Inside Iowa State: Iowa State University

August 30, 2002

Visiting writer series highlights Lectures lineup

by Linda Charles
Several authors will visit campus during the coming year as part of the ISU Lectures Program "Imagining the Land: Visiting Writers Series."

Among the visiting writers will be Michael Martone, whose latest book (The Flatness and Other Landscapes) won the Associated Writing Programs Prize for Creative Nonfiction in 1998, and Betty Fussell, author of nine books, including My Kitchen Wars. Martone was a member of the ISU English faculty from 1980 to 1987.

Jane Smiley, a former distinguished professor of English at Iowa State who won a 1992 Pulitzer Prize for her novel A Thousand Acres, will celebrate her birthday on campus in September with a reading from her works. She also will join John Cole, director of the National Center for the Book at the Library of Congress, for "Voices from the Prairie: The Third Annual Iowa Writers' Celebration."

Current issues will be examined during several of the Lectures Program talks. September lectures include "Genetically Engineering Plants for Enhancement of Nutritional Content" and "Are We Really Free: The Status of Civil Liberties After 9-11." Other lectures will include "Bayard Rustin, Civil Rights and American Homophobia" and "Are Teens Really Competent to Stand Trial?" both in October, and "Can Values Be Good for Science?" in February 2003.

Women's Week in October will feature Jayne Hitchcock, an online crime and security expert, who will discuss "The Wild, Wild Web: Cyberstalking."

The Institute on World Affairs (October and November) will take a look at "Religion and Conflict." Among the lectures scheduled are "The Foundations of Hindu-Muslim Unity: Raising Questions," "The Myth of Religious Violence" and "Defining Fundamentalism."

The Institute on National Affairs (spring semester) will examine "Mass Media and Culture in America." As part of the institute, Susan Douglas, author of Where the Girls Are: Growing Up Female with the Mass Media, will discuss "Motherhood in Media" in February.

Details of Lectures Program events will be listed in the Inside and ISU online calendars. Most Lectures Program events are free.