Contact: Jason A. Smith, communications director
MADISON—The Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters will observe the 10th anniversary of the terrorist attacks of 9/11 on Sunday, September 11, 2011, with an afternoon of discussion and reflection. Entitled Perspectives on a Post-9/11 World, this special event will be followed in the fall with an Academy Evenings series that examines related themes. “Taking the time to reflect on 9/11 at this special event honors those who have died in the service of their country, and gives us a chance to take stock of our history so we can make a better future,” says Wisconsin Academy executive director Margaret Lewis.
Perspectives on a Post-9/11 World brings together a diverse group of distinguished historians, political scientists, artists, musicians, and writers to reflect on questions surrounding who we have become as a nation and as a people in an age of global terrorism, liberation movements, technological upheavals, economic insecurity, and fractious politics. All discussion panels are held in the MMoCA Lecture Hall at the Overture Center, 227 State Street, in Madison. The talks are free and open to the public. Seating is limited and on a first-come basis. Participants are encouraged to arrive early to secure adequate seating. For those who cannot attend, all talks will be recorded and made available on our website (watch for details) and in DVD format. The event topics and speakers for the Sunday, September 11th, event are as follows:
“The US: At Home and Abroad in a Post-9/11 World” – 1:00 pm
John W. Hall, UW–Madison Ambrose-Hesseltine Professor in U.S. Military History and UW–Madison professor of political science Jon Pevehouse will discuss the American military operations in Iraq, Afghanistan, and beyond since 9/11. Hall’s research focuses on “small wars” involving irregular forces: colonial conflicts, insurgencies, and proxy wars. Pevehouse is interested in international security, foreign policy, and international political economy.
“Islam and America: Citizenship and Democracy” – 2:45 pm
Three panelists will reflect on the meaning of citizenship in America: Charles Cohen, UW–Madison professor of history and religious studies and director of the Lubar Institute for the Study of the Abrahamic Religions; Louise Cainkar, associate professor in the Department of Social and Cultural Sciences, Marquette University, and author of Homeland Insecurity: The Arab American Experience after 9/11; and Asifa Quraishi, assistant professor of law at UW–Madison.
“Making Art, Making War” – 4:00 pm
Panelists will consider how the arts can provide new ways of understanding tragedy: John DeMain, music director of the Madison Symphony Orchestra and Wisconsin Academy Fellow; Jane Simon, curator at the Contemporary Art Museum at the University of South Florida (who until recently was curator of exhibitions at the Madison Museum of Contemporary Art); and Valerie Laken, assistant professor of English at UW–Milwaukee and author of Separate Kingdoms: Stories.
Photography Exhibition Reception – 5:00 pm
The Center for Photography at Madison (CPM), in partnership with the Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters and the Overture Center, will memorialize those who lost their lives in the 9/11 terrorist attacks and consider what it is to be an American in an increasingly disparate society in a special exhibition featuring three Wisconsin photographers: Reece Donihi, Carolyn S. Knorr, and Patrick Patterson. This exhibition, on view from September 7–November 6 in the Playhouse Gallery at the Overture Center, is free and open to the public. The public is invited to a free opening reception for this exhibition on September 11, from 5:00 to 9:00 pm.
And Don’t Miss These Academy Evenings, Coming-Up This Fall
This fall, the Wisconsin Academy will continue to explore the theme of Perspectives on a Post-9/11 World with these Academy Evenings discussions, also held at MMoCA’s Lecture Hall, 227 State Street, Madison:
Tuesday, October 18, 2011, 7–8:30 pm: The Post-9/11 Economy: Getting “Civilized” About Deficit Reduction,” featuring Diane Lim Rogers, chief economist, The Concord Coalition, Washington DC.
Tuesday, November 15, 2011, 7–8:30 pm: Global Journalism Ethics in a Post-9/11 World, featuring Stephen J.A. Ward, James E. Burgess Professor of Journalism Ethics in the School of Journalism and Mass Communication at UW–Madison and director of the school’s Center for Journalism Ethics. Ward is also the author of the award-winning The Invention of Journalism Ethics: The Path to Objectivity and Beyond (2005) and Global Journalism Ethics (2010).
Madison Symphony Orchestra and the Wisconsin Veterans Museum will also offer free 9/11-related programming in Madison this fall. Please visit their respective websites for information.
The fall 2011 Academy Evenings series is sponsored by the Pleasant T. Rowland Foundation, the Great Performance Fund at the Madison Community Foundation, Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation, University of Wisconsin–Madison, M&I Bank, Reinhart Boerner Van Duren s.c., the Wisconsin Center for the Study of Liberal Democracy, and Isthmus Publishing Company.
About Academy Evenings
Academy Evenings engage the public in a wide variety of topics of public interest and feature Wisconsin’s leading thinkers, scholars, and artists. These free forums are intended to encourage public interaction with these leaders in an intimate atmosphere designed to foster discussion and build community. The Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters sponsors Academy Evenings regularly in Overture Center for the Arts in Madison and at other venues across the state. For more information on Academy Evenings in your area, visit wisconsinacademy.org/evenings.
