Calendar highlights

Ralph Nader, Afeni Shakur to speak at Union Theater
Former presidential candidate and consumer activist Ralph Nader and political activist Afeni Shakur will speak as part of the Distinguished Lecture Series in mid-April at the Wisconsin Union Theater.

Nader, scheduled Tuesday, April 17, at 7:30 p.m., was named by Time magazine as one of the 100 most influential Americans of the 20th century for his crusades against corporate negligence and government indifference. Nader organized presidential campaigns in 1992, 1996 and 2000 to challenge the “duopoly” of the two-party system.

Afeni Shakur, scheduled Sunday, April 22, at 7:30 p.m., will deliver a talk called “Remember Me: The Living Legacy of Tupac Shakur.” Afeni Shakur is the former Black Panther and mother of rap superstar Tupac, who was shot and killed in September 1996. Afeni Shakur describes her own road to peace and empowerment, celebrating the victories of her life and openly acknowledging her struggles so others may rise above their own.

Free tickets will be available at the Union Theater Box Office for students and Wisconsin Union members. Nader tickets will be available Wednesday, April 11; for Afeni Shakur, Tuesday, April 17. Information: 262-2216.

Cultural scholar to give talk on Jurek Becker
Noted humanist Sander L. Gilman will give the talk, “What Makes a Jew? Jewish Identity and Communism — the Case of Jurek Becker,” at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, April 18, in Great Hall of the Memorial Union. The free lecture is sponsored by the Center for the Humanities.

Gilman is professor of liberal arts and medicine at the University of Illinois in Chicago and the director of the Humanities Laboratory. He is a cultural and literary historian, and the author or editor of more than 50 books. Gilman is working on a biography of Jurek Becker (1937-1997), a close friend of Gilman and author of “Jacob the Liar,” one of the first major novels about the Holocaust written by someone living in Germany. Information: 263-3409.

Historian of thought visits
Sir Geoffrey Lloyd, emeritus professor of ancient philosophy and science at University of Cambridge, will present a lecture Thursday, April 26, at 3:30 p.m. in the Pyle Center, 702 Langdon St. His speech is entitled “Case Histories in Ancient Medicine: Greece, Egypt, and China.” Author of more than dozen books, Professor Lloyd is an authority on the history of science and medicine in antiquity. Information: 263-3414.