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Prior Speakers - Fall 2005 & Spring 2006
Fall 2005
Dr.
Art Ulene's special interest is the application of modern
communications technology to health education. Since 1975, Dr. Ulene
has spearheaded the use of television to promote public health. He appeared
on NBC's Today program for 23 years, and his nationally-syndicated special
health series are seen on local television news programs around the country.
Dr. Ulene's nationwide health campaigns have resulted in billions of health-promoting
impressions that have helped Americans deal with issues such as obesity, high
cholesterol, cardiovascular disease, nicotine addiction, and women's and children's
healthcare. His campaigns and educational programs include collaborations with
the American Medical Association, the Asthma and Allergy Foundation, the American
College of Obestetricians and Gynecologists, the American Academy of Pediatrics,
the American Academy of Family Physicians, and the American Academy of Orthopedic
Surgerons.
Dr. Ulene will offer his audience a different kind of prescription: a preventive measure that goes far beyond the treatment of sympthoms to produce true vitality. His prescription includes 20 scientifically supported actions that can not only reduce your risk of cancer, heart disease, stroke, diabetes, osteoporosis, and Alzheimer's disease, but improve your sleep, increase your energy level, and add joy to your life.
This lecture is made possible by an endowment gift to the High Point Foundation in memory of Dr. Viola Davis and Millicent Collinsworth.
This lecture is co-sponsored by the College of Health and Human Services. Dr. Ulene is also the keynote speaker at the Conference on Childhood Obesity sponsored by the College of Health and Human Services on Wednesday, September 14, 2005.
MTV Award Winning director, Sergio
Arau and acclaimed actress
Yareli Arizmendi are the husband and wife duo and co-creators of A Day Without
a Mexican, a politically charged film, a masterpiece of wit, irreverence, and
social commentary. It is not only illustrates the impact of Mexicans
and Mexican Americans on California's economy, but highlights the growing presence
and power of Latinos in America. Arau's and Arizmendi's multi-media lecture
events explores topical news items with a Latino point of view. Their searing
and poignant commentary dissects what it means to be Latino in post-9/11 America.
This lecture is being held in conjunction with the First Annual Diversity Conference, Culture and Community Building: Transformative Practices, sponsored by the Central Valley Cultural Heritage Institute, October 11, 2005.
Joyce
Carol Oates is one of America's most versatile, serious
writers, the author of a mumber of distinguished books in several genres,
all published within the past twenty-five years. In addition to numerous novels
and short story collections, she has published several volumes of poetry, several
books of plays, five books of literary criticism, and the book-length essay "On
Boxing." Ms. Oates has also published novels for young adults, including
Big Mouth and Ugly Girl, Sexy and Freaky Green Eyes. John Gardner has
called her "one of the greatest writers of our time."
Her writing has earned her much praise and many awards, including the PEN/Malamud Award for Excellence in short fiction, the Rosenthal Award from the American Academy - Institute of Arts and Letters, a Guggenheim Fellowship, the O. Henry Prize for Continued Achievement in the Short Story, the National Book Award for her novel Them, and in 1978, membership in the American Academy - Institute. What I Lived For was nominated for the 1995 PEN/Faulkner Award.
Sponsored in part by the English Department and the San Joaquin Literary Association.
Spring 2006
Alfie
Kohn is the author of ten books on education, parenting,
and human behavior, including Punished by Rewards (1993), Beyond
Discipline (1996), The Schools Our Children Deserve (1999), What Does It Mean
to be Well Educated? (2004), and the most recently, Unconditionally Parenting
(2005). He has written for most of the leading education periodicals and has
appeared twice on "Oprah." Time magazine described his as "perhaps
the country's most outspoken critic of education's fixation on grades [and]
test scores." Kohn works with educators and parents across the country
and speaks regularly at national conferences. He lives (actually) in
the Boston area and (virtually) at his website.
