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Wellesley College

Wellesley College has been a leader in liberal arts and the education of women for more than 125 years. The College's 500-acre campus near Boston is home to 2,300 undergraduate students who hail from 50 states and more than 65 countries. Consistently ranked among the top four national liberal arts colleges, Wellesley is widely acknowledged as the preeminent women's college in the nation.

http://www.wellesley.edu/

Endgame: The Impact of Economic Sanctions on Iraq

Tue, Mar 4, 2003

Scott Ritter discusses his new documentary, Endgame: Closing the File on Iraq's Weapons of Mass Destruction, about the death of more than 1.2 million Iraqis due to United Nations economic sanctions. The film shows the effects that sanctions are having on the Iraqi people while presenting a hard line on issues of international justice and global security. Ritter's powerful interviews with world leaders such as Kofi Annan, secretary general of the United Nations, Tariq Aziz, vice-prime minister of Iraq and Vladamir Putin, acting president and minister of Russia, give an eye-opening view of America and the ramifications of the US foreign policy from the international community's perspective.

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Escape to the Middle Ages: The Resurgence of Tolkien

Tue, Jan 1, 2008

Kathryn Lynch suggests that a contemporary world torn apart by global strife and terrorism finds a timeless interest in the world of the quiet Oxford don. The fiction of J.R.R. Tolkien has always found a ready audience. Continuously in print from the time of its publication in 1954-56, Tolkien's Lord of the Rings trilogy has, in its long publication run, sold an estimated 150,000,000 copies. At the same time, the astonishing success of the recent film versions of these novels, directed by Peter Jackson, has sparked a new rally of interest in Tolkien and helped to create a new throng of enthusiastic fans. Why this resurgence of admiration for Tolkien right now? Professor Lynch provides two answers to this question, one that suggests Tolkien's appeal to a contemporary world torn apart by global strife and terrorism and another that finds a timeless interest in the fantasy world of the quiet Oxford don.

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Transcendentalism and Charles Ives: Triple Helix Trio

Wed, Apr 2, 2003

We thought we'd add another dimension to our 50th anniversary celebration of the discovery of the Double Helix, by featuring this lecture and performance by Triple Helix, the internationally-acclaimed ensemble out of Wellesey College with special guest, professor of English, Lawrence Rosenwald. The group performs Ives Second Violin Sonata and Ives Piano trio while intermittently discussing Charles Ives and his Piano Trio. Born in Danbury, Connecticut in 1874, Charles Ives pursued one of the most extraordinary and paradoxical careers in American music history. Businessman by day and composer by night, Ives's compositions gradually brought him recognition as an original and significant American composer of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Inspired by transcendentalist philosophy, Ives sought a highly personalized musical expression through the most innovative and radical technical means possible. A fascination with bi-tonal forms, polyrhythms, and quotation was nurtured by his father whom Ives would later acknowledge as the primary creative influence on his musical style. In 1947, Ives was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for his *Symphony No. 3*.

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Alexander: The Ambiguity of Greatness

Tue, Dec 7, 2004

Guy MacLean Rogers, professor of classical studies at Wellesley College, discusses his book, *Alexander: The Ambiguity of Greatness*, which examines the life of the historical figure. Alexander the Great died more than 2,300 years ago, but his life remains a source of fascination and speculation. Rogers describes Alexander the Great as a legend and an enigma. Wounded repeatedly but always triumphant in battle, he conquered most of the known world, only to die mysteriously at age 32. Rogers sifts through thousands of years of history and myth to uncover the truth about this complex, ambiguous genius. He also uncovers a few lessons which today's leaders might find find useful.

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Georgics of Virgil: Art and Practice of Literary Translation

Wed, Dec 1, 2004

David Ferry, a distinguished poet and literary critic, reads from his translations anddiscusses the art and practice of translation. Renowned among his colleagues and former students for his special gifts as a reader of verse, Ferry is the author of numerous books of poetry and criticism. His mostrecent books are *The Epistles of Horace: A Translation*,*The Odes of Horace: A Translation*, *The Eclogues of Virgil: A Translation*, and *Of No Country I Know: New and Selected Poems*. *Of No Country I Know* was awarded the 2000 Lenore Marshall Prize from the American Academy of Poets and the 2000 Rebekah Johnson Bobbitt National Prize for Poetry from the Library of Congress. His *The Georgics of Virgil: A Translation* is scheduled to be published inthe spring of 2005.

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Tom Perrotta: Craft of Writing, Foray into Cinema

Thu, Feb 17, 2005

Tom Perrotta reads from some of his works and discusses the craft of writing and his first forays into the world of cinema. His writing depicts cultures and subcultures with skewering accuracy and no small dose of satire, humor, and compassion, whether it be student life in the Ivy League of *Joe College* or suburban parenthood in *Little Children*.

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Global Health Equity and the Future of Public Health

Mon, Apr 4, 2005

Paul Farmer, a world-renowned infectious disease specialist who has been called a public health Robin Hood, discusses global health equity and the future of public health. Farmer is co-founder of Partners in Health, an international organization that brings the benefits of modern medical science to some of the most impoverished areas of the world. In Haiti, where he spends much of his time, Farmer implemented one of the first HIV/AIDS treatment programs in the developing world. Thanks to the efforts of a tuberculosis (TB) center in Haiti, founded by Farmer, the success rate for multidrug-resistant TB rivals that of hospitals in the United States. He expanded the treatment of multidrug-resistant TB to Peru and Russia, where he has achieved similar success.

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Abortion and the Economics of Fertility

Fri, Jun 4, 2004

Economist Phillip Levine uses economic analysis to consider this question: how do individuals change their behavior when abortion access increases? Comparing abortion to a form of insurance, he contends that abortion provides protection from downside risk. Levine discusses ideas from his new book, *Sex and Consequences: Abortion, Public Policy, and the Economics of Fertility*, published in 2004 by Princeton University Press. **Phillip Levine** is a professor of economics at Wellesley College and a research associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research. At Wellesley, he teaches classes in social policy, econometrics, and microeconomic theory. He has also served as a senior economist at the White House Council of Economic Advisers. His research has largely been devoted to empirical examinations of the impact of government programs and social legislation on individual and business behavior.

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Russia Now: Ethnic Strife and Economic Unrest

Tue, Oct 5, 2004

A panel of experts on Russia discuss real-life experience in the region, and share their perspectives. Speakers include Marshall Goldman, who recently met Russian President Vladimir Putin; Philip Kohl, who studies and travels regularly to the volatile Caucasus area; Nina Tumarkin, who just returned from Russian Karelia; and Ambassador Thomas Simons Jr., former US ambassador to Poland and Pakistan. Once again, the eyes of the world are on Russia, where recent acts of terrorism by Chechen rebels were followed by President Putin's proposal of new measures to further centralize power and limit democracy.

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Meet the Poet: Adrienne Rich

Mon, Sep 22, 2003

Adrienne Rich reads from her and discusses her poetry. She is introduced by Lawrence Rosenwald, Anne Pierce Rogers Professor of English, Wellesley College

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