All events take place at 820 N. Michigan Ave., William G. and Marilyn M. Simpson Lecture Hall, Water Tower Campus unless otherwise noted.

May

Friday, May 16

Join us for a day-long symposium with nationally recognized scholars who will investigate the American landscape as the subject and object of artistic creativity, cultural expression, spiritual meaning and social responsibility. Kenneth Myers from the Detroit Institute of Arts will be the keynote speaker; Loyola professor William French will moderate the symposium; and six speakers will consider the issues of bounty, manifest destiny and manifest responsibility, the themes of Manifest Destiny/Manifest Responsibility.
Click here for a list of speakers and their topics.

Friday, May 16

Join us for a special preview of Manifest Destiny / Manifest Responsibility.

Tuesday, May 20

Join us for an in-depth look at the exhibition with curator Peter John Brownlee, Terra Foundation Postdoctoral Curatorial Fellow. Dr. Brownlee will highlight the exhibition’s themes—bounty, manifest destiny and manifest responsibility—and introduce visitors to works that invite viewers to examine the ecological, cultural and spiritual aspects of their environmental footprints.

June 2008

Tuesday, June 10

Investigating the exhibition’s theme of exploration and America’s “birthright to the American West,” Dr. DeWitt will trace the consequences of America’s extension across North America—first evoking our wonder at the natural world and then provoking our passion to care for and keep it responsibly. Professor in the Gaylord Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Dr. DeWitt was named by the National Wildlife Federation as “a world class conservationist” who “has led and contributed actively to conservation and environmental stewardship at the local, state, national and international level.”

Tuesday, June 17

Join us for a discussion of Landscapes by Photographer Gary Kolb with the Artist.

Wednesday, June 25

American artists addressed the divinity and design of nature, its millennial transformation and the vista it opened up to national expansion during the era of Manifest Destiny. Daniel Howe, professor emeritus from UCLA, relates Manifest Destiny/Manifest Responsibility to his Pulitzer Prize-winning book, What Hath God Wrought: The Transformation of America, 1815-1848.

July 2008

Tuesday, July 1

Historian Julia S. Bachrach will present an overview of her new book of the same title, co-authored by Jo Ann Nathan and with a foreword by Alex Kotlowitz. The book illuminates the fascinating history of Garfield Park, its iconic conservatory, which celebrates its centennial in 2008, and the importance of nature to the development and identity of the surrounding community.

Tuesday, July 22

Vice President of the National Association of Evangelicals, Richard Cizik is at the forefront of Creation Care, a movement that encourages people to adopt sustainable environmental principles and calls for the U.S. government to reduce pollution and resource consumption. Cizik points to Biblical passages, such as Genesis 2:15, which ask us "to watch over and care for" the bounty of the earth and its creatures. Scripture affirms this role and warns that the earth is not ours to abuse, own or dominate, lest "God will destroy those who destroy the earth" (Revelation 11:18). Join us for an engaging lecture on the role of people of faith, scientists and culture-formers in taking care of creation.