Kohn's presentation will argue that students are not receptacles to be filled with knowledge - and, therefore, that we must rethink the use of lectures, worksheets, textbooks, and the traditional emphasis on memorizing right answers and practicing skills. That "bunch o' facts" approach, he will explain, is virtually guaranteed to fail. In its place, students must be helped to make sense of ideas for themselves, and with each other.
Dr.
Patrick Moore has been a leader in the international environmental
field for over 30 years. He is a founding member of Greenpeace and served for
nine years as President of Greenpeace Canada and seven years as Director of
Greenpeace International. Moore believes that one of our most serious
environmental problems can be attributed to the ineffective communication between
special interest groups and the business community and seeks to reveal the
myths and misinformation that distort current environmental debates. He calls
for issues to be discussed on the basis of accurate scientific data, a search
for consensus, and the creation of sustainable solutions.
In 1991, Dr. Moore founded Greenspirit, a consultancy focusing on environmental policy and communications in natural resources, biodiversity, energy, and climate change. Dr. Moore is the author of Green Spirit - Trees are the Answer, a photo-book that provides a new insight into how forests work and how they can play a powerful role in solving many of our current environmental problems.
Edward
Diener was described by Time magazine in January 2005
as "a.k.a. Dr. Happiness," one of a few psychological researchers
who have "ventured out of the dark realm of mental illness into the sunny
land of the mentally hale and hearty." Dr. Diener is Alumni Professor
of Psychology (Distinguished chair endowed by the alumni) at the University
of Illinois. He is past-president of the International Society of Quality of
Life Studies, and is past-president of the Society of Personality and Social
Psychology (and Division 8 of APA). Professor Diener is th editor of the Journal
of Personality and Social Psychology (1998-2003) and is also editor of Journal
of Happiness Studies, and a distinguished alumni award from California State
University, Fresno. In 2001, Professor Diener was selected to speak in the
American Psychological Association's Distinguished Lecture Series. Diener has
about 180 publications, of which about 140 are in the area of subjective well-being
(SWB).
Professor Diener's research focuses on several areas: the measurement of subjective well-being; temperament and personality influences on SWB; theories of well-being; demographics and well-being (e.g., income, sex, and age); and most recently his work has emphasized cultural influences on subjective well-being. Ed Diener has editied three recent books on SWB: Well-being: The Foundations of Hedonic Psychology (with Kahneman and Schwarz), Advances in Quality of Life Studies (with Don Rahtz), and Culture and Subjective Well-Being (with Eunkook Suh).
This lecture is made possible by an endowment gift to the High Point Foundation in memory of Dr. Viola Davis and Millicent Collinsworth.
Nouritza
Matossian is a British writer, actress, broadcaster,
and human rights activist in the arts, contemporary music, and history of Armenia.
Her biography, Black Angel, A Life of Arshile Gorky, published last year, was
accompanied by much acclaim. Gorky was one of the most mysterious and influential
abstract expressionist artists of the 20th century. Throughout the 1920s Gorky's
painting was influenced by Georges Braque, Paul Cezanne, and Pablo Picasso.
Ararat, the award winning film by Atom Egoyan and Miramax, was inspired by
Matossian's biography.
Matossian also wrote and performs a solo show on Gorky's life from viewpoint of Gorky's four beloved women with images and music. It has been produced worldwide at the Barican, the Tate Modern, the Edinburgh Festival, and in London, New York, Cyprus, Iran, Romenia, and Georgia. It will be performed on the Fresno State campus Wednesday, April 19, 2006.
Matossian was Honorary Cultural Attache for the Armenian Embassy in London from 1991-2000. She was awarded an Honorary Doctorate from the International Academy of Sciences and Humanities in Yerevan in October 2004. She broadcasts on the BBC and contributes to various newspapers and magazines, such as the The Independent, The Economist, The Observer, and Vogue.
This lecture is in cooperation with the Gorky Festival, sponsored by the Fresno Art Museum and the Armenian Museum.