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News Release

Last modified: Thursday, May 5, 2011

2011-2012 William T. Patten Foundation Lecture Series announced

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 5, 2011

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- The William T. Patten Foundation, under the auspices of the Vice Provost for Faculty and Academic Affairs, announces the Patten Lecture Series for 2011-2012. It features linguist, Ray Jackendoff; former diplomat, Charles Hill; and philosopher of science, Peter Galison.

Ray Jackendoff, the Seth Merrin Professor of Philosophy at Tufts University, will lecture during the week of November 6-11, 2011. Jackendoff is one of the world's leading figures in the disciplines of linguistics and cognitive science. He has contributed significantly to our understanding of semantics and concepts, as well as to the evolution of the linguistic faculty in humans. Jackendoff has developed a theory of consciousness and has written several books on the relationship between mind, language and consciousness. In addition, he has applied ideas from language to music, where his theories of semantics have added to our understanding of musical structure and meaning. For more information on Jackendoff, see https://ase.tufts.edu/cogstud/incbios/RayJackendoff/index.htm.

Charles Hill, the Brady-Johnson Distinguished Fellow in Grand Strategy at Yale University, will lecture during the week of March 4-9, 2012. Hill is one of the most distinguished diplomats of his era. He served as a political officer in the U.S. Embassy in Hong Kong just as Mao Tse-Tung's "cultural revolution" was beginning and later as mission coordinator during the climactic period of the Vietnam War (1970-73). He also served on the staff of Secretary of State Henry Kissinger and, during the Carter Administration, focused his attention on the Middle East. Hill served in a variety of positions under Secretary of State George P. Schultz, including one in which he forged a relationship with the Soviet Union (and Mikhail Gorbachev). After retiring from the Foreign Service in 1989, Hill became assistant secretary-general of the United Nations. For more information on Hill, see https://iss.yale.edu/faculty-and-staff.

Peter Galison, the Joseph Pellegrino University Professor, Department of Physics and Philosophy of Science, Harvard University, will lecture during the week of April 1-6, 2012. Galison is one of the most visible and respected historians of modern physics and of contemporary experimental science in general. He has worked on the interaction among experiment, instrumentation and theory, raising a number of crucial issues that are of interest to such diverse readers as historians, philosophers, scientists and anthropologists. His discussion of case studies aims to solve philosophical problems of objectivity, unity and communication, and stability of resources across communities and scientific changes. Galison has also made several important documentaries for public television and cinema. For more information on Galison, see https://www.fas.harvard.edu/~hsdept/bios/galison.html.

All lectures are open to the public and will be held on Tuesdays and Thursdays, 7:30-8:30 p.m. Locations will be announced prior to the events.

The William T. Patten Foundation

The William T. Patten Foundation, endowed by a student of the Indiana University class of 1893, provides generous funds to bring to the Bloomington campus for a week people of extraordinary national and international distinction in the sciences, the humanities and the arts. Past lecturers have included Oscar Arias, Wendell Berry, Jorge Luis Borges, Noam Chomsky, Natalie Zemon Davis, Umberto Eco, Nancy Fraser, Julian S. Huxley, Evelyn Fox Keller, Toni Morrison, Martha Nussbaum, Amos Oz, Jean Palutikof, Helmuth Rilling, Edward Said, Amartya Sen, Wole Soyinka, Rene Thom, Thomas Schelling, Strobe Talbott, and Lester Thurow.

Inquires about the Patten Foundation, the Patten Lecture Series, and future nominations may be directed to vpfaa@indiana.edu.

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