Past Lectures

2024

March 2, 2023 – Jason Mott presented “‘Hell Of A Book’: A Meeting with Jason Mott”
November 16, 2023 – Sean Astin presented “An Evening with Sean Astin”

Feb. 17, 2022 – Jill Heinerth presented “Explorations in Excellence”
April 14, 2022 – Dr. Robin Wall Kimmerer presented “The Honorable Harvest”
Oct. 27, 2022 – Vijay Vaitheeswaran presented “Energy and Innovation in a Disruptive World”
Dec. 8, 2022 – Carmen Perez presented “There’s a Lane for Everyone”

Feb. 4, 2021 – Robert Bilott presented “Dark Waters: The Story Behind the Environmental Legal Battle Exposing Corporate Coverup”
March 25, 2021 – Dr. Marshall Shepherd presented “Zombies, Sports, and Cola: Implications for Communicating Weather and Climate Science”
Oct. 7, 2021 – Dr. Moogega Cooper presented “Diversity in STEAM from a Real-Life Guardian of the Galaxy”
Nov. 18, 2021 – Yamiche Alcindor presented “Truth in Journalism: Reporting on Politics and Identity in America”

Feb. 20, 2020 – Rick Steves presented “Travel as a Political Act”
Sept. 17, 2020 – Dr. Katharine Hayhoe presented “Climate Change a Threat Multiplier”

Feb. 21, 2019 – Clinton Van Zandt presented “Psychological Profiling: Solving Famous Unsolved Cases”
April 4, 2019 – Dr. Lisa Randall presented “Dark Matter and the Dinosaurs”
Sept. 18, 2019 – Soledad O’Brien presented “Diversity: On TV, Behind the Scenes, and in Our Lives”
Nov. 7, 2019 – Dr. R.K.M. Jayanty presented “My Life Journey and Scientific Contributions to Improve Air Quality”

Feb. 8, 2018 – Lt. General Russel L. Honoré (Ret.) presented “Resilient Leadership”
April 12, 2018 – The Capitol Steps presented “The Lighter Side of Politics”
Oct. 25, 2018 – Angus Konstam presented “Blackbeard at 300: New Findings on North Carolina’s Most (In)famous Pirate”
Nov. 15, 2018 – Anita Hill presented “Social Movement to Social Impact: Putting an End to Sexual Harassment in the Workplace”

Jan. 31, 2017 – Keith Wailoo presented “Pain: A Political History”
April 6, 2017 – The Nile Project and Mina Girgis presented “Citizen Diplomacy and Transboundary Water Conflicts”
Sept. 14, 2017 – Dr. Robert Ballard presented “Human History Under Water”
Oct. 4, 2017 – Colson Whitehead presented “Reading and Commentary from the Author of the Novel, The Underground Railroad”

Jan. 26, 2016 – Dr. Derek Alderman and Dr. Alfred Brophy presented “What’s in a Name? Memorials and Historical Memory”
March 23, 2016 – Zonnie Gorman presented “Navajo Code Talkers: In-Depth with Zonnie Gorman”
Sept. 28, 2016 – Bob Woodward presented “The Age of the American Presidency”
Nov. 7, 2016 – Eboo Patel presented “Interfaith Leadership Can Save the World”

March 24, 2015 – Dr. Ilona Bell presented “Sexual Seduction in John Donne’s Poetry”
Sept. 29, 2015 – Peter Bergen presented “Making Sense in a World of Trouble”
Oct. 27, 2015 – Dr. Raymond Moody presented “Life After Life: The Meaning of Near-Death Experiences”

March 27, 2014 – Dr. James Shapiro presented “Shakespeare in America”
Oct. 1, 2014 – Jean-Michel Cousteau presented “The Great Ocean Adventure”
Nov. 18, 2014 – Julian Bond presented “Crossing the Color Line: From Rhythm ‘N Blues to Rock ‘N Roll”

