A Talk by Dr. Jared Diamond

Washed Up: The Role of Water in the Collapse of Civilizations

Date:  April 6, 2011
Time:  7:00PM
Location:  Irvine Auditorium, 3400 Spruce Street

There are absolutely no more tickets remaining for the talk; there may be some open seats owing to no-shows on the night, but we cannot guarantee non-ticketed persons seats.

Information about Dr. Diamond and the talk, as well as our co-sponsors, after the jump.

Jared Diamond is a major American public intellectual and leading scholar of physiology, ecology, conservation biology, and history. A recipient of the National Medal of Science, he is also the author of numerous widely-acclaimed books, including Guns, Germs, and Steel (recipient of the Pulitzer Prize), Collapse, The Third Chimpanzee, and Why is Sex Fun?. This talk promises to be an exciting and valuable opportunity to engage with a figure of international renown and interest.

After the talk, a public reception for Jared Diamond will be held in the Hall of Flags (Houston Hall, 1st Floor), to which all are invited.

Abstract: The ruined cities, temples, and statues of history’s great, vanished societies (Easter Island, Anasazi, the Lowland Maya, Angkor Wat, Great Zimbabwe and many more) offer more than idle conjecture: the social collapses were due in part to the types of environmental problems that beset us today. Yet many societies facing similar problems do not collapse. What makes certain societies especially vulnerable? Why didn’t their leaders perceive and solve their environmental problems? What can we learn from their fates?

Co-Sponsors: The Social Planning and Events Committee (SPEC) Fully Planned Fund, SPEC Connaissance, The Undergraduate Assembly, The Student Activities Council, The Department of Earth and Environmental Science, The Department of Chemistry, The Nursing School, The Initiative for Global Environmental Leadership, The Law Program in the Department of Legal Studies and Business Ethics, The Department of Political Science, The Roy and Diana Vagelos Program of Life Sciences and Management, The Department of Classical Studies, Harrison College House, Center for Ancient Studies, The Department of Psychology, The Department of African Studies, The Department of History, The Green Campus Partnership, The College of Arts and Sciences, The Department of History and Sociology of Science, Penn Professional Staff Assembly, The Department of English, Center for East Asian Studies

Feel free to contact Alec Webley (moderator@philomathean.org) with any questions.

For more information about the Philomathean Society, please visit http://www.philomathean.org.

For more information about the Provost’s Year of Water, please visit https://secure.www.upenn.edu/themeyear/water/.

For more information about Dr. Diamond, check out his TED talk at http://www.ted.com/speakers/jared_diamond.html.

6 PM, 3 March, 2010 | Hall of Flags

The Annual Orator for 2010 was Dr. Judith Butler, who delivered her oration on “From Performativity to Precarity” in 
the Hall of Flags, Houston Hall, on Wednesday, March 3, 2010.

For more details on the talk, see the relevant Daily Pennsylvanian article.

Radical philosopher Judith Butler has contributed immensely to fields ranging from political science to comparative literature, but her influence has undoubtedly been greatest in the field of feminist theory. Her book “Gender Trouble” has become a foundational work of gender studies and her subsequent books have enjoyed similar fame. Professor Butler is currently the Maxine Elliott professor in the Departments of Rhetoric and Comparative Literature at the University of California, Berkeley and the Hannah Arendt Chair at the European Graduate School EGS.

Philo thanks its cosponsors for the 2010 Annual Oration: SPEC Connaissance, SPEC Fully Planned, The College of Arts and Sciences, DuBois College House, Penn Program in Democracy, Constitutionalism and Citizenship, Penn Humanities Forum, The LGBT Center, The Women’s Center, Queer Student Alliance, The Departments of Philosophy, History, Women’s Studies, Comparative Literature and Political Science.