Davidson College - Podcasts

Rachel Herz’s research has shown how odor-evoked memory is emotionally unique and evocative compared to other memory experiences, how emotional associations can change odor perception, and how odors can be conditioned to emotions and subsequently influence motivated behavior.

Senior writer at Foreign Policy and writer-in-residence at the Center for a New American Security, Yochi Dreazen discusses his current project at the Pulitzer Center and focus on the broader issue of terrorism in Africa and its potential impact on American foreign policy. The lecture is made possible through the college’s participation in the Pulitzer Center for Crisis Reporting’s Campus Consortium program.  

The Dean Rusk International Studies Program welcomed Seyyed Hossein Nasr to discuss the role of Islam in the modern world. Nasr is professor of Islamic Studies at George Washington University and considered to be one of the foremost scholars of Islamic, Religious and Comparative Studies, Nasr has authored more than 20 books and hundreds of articles on Islamic esotericism, Sufism (Islamic mysticism), and metaphysics.

Brian Leiter is the University of Chicago Karl N. Llewellyn Professor of Jurisprudence, Director of Law, Philosophy and Human Values. Leiter’s scholarly writings have been in two main areas: legal philosophy and Continental philosophy. Philosophical naturalism has been an abiding theme in both contexts. In legal philosophy, he has offered a reinterpretation of the American Legal Realists as prescient philosophical naturalists and a general defense of what he calls “naturalized jurisprudence.”

Stephen Lewis kicked off the Dean Rusk International Studies Program’s Bank of America Lecture Series with his talk, “The Millennium Development Goals and Public Health Challenges.” Lewis is co-founder of the nonprofit organization AIDS-Free World, former United Nations Special Envoy for HIV/AIDs in Africa, and former Canadian Ambassador to the United Nations.

Widely translated, former McGee Professor Al Young’s many books include poetry, fiction, essays anthologies and musical memoirs. Appointed in 2005 by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, Young served as California’s poet laureate. Other honors include NEA, Fulbright, and Guggenheim Fellowships, The Richard Wright Award for Literary Excellence and most recently, the 2011 Thomas Wolfe Award. Young currently teaches at the California College of the Arts, San Francisco. He has completed Offline Love, a new poetry collection. Young's visit was funded by the Bacca Foundation Visiting Scholar and Artist Program which is designed to engage students in innovative, stimulating and meaningful ways. The foundation was formed after a gift from Brett Berry ’89.

A panel discussion featuring Chief Rodney Monroe of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department, Chief Jeanne Miller of the Town of Davidson Police Department, Interim Acting Chief/Captain Carolyn McMackin of Davidson College Public Safety, Lance Stell, Ph.D., Thatcher Professor of philosophy and director of medical humanities, and Andrew O’Geen, Ph.D., assistant professor of political science. Moderated by David Perry, director of the Vann Center and professor of applied ethics.

Daron Acemoglu, the Elizabeth and James Killian Professor of Economics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, delivers the annual Cornelson Distinguished Lecture in Economics. Professor Acemoglu was awarded the John Bates Clark Medal in 2005 as best economist under age 40, and was named one of Foreign Policy magazine’s “100 Global Thinkers for 2012.” He is co-author of the bestseller, Why Nations Fail: The Origins of Power, Prosperity, and Poverty, which explores why some nations prosper and others fail, and concludes that man-made political and economic institutions underlie economic success.

Professor Nigel Biggar, is the Regius Professor of Moral and Pastoral Theology, and director of the McDonald Centre for Theology, Ethics, and Public Life at the University of Oxford, UK. Sponsored by the Davidson College Religion Department, Samuel D. Maloney Lecture Series on the Study of Religion and Society, Office of the President, and the Vann Center for Ethics.

A sold-out Duke Family Performance Hall audience sat raptly as Robert Caro spoke about the first 47 days of Lyndon Johnson’s presidency, as told in his book, "The Passage of Power." Caro has written four books on Lyndon Johnson and has often times been asked, “Why so many? Don’t you get tired?” to which comes a simple reply, “I don’t get tired because I’m always learning something new. And I have never read what the assassination was like from Johnson’s view.”

