Some thoughts on the Steven Levitt Ubben Lecture
Monday, October 26th, 2009 From my perspective, the best, most relevant (and most well attended) Ubben Lectures have always featured speakers whose opinions have relevance and important implications for the entire DePauw community. What I am implying here is that the best speakers to bring to DePauw’s campus are ones who will spark the interest of Faculty, Students, and Putnam County residents alike for a variety of reasons. It would appear that Executive Director of Media Relations at Depauw, Ken Owen, has found just such a speaker by booking the co-author of the New York Time’s best selling non-fiction book, Freakanomics, Steven Levitt as the next Ubben Lecture http://www.depauw.edu/news/index.asp?id=…).
Predating the current economic situation our country finds itself in, I can fondly recall freakanomics occupying the top spot of both my teachers’ and peers’ joy-reading lists in high school. Simply put, Freakanomics was the biggest literary phenomenon to hit my schoolmates since the Harry Potter series came on the scene. This is why I am personally interested to see how DePauw students, who were likewise more than likely to have been exposed to the concepts of Freakanomics during some point in their education, will receive and attend the Steven Levitt Ubben Lecture. While being a member of the media I will refrain from offering any predictions, my advice would be to get to the lecture early to secure a good vantage point.
Currently, the Levitt lecture is scheduled to take place on November 30th, at 7:30 p.m. in Kresge Auditorium of DePauw’s Green Center for the Performing Arts. As always, Timothy and Sharon Ubben Lectures are free and open to the public. Tune into WGRE News for coverage of the lecture as the date approaches, and be sure to listen for a post-lecture recap after the event.
(P.S. For those interested in how exactly Ken Owen goes about his one-man mission in choosing Ubben Lectures to bring to DePauw’s campus, be sure to listen to the September 17th edition of “The Bottom Line” for further information: http://www.depauw.edu/univ/wgre/news_pag…)
Posted By: Kevin Hoesley, WGRE News Director