University for a Day Set for Sept. 14

The Schemel Forum’s “University for a Day” on Sept. 14 will include four lectures focused on environmental issues.
The University of Scranton’s Schemel Forum offers area residents the chance to experience the “University for a Day” on Sept. 14. Participants will attend four lectures presented by distinguished professors on environmentalism and climate change.
The University of Scranton’s Schemel Forum offers area residents the chance to experience the “University for a Day” on Sept. 14. Participants will attend four lectures presented by distinguished professors on environmentalism and climate change.

The University of Scranton’s Schemel Forum will present its annual University for a Day program on Saturday, Sept. 14. This year’s program theme is “An Environmental Immersion,” and includes four lectures by distinguished professors examining environmentalism and climate change from diverse perspectives. The event allows ample time for discussion.

The day-long event begins with registration and coffee from 8:45 to 9:15 a.m. in the Pearn Auditorium lobby of Brennan Hall and also includes a lunch and a closing reception that will take place from 4:30 to 5 p.m.

Matthew Meyer, Ph.D., associate professor of philosophy at the University, will present the first lecture, “Why Environmentalists Should be Republicans, Not Liberals,” from 9:30 to 10:45 a.m. Meyer will make the rather contrarian argument that environmentalism would be better served by conservative rather than liberal political theory.

Next, Timothy D. Searchinger, research scholar at Princeton University and senior fellow at the World Resources Institute, will present “Climate Change: What We Can and Must Do About It,” from 11 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. He will discuss the basic science, sources and key policies needed to effectively combat climate change in timely fashion.

From 1:45 to 3 p.m., Michael C. Cann, Ph.D., distinguished professor of chemistry emeritus at the University and director of the Delaware Highlands Conservancy, will present “Sustainability and the Delaware Highlands Conservancy.” According to Dr. Cann, population, affluenza and unfettered technological advances have created a “perfect environmental storm” that has caused significant damage to the natural landscape. He notes that groups like the Delaware Highlands Conservancy, now in its 25th year of conserving the natural lands of the upper Delaware River, are committed to providing a bulwark to these forces.

From 3:15 to 4:30 p.m., Philadelphia-based artist Diane Burko will present the lecture, “Confronting Climate Change as an Artist.” In 2006, Burko refocused her work on the intersection of art, science and the environment.

“I hope to share my journey from being a landscape painter to becoming an environmental artist and activist and to explain that all the arts – film, drama, music, literature – are vehicles for communicating issues of climate change to the public,” Burko said.

Seating is limited for University for a Day and reservations are required to attend the program. Admission is free for Scranton faculty, staff and students and Schemel Forum members, and $30 for non-members. To register, contact Alicen Morrison, Schemel Forum assistant, at 570-941-6206 or alicen.morrison@scranton.edu.

For more information on Schemel Forum programs and memberships, contact Sondra Myers, Schemel Forum director, at 570-941-4089 or sondra.myers@scranton.edu.

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