TULANE TALK
October 11, 2002
Good Morning,
I am really excited about the upcoming Tulane University Presidential Symposium “Space and Place: Urban Frontiers Of The 21st Century,” which will take place Oct. 23 at 4 p.m. in the Kendall Cram Room of the University Center. This symposium will bring together some of the country’s foremost scholars to discuss the progress, perils and promise of the world’s urban centers.
Speakers will include Todd Boyd, associate professor at the University of Southern California and producer/co-writer of the film “The Wood.” Professor Boyd is also author of the critically acclaimed “Am I Black Enough For You? Popular Culture from the ‘Hood and Beyond.” His provocatively titled symposium address is “The New HNIC: The Death of Civil Rights and the Reign of Hip Hop.”
The symposium will also feature Michael Dear, professor of geography and director of the Southern California Studies Center at the University of Southern California. Professor Dear is among the most-cited authorities in geography and author and/or editor of 10 books and more than 100 journal articles and reports. Professor Dear’s topic is “Learning from Los Angeles.”
Another symposium speaker will be Myron Orfield, Minnesota State Senator and nationally recognized expert in metropolitan planning. Sen. Orfield’s book, “Metropolitics: A Regional Agenda for Community and Stability,” is a landmark work in the field of regional studies and his latest work, “American Metropolitics: The New Suburban Reality,” is a study of the economic, racial, environmental and political trends of the country’s 25 largest metropolitan regions. Sen. Orfield will discuss “American Metropolitics: The New Suburban Reality.”
Daphne Spain, noted author and professor of urban and environmental planning at the University of Virginia’s School of Architecture, will also address the symposium. Professor Spain, whose works include “Balancing Act: Motherhood, Marriage, and Employment Among American Women” and the forthcoming “How Women Saved the City,” an examination of the urban places built by women volunteers at the turn of the century, will discuss “Approaching the Incessant City” in her address.
The Presidential Symposium is an ongoing effort by Tulane to share the expertise of some of the country’s greatest thinkers with members of the campus community as well as the general public. It is a great time for us to gather as a community and discuss an issue of vital importance to all of us. And, if nothing else, I am told that the cookies ordered for the reception that will follow the discussion are top shelf. I hope to see you all there!
