tennessee, will deliver the keynote address for the annual Vaughn Science Lecture.

Dr. Sandra Rosenthal, chemistry professor and director of the Vanderbilt University Institute of Nanoscale Science and Engineering, will deliever the keynote address for the Science Undergraduate Research Symposium.

Erik Peterson will visit from the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington D.C. think tank. The SEVEN FUTURES project assesses the defining outlines of the world in the year 2025 by examining the "alternative futures" of seven key regions of the world. Seven Futures zooms in on specific policy challenges raised by global strategic trends -- ranging from demographic change to the allocation of scarce resources to systems of governance.

HUMANITIES SYMPOSIUM

Dr. Maggie Monteverde will lead faculty panelists and students in a conversation about what we've learned from our symposium and where we might go from here.

HUMANITIES SYMPOSIUM

We will screen Good Night, and Good Luck and Dr. Rich Tiner will lead us in discussion about dissent and the media. Nominated for six Oscars, Good Night, and Good Luck is a 2005 film about journalist Edward R. Murrow's showdown with Wisconsin Senator Joe McCarthy. The film stars George Clooney (who also directs), David Straithairn and Robert Downey, Jr., and the film's tagline is "We will not walk in fear of one another."

HUMANITIES SYMPOSIUM

Dr. Mark Anderson will lead Philosophy students and anyone else who wishes to participate in a conversation about issues raised by the symposium.