March 5, 2013 – Dr. Amy-Jill Levine presented “Strange Bedfellows: The Bible, American Politics, and Homosexuality”
March 21, 2013 – Dr. Daniel K. Richter presented “The Tuscarora War: Trade, Land, and Power”
Oct. 1, 2013 – Dr. Jane Goodall presented “Sowing the Seeds of Hope”
Nov. 4, 2013 – Dr. José Casanova presented “Transformations in American Civil Religion and American Christianity”

Feb. 2, 2012 – Bland Simpson presented “‘Temperate Air, Requisite Care’ from Thomas Harriot’s ‘Conclusion’ in a Briefe & True Report on the New Found Land of Virginia (1588)”
March 13, 2012 – J. Kameron Carter presented “Religion and the Post-Racial Condition”
Sept. 5, 2012 – Dr. Mae Jemison presented “Exploring the Frontiers of Science and Human Potential”
Oct. 2, 2012 – Dr. Louise Leakey presented “Secrets in the Sand: Revelations into How We Became Humans”
Nov. 13, 2012 – Colonel Eileen M. Collins presented “Leadership Lessons from Apollo to Discovery”

March 24, 2011 – Ms. Lebame Houston presented “A Brief and True Report of the Lost Colony Drama in the New Found Land of Virginia”
Sept. 13, 2011 – Dr. David T. Courtwright presented “Sky as Frontier: America’s Air and Space Century”
Oct. 5, 2011 – Sir Salman Rushdie presented “Public Events, Private Lives: Literature and Politics in the Modern World”
Nov. 10, 2011 – Henry Louis Gates, Jr. presented “Genetics, Genealogy, and Black History”

Jan. 26, 2010 – Dr. Walter Brueggemann presented “Recovery from the Long Nightmare of Amnesia”
Feb. 17, 2010 – Dr. Trudier Harris presented “Little Old Ladies and the Last Word: An Exploration of Sassiness and Risque Behavior in African American Folklore”
March 18, 2010 – Dr. Theda Perdue presented “Native Americans of North Carolina”
Sept. 9, 2010 – Dr. Eve Troutt Powell presented “The Language of Slavery, the Diction of Freedom: Voices from the Nile Valley and Ottoman Empire”
Oct. 6, 2010 – Dr. Neil deGrasse Tyson presented “On the Origins of the Universe”
Nov. 9, 2010 – Dr. Matthew Fox presented “Reinventing Christianity”

Jan. 27, 2009 – Dr. Eugenie Scott presented “Darwin’s Legacy in Science and Society”
Feb. 25, 2009 – Dr. Felipe Fernández-Armesto presented “Vespucci: The Man who Gave his Name to America”
April 9, 2009 – Stephen Clucas presented “Thomas Harriot”
Sept. 10, 2009 – Dr. Marcus Rediker presented “Black Pirates: The Curious Early History of the Amistad Rebellion”
Oct. 6, 2009 – Dr. Mark Ravina presented “Reflection on the Last Samurai”
Nov. 6, 2009 – Gloria Steinem presented “Reflections on Feminism: A Voyage of Discovery with Gloria Steinem”

Feb. 21, 2008 – Dr. Lisa Norling presented “Captain Ahab had a Wife”
April 10, 2008 – Dr. Mark Nicholls presented “Sir Walter Raleigh and the Elizabethan World of Thomas Harriot”
Sept. 24, 2008 – Dr. Randolph Chitwood presented “Medical Discoveries and Innovations in the 20th Century”
Oct. 8, 2008 – Walter Isaacson presented “Creative Thinkers who have Shaped our World”
Nov. 18, 2008 – Dr. Marcus Borg presented “Christians in the Age of Empire”

March 27, 2007 – Dr. Owen Gingerich presented “The Astronomical Worlds of Thomas Harriot”
Sept. 27, 2007 – Dr. Peter White presented “From the Appalachians to the Coastal Plain: North Carolina’s Wildflowers and Ecology”
Oct. 10, 2007 – Dr. Richard Leakey presented “Why Our Origins Matter”