Let’s be candid. How Chautauqua Institution will lasso “The American West,” the theme for 2014’s Week Five, is, from the vantage of this season’s fifth week, a work in progress. But this sprawling theme — which will pursue the nation’s artistic, cultural, political and economic gains from Westward expansion — presents many possibilities.
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Tag Archives: Week Five
Kennedy speaks to Week Five theme in special presentation
July 22, 2013 
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Anthony M. Kennedy, associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, will offer remarks on the Week Five theme, “The Pursuit of Happiness,” in a special lecture at 3:30 p.m. today in the Hall of Philosophy.
Nominated to the Supreme Court by President Ronald Reagan, Kennedy took his seat Feb. 18, 1988. In his 25 years on the bench, he has written the court’s majority opinion on many landmark cases, including United States v. Windsor in 2013, Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission in 2010, Kennedy v. Louisiana and Boumediene v. Bush in 2008 and Lawrence v. Texas in 2003.
Continue reading Classicist Rawlings mines Jefferson’s background to illuminate Declaration
July 21, 2013 0 Comments
At 2 p.m. today in the Hall of Philosophy, Hunter R. Rawlings III will have the chance to interview America’s third president firsthand. But before that, in a solo lecture at 10:45 a.m. in the Amphitheater, Rawlings will examine what led to Thomas Jefferson’s assertion, in the Declaration of Independence, of “the pursuit of happiness” as one of humankind’s “inalienable rights.”
Bill Barker, a professional Jefferson character-interpreter, will deliver a short Jefferson speech during Rawlings’ morning lecture and participate as an older Jefferson in the Hall of Philosophy conversation.
Continue reading Chaplain Lundblad to preach during Week Five
July 20, 2013 0 Comments
“I say yes to being chaplain in residence because Chautauqua is a wonderful place to be,” said the Rev. Barbara K. Lundblad, chaplain in residence for Week Five. “I am amazed that people come day after day to hear me preach. You can wear yourself out in this setting.”
Lundblad, the Joe R. Engle Professor of Preaching at Union Theological Seminary in New York City, will preach at the 10:45 a.m. Sunday morning worship service, which will also include Chautauqua’s annual Ecumenical Communion service. Celebrants for the service include Lundblad, the Rev. Joan Brown Campbell and the Rev. Terry W. Bull, of Amherst, N.Y. There will be 66 clergy and assistants serving the stations around the Amphitheater, 12 of whom will be from the New Clergy Conference.
Continue readingWeek Five lectures to explore Jefferson’s ‘pursuit’
July 20, 2013 0 Comments
Lecturers on the 10:45 a.m. Amphitheater platform this week will provide an understanding of happiness in terms of history, community, social class and neurobiology.
Continue readingWeek Five in 2013 dissects Jefferson’s ‘pursuit’
July 28, 2012 Comments Off
Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Jefferson’s immortal words penned in the preamble of the Declaration of Independence have been repeated endlessly, and at present, their meaning has become numbed, if not warped. Life seems to be within our grasp, liberty more or less achieved. But, the pursuit of happiness is more elusive than ever.
Week Five’s theme for the 2013 season is “The Pursuit of Happiness” and will ask Chautauquans to revisit Jefferson’s intended meaning of the phrase, how we can define and measure happiness, and whether American optimism persists.
The week will focus on the theme of happiness from a variety of angles. It will kick off with the establishment of a historical context on the topic, then shift to current sociological trends, touch on the latest neurological studies, and wrap up by putting America’s gauge of happiness in a global perspective.
Continue reading Burns: U.S., Pakistan fated to be allies
July 27, 2012 Comments Off
Though the relationship between Pakistan and the United States has become increasingly complex, the two are destined to be allies.
Nicholas Burns, former U.S. under secretary of state for political affairs, discussed the importance of U.S.-Pakistan relations from the U.S. perspective at Friday’s morning lecture in the Amphitheater. His lecture, titled “Where U.S.-Pakistan Relations Should Go from Here,” concluded Week Five, themed “Pakistan: Straddling the Boundary Between Asia and the Middle East.”
Burns focused on three questions: Is Pakistan important to the United States?; Are the two countries loyal friends to each other?; and How can the next president work with Pakistan to confront challenges?
Continue reading Nawaz: US needs to form relationship with Pakistani society, not military
July 26, 2012 Comments Off
The combination of Pakistan’s involvement in the most recent war in Afghanistan and its weak policy making and governance has diminished its ability to provide for its citizens.
It is a crisis much greater than the state of its relations with the United States, said Shuja Nawaz, director of the South Asia Center at the Atlantic Council, during Thursday’s morning lecture in the Amphitheater.
Nawaz spoke about the situation Pakistan and its military face today, as well as what the country must do to become a strong, prosperous country, during Week Five, themed “Pakistan: Straddling the Boundary Between Asia and the Middle East.”
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