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2007 Summer Speaker Series
19th Annual Summer Speaker Series
Tuesdays at 7:30 pm
in the Esther Wood Music Room
July 10, Bill Coperthwaite
- {Bill Coperthwaite} “In Search of a Saner Life”
Awarded a doctorate from Harvard University’s School of Education for his work with Eskimo villagers, Coperthwaite has been fascinated by the beauty and intelligence of the traditional central Asian nomadic tents called yurts. A Maine native who has traveled the world in search of folk-art techniques and subsistence skills, he introduced yurt design and construction to North America and has participated in building more than 300 of these structures over four decades. The author of “A Handmade Life,” Coperthwaite founded the Yurt Foundation to promote sensible and economic self-reliance.
{Rich Whittlesey} July 17, Rich Whittlesey
- “From Dreams to Reality:
The Amazing Hubble Space Telescope”
With Bachelors and Masters degrees in Electrical Engineering from the University of Connecticut, Whittlesey’s career focused primarily on space-based and aircraft-based electronics. Having worked for several companies including the Perkin Elmer Corporation, Hughes, Raytheon and the Goodrich Corporation over his 37-year career, Whittlesey served as Chief Electrical Engineer at Goodrich for several years assigned to the Hubble Space Telescope. He is still currently involved with the project through the Volt Technical Service Consulting firm.
{Polar Bear Safari} July 24,
Leslie Clapp GSA '82
- “The Polar Bear Safari”
Every fall, the tundra surrounding Churchill, Manitoba, becomes a stopover for more than 1,000 polar bears on their annual migration to hunt for food on the frozen ice of Hudson Bay. Large numbers of these usually solitary bears gather there, making it the “Polar Bear Capital of the World.” In November of 2005, Leslie Clapp and Blaise deSibour saw these magnificent predators “up close and personal” from the safety oftundra buggies on a Maine Audubon expedition. Come learn about polar bear behavior, witness what two bears look like ‘waltzing’ when they are actually young males play-fighting, and explore the natural history of the Arctic. (Clapp is the President of the Downeast Chapter of Maine Audubon.)
July 31, Robin Alden
- “Fish for the Future: How Communities Can Help”
Having worked in fisheries in Maine since the early 1970’s, Alden is currently the Executive Director of Penobscot East Resource Center, a community organization located in Stonington, Maine, which works to secure a future for fishing communities from the Penobscot Bay islands east to the Canadian border. In 1973, she founded Commercial Fisheries News, a regional fishing trade newspaper, which she served as its editor and publisher for almost 20 years. From 1995 to 1997, Alden was Maine’s Commissioner of Marine Resources. In 1997, she received the Gulf of Maine Council on the Marine Environment Visionary Award.
{James Yerkes} August 7, James Yerkes, Ph.D.
- “‘Our Little Systems’: Science, Religion,
and the Ongoing Human Paradox”
The intrinsic Enlightenment tension between empirical science and religious commitments seems irritatingly to persist. In the academic and cultural histories of both religion and science the paradox is the fact that our intellectual reach predictably exceeds our grasp. What cognitive significance should we assign to this? The issues are actually classical and ongoing because they deal with this paradox of our lives at many levels: our passionate desire for rational closure as "final" consistently founders--or so our personal and cultural history seem to demonstrate. Along the way we will note some interesting counsel from several great Western poets. (Yerkes completed his Ph.D. in philosophical theology at the University of Chicago and is a retired college professor living in Surry.)
{John M. Roberts, M.D.} August 14, John M. Roberts, M.D.
- “Eastward: The Cultural and Economic History of Coastal Maine”
Come trace the historical evolution of social and economic factors that contribute to life as we now know it on the Down East Coast of Maine. Growth has turned out to be sometimes beneficial, sometimes detrimental, while seeming sometimes joyful, sometimes sad. Better understanding of the past may help recognize recurring events and provide better direction for the future. (Roberts is Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery Emeritus at Boston University School of Medicine, a founding member of the Steering Committee for Colloquy Downeast, and President of the Blue Hill Historical Society.)
{David Stearns} August 21, David Stearns
- “Saudi Arabia in Black and White: Testing Our Stereotypes”
GSA Social Studies Teacher and Department Chair, David Stearns was one of 25 teachers selected nationwide to participate this past November in the Aramco Educators to Saudi Arabia Program, a ten-day, fully-funded tour for educators, examining Saudi history, culture, industry, education and Saudi-US relations. Having taught oversees in Zambia, Thailand and Germany as part of the International School system, Stearns shares his impressions and gives us a glimpse into the complexities of Saudi culture. Based on time he spent in Dammam, Riyadh and Jeddah, his observations involve the status and dress of women, the relationship between Saudi politics and Islam, and Saudi and American perceptions of each other. |