Paul Leonard’s professional career has spanned two disparate worlds of nonprofit ministry and big business. During his talk, Leonard discusses his memoir, "Where is Church?" In it, he describes how his search for a church that embodied his deep faith and call for service led him outside of traditional institutional structures.

Lifelong activist and current professor emerita at the University of California at Santa Cruz in the history of consciousness and feminist studies departments gave the 2013 Wearn lecture to a sold-out audience at the Duke Family Performance Hall. Growing up in Birmingham, AL, Angela Davis credits her family for her ethics and drive to see social justice reformation with her focus on prisoners’ rights. The topics she covers in her lecture range from social justice and education for profit to her views on President Obama and a brief history of the Black Panthers and their reach worldwide to give voice to oppressed people. An extremely gravitating speaker, Davis received applause throughout her talk when mentioning names and causes often overlooked in favor of bigger names and issues. Rosa Parks was not the first African American to refuse to sit at the back of the bus. Do you know who was? An interesting moment came when an audience member asked her views on Abraham Lincoln, the president, the man, and the current movie. Davis broadens the scope of what the Emancipation Proclamation actually entailed. In this world of causes, Angela Davis gives positive reinforcement to those that try: “You may not immediately see the effects of your efforts but one day, you will. If not, the next generation will. Keep doing what you are doing.”

A group of veteran Charlotte-area print, television, and Web-based journalists participated in a panel discussion about media ethics sponsored by Davidson College’s Vann Center for Ethics.

Victoria Redel and Rebecca Hazelton Victoria Redel, is the 2012–13 McGee Professor of Writing at Davidson College and is the author of three books of poetry, including Woman Without Umbrella (Four Way Books, 2012), and three works of fiction. Her novel, Loverboy, was awarded the 2001 S. Mariella Gable Novel Award and the 2002 Forward Silver Literary Fiction Prize, was a 2001 Los Angeles Times Best Book, and was adapted for a feature film directed by Kevin Bacon. Redel is on the faculty of Sarah Lawrence College and teaches in the Graduate Writing Program at Columbia University. She holds degrees from Dartmouth and Columbia. Rebecca Hazelton’s ‘00 first collection of poetry, Fair Copy, won The Ohio State Press/The Journal poetry award in 2011. She was the 2010-2011 Jay C. and Ruth Hall Poetry Fellow at the University of Wisconsin-Madison Creative Writing Institute. She holds an M.F.A. from the University of Notre Dame and a Ph.D. from the Univeristy of Florida, and she teaches at the University of Oklahoma-Stillwater.

Introduced by Avery Haller ’15 as “she is really cool!,” a bright and lively Sister Simone Campbell enlivened the audience with her self-deprecating wit and honesty. She spoke of how her faith and religion applies to current events, mainly health care issues. Crediting her mother’s wisdom as a guidepost to shaping her tolerance and understanding, Sister Simone recalled a childhood visit to her grandparents in Colorado. Her mother overheard her teaching the children of a Unitarian pastor that lived across the street what the trinity was and how to answer the questions correctly. “My mother took me inside and said, ‘Well dear, other people believe other ways. And just because we believe this way doesn’t mean you have to get everybody else to believe the way we do. People think differently and it’s okay.’” In June 2012, Simone’s “Nuns On the Bus” tour began it’s nine-state trek in Ames, Iowa, to draw attention to the adverse consequences Paul Ryan’s budget plan would have on the poor and low–income Americans. Word spread. Crowds grew. Day two of their stop drew so much attention that the police issued the nuns a permit allowing them to have a rally on the public square. “People came up to me and said, ‘We don’t believe in anything (religion) but we really like what you’re doing.’” As executive director of the national Catholic social justice lobby (NETWORK), she was an influential voice during the fight to pass the Affordable Care Act and continues to fight for its effective implementation. While her beliefs and actions may ruffle the feathers of some Catholics, Sister Simone states that Network “cares for the 100 percent” and “that Jesus loves us all. We are all equal. If God thinks we are all equal, how could we not?” Smiles and nodding heads in agreement could be seen and laughter heard as I glanced around the 900 Room throughout the evening. Sister Simone left us with something to think about: “The Holy Spirit is alive and well and out causing mischief.” And thankfully for us, so is Sister Simone.