New speaker series to explore frontiers of scholarship

From children’s literature phenomenon Harry Potter to the regional vagaries of the English language to closing the gulf between science and the humanities, the range of fair game for modern scholarship continues to grow.

A new dinner-lecture series will explore some of the innovations of academic pursuit in three events this spring:

• “After C.P. Snow: Cultivating and Engaged Dialog,” by Phillip Certain, dean of the UW–Madison College of Letters and Science, Feb. 29. Forty years ago, Snow detected an “unbridgeable gulf” between the sciences and the humanities. Certain will consider whether or not that’s still true, and the possibility of other gulfs that separate people from one another.
• “Harry Who? The Harry Potter Phenomenon,” Father-daughter team David A. Riley, UW–Madison professor of child and family studies, and Hannah B. Riley, April 4. The pair will debate the psychology of the books, a sensation (and cause of alarm among some parents) around the world.
• “In Unam Pluribus: American Regional English,” Joan Hoston Hall, associate editor of the Dictionary of American Regional English, May 11. Hall will draw upon her experience with the dictionary, produced at UW–Madison, to offer insight into the diversity of our language and the way it has changed over the last 400 years.

Sponsored by the UW Literary and Philosophical Society, the series differs from other lecture events on campus because this one seeks to “cultivate an engaged dialog in a social setting and to look for speakers on subjects worthy of wider attention,” says organizer Spillane.

A cash bar will begin the evening at 6 p.m. at the University Club, with dinner at 7 p.m. The lecture will follow at about 8:15 p.m. Guests will have a chance to talk with the speakers afterward. Cost: $20. Reservations: (608) 256-8113; spillane@facstaff.wisc.edu.