August 23, 2012 
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Chautauqua’s First Lady, Jane Becker, will conclude this season’s Men’s Club speaker series with a talk titled “Beyond the Gates, Beyond the Season” at 9 a.m. Friday at the United Methodist House.
Becker has been active in a variety of roles on and off the Institution grounds. She is director of strategic planning for Vacation Properties since 2003. In addition, she has been the owner of a business consulting and executive coaching company for the last eight years.
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August 23, 2012 0 Comments
During the late 1960s, Michael Duffy and his Nebraska-born, Congregationalist mother were driving to Ohio from somewhere in the northeast, and they stopped by the Chautauqua Institution.
“I recall peering through a fence as if at the Promised Land,” Duffy said. “I’m hoping to get a little closer to the action on this trip.”
Duffy and co-writer Nancy Gibbs will present their book, The Presidents Club: Inside the World’s Most Exclusive Fraternity, the Chautauqua Literary and Scientific Circle selection for Week Nine, at 3:30 p.m. today in the Hall of Philosophy.
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August 22, 2012 0 Comments
Pamela Karlan will speak at 4 p.m. Wednesday in the Hall of Philosophy on pressing issues before the Supreme Court and Justice Robert Jackson’s legacy.
The Kenneth and Harle Montgomery Professor of Public Interest Law at Stanford Law School, Karlan is also the co-director of the Supreme Court Litigation Clinic.
“The issues I will focus on include this past term’s decision in the Affordable Care Act case, where Jackson’s New Deal-era opinion for the court in Wickard v. Filburn was a focal point,” Karlan said.
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August 21, 2012 0 Comments
Abraham Lincoln was a Christian president, and he embedded Christian ethics of inclusivity, humility and reconciliation within his speeches, writings and presidency, said Ronald C. White Jr., the author of A. Lincoln: A Biography and Lincoln’s Greatest Speech: The Second Inaugural. White presented Monday’s 2 p.m. Interfaith Lecture in the Hall of Philosophy.
White opened this season’s Week Nine religion lecture theme, “The Ethics of Presidential Power,” with a lecture titled “Abraham Lincoln’s Sermon on the Mount: the Second Inaugural Address.”
White began his lecture with a reading of the 701-word document, which only took Lincoln six minutes to read to an audience of 25,000 to 30,000 people on March 4, 1865. At the time the president delivered the speech, the crowd was full of soldiers who had lost limbs during the Civil War, family members who had lost sons and brothers, White said. The atmosphere was turbulent, and already there were threats of Lincoln’s assassination or abduction. Nearby rooftops were strewn with sharpshooters, White said.
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August 20, 2012 0 Comments
Stephen Mansfield will speak on the topic “Faith and the 2012 Presidential Race” this evening, from 7 to 8 p.m. in the Hall of Philosophy. The program is sponsored by Chautauqua Christian Fellowship and co-sponsored by the Department of Religion.
An adviser to leaders around the world, Mansfield is also an activist in a variety of social causes and a regular commentator on the Fox and CNN news networks.
After earning a bachelor’s degree in history and philosophy, Mansfield then moved to Texas where he pastored a church, completed two master’s degrees, hosted a radio show and began acquiring a reputation as a popular speaker of both depth and humor. He moved to Tennessee in 1991 where he again pastored a church, did relief work among the Kurds in Northern Iraq, served as a political consultant, and completed a doctorate.
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August 11, 2012 0 Comments
Brian Lepard, professor of law at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln College of Law, will speak on “Radicalism to Radical Reform: Bahá’i Teachings on Human Progress for the 21st Century” at 3 p.m. Sunday at Smith Wilkes Hall. The presentation is part of the Martha Root Memorial Lecture Series, sponsored by the Bahá’is and co-sponsored by the Department of Religion.
In addition to his teaching responsibilities, Lepard serves as co-director of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Human Rights and Humanitarian Affairs. He is the author of numerous books and articles on the Bahá’i faith, world religions, human rights, ethics, and international law, including Hope for a Global Ethic: Shared Principles in Religious
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August 8, 2012 0 Comments
Nancy Brown Diggs is always amazed at how willing people are to tell their stories. An author and co-author of six books, Diggs was particularly surprised by the forthrightness of those she interviewed for her latest book, Hidden in the Heartland: The New Wave of Immigrants and the Challenge to America.
Diggs will present her most recent book at 2:30 p.m. today in the Smith Memorial Library Meeting Room, reading excerpts, giving updates on the situation and participating in a discussion. Her presentation title is “Hidden in the Heartland: A Conversation about Immigration Experiences, Policy and Reform in America.”
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August 7, 2012 0 Comments
Cheating is not an issue pertaining exclusively to humans — Duane Myron Jackson argues that animals can be just as deceptive.
At 12:15 p.m. today in Smith Wilkes Hall, Jackson will give a presentation with visual aids on “Deceptive Signaling.” Jackson, an animal behaviorist and associate professor of psychology at Morehouse College, will also speak at 12:30 p.m. Thursday about “Insects in the Bible” in the Alumni Hall Ballroom.
“Actually, they’re very deceptive,” Jackson said of the animals he plans to speak about.
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Chautauqua Institution is a community on the shores of Chautauqua Lake in southwestern New York state that comes alive each summer with a unique mix of fine and performing arts, lectures, interfaith worship and programs, and recreational activities. Over the course of nine weeks, more than 170,000 visitors will participate in programs, classes and community events for all ages—all within the beautiful setting of a historic lakeside village. Learn more →
