Phillips Academy Announces Summer Lecture Series

June 25, 2008 — The annual W.E.B. DuBois Colloquia, sponsored by Phillips Academy’s Summer Session, kicks off Thursday, July 10, with “The Search for Life on Mars,” presented by Dr. Jon Pedicino, a 1986 Andover graduate who heads the science department at College of the Redwoods in California. Pedicino, a Dartmouth graduate who earned a PhD degree in planetary science from the University of Arizona, will discuss the ever-increasing evidence that there is life beyond our solar system making use of extraordinary NASA imagery from Mars and the moons of Jupiter. He will speak at 6:15 p.m. in Kemper Auditorium on Chapel Avenue on the Phillips Academy campus.

One of four presentations—all free and open to the public—Pedicino’s will be followed on July 17 by Helen Wertheimer, who escaped Nazi Germany at age 7 after the operation known as Kristallnacht, or “night of broken glass,” prompted Jews in Great Britain to rescue Jewish children from much of Europe. Their rescue operation, known as Kindertransport, saved the lives of thousands of children and, in some cases, reunited them with their families. Wertheimer will tell her moving story in the historical context of the times in a presentation called “Into the Arms of Strangers.”

On July 24 recent Andover graduate Jess Cole ’08 takes the stage to offer an overview and demonstration of the emerging art form known as “slam” poetry. Her presentation is titled “SLAM: A New Direction for Self-Expression.” Spoken-word poetry has become a popular phenomenon in urban centers around the country, and Cole will share her recent research into and experience with this ancient genre of expression that has become a megaphone for the cultural identity of a new generation.

On July 31 three Andover students and faculty member Raj Mundra will offer “Niswarth: Empowering Global Citizenship,” reflections on their recent experience in Mumbai, India. Mundra, assistant dean of the Office of Community and Multicultural Development at Andover, is the founder of and faculty advisor to the innovative global service-learning program that is becoming a model for translating “goodness and knowledge into action” in the developing world. Three students who participated in the program this summer, all from the class of 2010, will discuss their experiences with Niswarth, a Hindi word which translates as “not for self”—as does the Academy’s historic non sibi motto. Celia Lewis and Zahra Bhaiwala, both residents of Andover, and Dominic Dejesus of Lowell will share their stories and photographs as well as discuss ways in which other schools and students can become involved in these types of projects.

The Colloquia honors the spirit of activist, educator, intellectual and writer W.E.B. DuBois, following the example he set in devoting his long life to encouraging intellectual development, economic independence and artistic expression in the pursuit of racial equality. The forums will take place the last four Thursdays in July from 6:15 to 7:30 p.m.