CLA Speakers Bureau

Each year the Auburn University College of Liberal Arts Speakers Bureau offers free talks on topics ranging from leadership and democracy to souther literature and child psychology. The faculty selected to participate are seasoned speakers with something to say about a subject that interests you, and the programs are offered free of charge on a first come, first served basis. This year's line up focuses on government, citizenship, and politics.

For more information, or to book one of the programs listed below, call (334) 844-4946 or email claspeakers@auburn.edu.

Murray Jardine -- "The Meaning of Freedom in America"

Rene McEldowney -- "Universal Health Care"

Lindy Biggs -- "Sustainability as Citizenship"

Margaret Fitch-Hauser -- "Can You Hear Me Now?"

Clifton Perry -- "Citizenship Rights of Native Americans"

Join us for the second lecture in the Discover Auburn series!

Dr. Thomas Vaughn will present a lecture entitled "History of the Horse Throughout Time" on Thursday October 16 at 3:00 p.m. in the Special Collections and Archives department of the Ralph Brown Draughon Library. Vaughn earned his doctor of veterinary medicine degree from Auburn University in 1955. An internationally recognized equine surgeon, Vaughan was dean at Auburn from 1977-1995. The Large Animal Hospital was named in his honor.

A reception will follow the talk. The third lecture in the Discover Auburn Series will be held on Wednesday, November 5.

The Discover Auburn series is co-sponsored by the Caroline Marshall Draughon Center for the Arts and Humanities in the College of Liberal Arts at Auburn University, the Auburn University Libraries, and the Auburn University Bookstore. For more information on the program and the series, contact the Caroline Marshall Draughon Center at 334-844-4946.

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.

Pebble Hill Books

Pebble Hill Books is a cooperative publishing venture of the Caroline Marshall Draughon Center for the Arts & Humanities and the University of Alabama Press. Designed to publish works that grow out of or contribute to the Center’s programming, Pebble Hill Books preserves and disseminates scholarship and creative works by Auburn University College of Liberal Arts faculty and by Center associates. The inaugural title, In the Path of the Storms: Bayou La Batre, Coden, and the Alabama Gulf Coast by Frye Gaillard, was published in 2008. Albert Murray and the Aesthetic Imagination of a Nation, a collection of papers delivered at the Albert Murray Symposium in January 2008 and edited by Dr. Barbara Baker, will be published in 2009. Paul Hemphill’s A Tiger Walk Through History: A Compete History of Auburn Football from 1892 to the Tuberville Era also appears under the Pebble Hill Books imprint.

Book and Buffet: An Evening with Rheta Grimsley Johnson

For ticket information call the Arts Association of East Alabama at 334-749-8105.

The Auburn University Community Orchestra, the Caroline Marshall Draughon Center for the Arts & Humanities and the Jule Collins Smith Museum of Fine Art will join with the Arts Association of East Alabama, Envision Opelika and the Auburn Chamber Music society to sponsor “Book and Buffet: An Evening with Rheta Grimsley Johnson” on Thursday, August 28 at 6:30 p.m. at the Museum.

The evening is a benefit for the restoration of historic Miriam S. Brown School in Opelika into an area-wide community cultural and small conference center and has two options for tickets:

“First Edition” includes a conversation by Johnson, “The South Did This to Me”; a copy of her latest book, “Poor Man’s Provence”; a book signing; and a Buffet of Southern Specialties and cash bar provided by caterers Ursula Higgins, Martha Hicks and Billy Lee. ($75 per person, 6:30 p.m. in the Auditorium, limited to 150)

“Second Edition” includes a copy of “Poor Man’s Provence,” book signing, and Buffet of Southern Specialties and cash bar by caterers Ursula Higgins, Martha Hicks, and Billy Lee. ($45 per person; Buffet and cash bar opens at 7 p.m. in the Grand Foyer.)