Liberal Arts Invites Campus to Join Online Discussion of Provocative New Book

Should a university foster diversity and democracy and produce responsible citizens?  Is this part of its public mission?  Stanley Fish thinks not and says so in his provocative new book, Save the World on Your Own Time.  The College of Liberal Arts wants to know what you think.

Fish-literary theorist, legal scholar, New York Times columnist, and academic provocateur-argues that there is but one proper role for the academe in society: to advance bodies of knowledge and to equip students for doing the same. But how does that square with Auburn University’s “commitment of service to all Alabamians” and goal of producing students who are “informed and engaged citizens of the United States and the world”?

A discussion board is available at www.cla.auburn.edu/savetheworld and includes links to Fish’s New York Times op-ed piece “Why We Built the Ivory Tower,” recent interview on National Public Radio, and information on his new book.

This online discussion precedes a panel discussion of Save The World on Your Own Time scheduled for Tuesday, Oct. 21 at 3pm in room 239, Broun Hall. The panelists will include Dr. Royrickers Cook, Assistant Vice President for University Outreach; Dr. Christa Slaton, College of Liberal Arts’ Associate Dean for Educational Affairs, professor of political science, and winner of the 2007 Award for Excellence in Faculty Outreach; and Al Head, Executive Director of the Alabama State Council on the Arts.

Constitution Day Program September 17

Auburn University will recognize Constitution Day on Wednesday, Sep. 17 at 4:00 p.m. with a lecture by Dr. Steven Harmon Wilson titled "Living the Constitution: Foundations, Fractures, and Future," in Room 2223 of the new Student Center.

Wilson, Associate Dean of Liberal Arts at Tulsa Community College's Metro Campus, will explain the context that has given rise to the question "what does the Constitution mean?", describe major controversies that arose primarily from interpretive disagreements about the Constitution, and offer a modest proposal for moving beyond the current partisan acrimony over judges and courts-an approach that will encourage Americans to "live the Constitution," rather than arguing about it.

Discover Auburn launches Fall programming!

Discover Auburn is a year-long series features programs on Auburn University research, history, and other topics of interest. The first lecture, "Early Engineering at Auburn" by Art Slotkin, will be held September 17, 2008 at 3:00 p.m. in the Special Collections Department of the Ralph Brown Draughon Library.



Art Slotkin received his Bachelor's in aerospace engineering form Auburn in 1968. He earned an MS in flight structures at Columbia University in New York City in 1969. Retiring in 2003, he attended the Georgia Institute for Technology where he earned another Master of Science degree in the sociology and history of technology and science. He is currently writing a book, They Came From Auburn: A History of Engineering in the New South.

This lecture is co-sponsored by the Auburn University Libraries, the Caroline Marshall Draughon Center for the Arts & Humanities in the College of Liberal Arts, the Auburn University Bookstore and the Samuel Ginn College of Engineering.

Discover Auburn will continue with a lecture by Dr. Tom Vaughan on "The History of the Horse Throughout History" in October, and "Bats:Friendly Masters of the Sky," a lecture by Dr. Troy Best, in November. Check our events page for updated information.