To the Daily:
We were glad to see a front page story on the LSA Theme Semester (LSA theme year focuses on Museums, 02/04/2010). A number of students interviewed for the story indicated that they were unaware of the current Theme Semester on “Meaningful Objects: Museums in the Academy.”
As the organizers of next fall’s Theme Semester, we would like to take the opportunity provided by your coverage to let readers know that the Theme Semester for Fall 2010 will focus on “What Makes Life Worth Living?” Among the theme-related events taking place next fall will be the celebration of the 50th anniversary of John F. Kennedy’s speech on the steps of the Michigan Union about what would later become the Peace Corps, a talk by noted author and early Peace Corps volunteer Paul Theroux, the Tanner Lecture on Human Values given by Martin Seligman, the leading figure in the field of positive psychology, and a talk and workshop led by Alissa Wilson, one of the authors of “Practical Idealists: Changing the World and Getting Paid.”
A website with an events calendar, a list of theme-related courses and details about other activities that will be part of the Theme Semester will be online in early March.
Anyone interested in learning more about the Fall 2010 Theme Semester is invited to contact us at whatmakeslifeworthliving@umich.edu. We will also have a table at the LSA Concentration/Cool Opportunities Fair in the Michigan Union on March 17.
John Chamberlin and Christopher Peterson
Faculty