Faculty experts from the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point will discuss a wide variety of topics, from de-extinction and ghettos to drones and lakes, in a public lecture series offered during the academic year.
The College of Letters and Science Community Lecture Series will be held on select Tuesdays at 6:30 p.m. in the Pinery Room at the Portage County Public Library, 1001 Main St., Stevens Point. The public is invited to attend free of charge.
The first of eight lectures, "Should Extinction Be Forever?" will be held Tuesday, Sept. 13, presented by Chris Diehm, philosophy professor at UW-Stevens Point.
"Advances in genetic technologies have many people excited about the prospect of reviving extinct species, or 'de-extinction,'" said Diehm. "But is species revival really possible? If so, is it good to do? This lecture discusses the technical questions that de-extinction raises, as well as the ethical challenges it faces."
Diehm earned his Ph.D. in philosophy from Villanova University and has been at UW-Stevens Point since 2005. He has served as coordinator of the Environmental Ethics program since 2006. Diehm teaches courses such as Eco-Feminism, Native American Environmental Philosophies and the Philosophy of Nature.
The 2016-2017 Community Lecture Series schedule also includes:
- Oct. 11 – Emergent Black Ghettos in New York and Chicago, 1880-1940, David Chunyu, sociology and social work
- Nov. 8 – The Making of Global Citizens, David Barry, sociology and social work
- Dec. 13 – Nuclear Fallout and the Birth of the Ecosphere, Jerry Jessee, history and international studies
- Feb. 7 – Wisconsin's Climate: The Past as Key to the Future, Samantha Kaplan, geography and geology
- March 14 – Preparing for the Drone Invasion, Tim Kennedy, geography and geology
- April 11 – Using Lakes as Sentinels for Environmental Change, Krista Slemmons, biology
- May 9 – Rebuilding U.S.-Cuba Relations, Anju Reejhsinghani, history and international studies and Jennifer Collins, political science
For more information on the Community Lecture Series, visit www.uwsp.edu/cols/lectureseries or email stappa@uwsp.edu.
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