The University of Georgia’s Signature Lectures series continues in a virtual format for fall 2020, with renowned scholars and leaders in fields such as film production, global affairs, philanthropy, agribusiness, arts and humanities sharing their insights and expertise.

“In the midst of the pandemic, UGA’s colleges and schools have attracted a terrific lineup of speakers for the fall,” said Meg Amstutz, associate provost for academic programs. “The all-virtual format for the Signature Lectures is new and different, but we hope that it will enable even more people to participate in the series.”

Signature Lectures highlight speakers noted for their broad, multidisciplinary appeal and compelling bodies of work. Many of the lectures are supported by endowments, while others honor notable figures and milestones in the university’s history. All Signature Lectures are free and open to the public. Capacity is limited for some lectures, with registration required.

For more information and updates on Signature Lectures, see https://provost.uga.edu/news-events/events/signature-lectures/2020-2021/. Details on fall 2020 Signature Lectures are below.

Elizabeth Deeley, Global Vice Chair of the Complex Commercial Litigation Practice and Partner, Latham & Watkins, LLP
Diversity and Inclusion Lecture Series

September 16, 9 a.m., Zoom Webinar

Deeley is a seasoned trial lawyer and a top adviser to Fortune 100 companies. She is an active member of the firm’s Women Enriching Business Committee and is committed to promoting diversity and inclusion in the legal community. Deeley has served on a number of boards, including for the National Center for Lesbian Rights and Legal Aid at Work and was a member of the Judiciary Committee with the San Francisco Bar. She is a member of the Association of Business Trial Lawyers, the Hispanic National Bar Association and the Bay Area Lawyers for Individual Freedom. Deeley is a 1992 graduate of UGA with a Bachelor of Business Administration degree.

Sponsored by the Institute for Leadership Advancement

Salimah El-Amin and Stephanie Jenkins, Producers, Ken Burns’ Florentine Films
Brown Media Archives and Peabody Awards Collection 25th Anniversary Event:

Florentine Films Panel Discussion
Sept. 16, 7 p.m., Facebook Live event

This event is part of the celebration of the 25th anniversary of the Brown Media Archives and Peabody Awards

Collection. Florentine Films’ archival researchers Stephanie Jenkins and Salimah El-Amin will discuss a

behind-the-scenes look at the art and craft of the documentary researcher. El-Amin is a co-producer on a forthcoming documentary film about the life and work of Ernest Hemingway, slated to be released later this year. Jenkins has been working with Ken Burns and Florentine Films since 2010, and she is currently a producer on an upcoming Muhammad Ali film.

Sponsored by the UGA Libraries and Brown Media Archives and Peabody Awards Collection

Michael P. Zuckert, Nancy Reeves Dreux Professor of Political Science, Emeritus at the University of Notre Dame
Constitution Day 2020: “The Consistency of James Madison: the Bill of Rights”
Sept. 17, 2:30 p.m., Zoom virtual lecture
*Registration required. Capacity limited.

Zuckert, a political philosopher, focuses his research in the areas of modern political thought and American constitutionalism. In addition to several articles, his books include “Natural Rights and the New Republicanism,” “The Natural Rights Republic” and “Launching Liberalism.” Zuckert is also the founder and lead editor of the journal American Political Thought and senior scholar for “Liberty!,” a six-hour public television series on the American Revolution. He is currently completing “Natural Rights and the New Constitutionalism,” a study of American constitutionalism in a theoretical context.

Sponsored by the School of Public and International Affairs, Department of Political Science and The American Founding Group 

Johanna Drucker, Breslauer Professor of Bibliographical Studies at UCLA
Provost’s Seminar Series: “Rethinking Assumptions: The Current Value(s) of Academic Work”
Sept. 25, 1 p.m., Zoom virtual lecture
*Registration required. Capacity limited.

Drucker is internationally renowned for her work in the history of graphic design, typography, experimental poetry, fine art and digital humanities. Her research includes modeling interpretation for electronic scholarship, digital aesthetics, the history of visual information design, history of the book and print culture and critical studies in visual knowledge representation. Drucker’s most recent books are “SpecLab: Digital Aesthetics and Speculative Computing” and “Graphic Design History: A Critical Guide.” She is currently working on a database memoire, “ALL, the Online Museum of Writing,” in collaboration with University College London and King’s College.

Sponsored by the Office of the Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost, Willson Center for Humanities and Arts, UGA Libraries and the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences

Susan Schneider, NASA-Baruch Blumberg Chair at the Library of Congress and NASA; William F. Dietrich Distinguished Professor of Philosophy at Florida Atlantic University
Scott and Heather Kleiner Lecture Series in Philosophy: “AI, Your Brain, and the ‘Thought Data Economy'”
Oct. 8, 4 p.m., Virtual lecture

Schneider writes about the nature of the self and mind, with a focus on issues in philosophy, artificial intelligence (AI), cognitive science and astrobiology. In her most recent book, “Artificial You: AI and the Future of the Mind,” Schneider explores the philosophical implications of AI, as well as the enterprise of “mind design.” Schneider has worked with NASA on the future of intelligence and currently works with the U.S. Congress on AI policy development. Her work has been featured in notable publications such as The New York Times, Scientific American and Smithsonian.

Sponsored by the Department of Philosophy and Institute for Artificial Intelligence

Carolyn Finney, Scholar-in-Residence, Franklin Environmental Center at Middlebury College
“What’s Race Got to do With It? Christian Cooper, John Muir and the Nature of Green Space”
Oct. 15, 3:30 p.m., Virtual lecture

Finney, a storyteller and a cultural geographer, explores the complex intersections of race and the environment. She seeks to increase awareness of how privilege influences how we experience the outdoors and the definition of environmental issues. Finney’s scholarship focuses on gender and environmental management in Kenya and Nepal, as well as on African Americans’ experiences with the outdoors in the United States. Her first book, “Black Faces, White Spaces: Reimagining the Relationship of African Americans to the Great Outdoors,” was released in 2014.

Sponsored by the Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources

Diane DeMell Jacobsen, chairman, Thomas H. and Diane DeMell Jacobsen Ph.D. Foundation
“The Art of Seating: 200 Years of American Design”
Oct. 21, 3 p.m., Zoom virtual lecture

Jacobsen is a distinguished international affairs scholar, curator, business executive and passionate collector of American art. Most notably, she is the founder of the Thomas H. and Diane DeMell Jacobsen Ph.D. Foundation, which is dedicated to collecting, preserving and sharing museum-quality works of American art. The foundation’s collection includes paintings, sculpture, silver and furniture. Jacobsen’s lecture will be presented in conjunction with the Georgia Museum of Art exhibition “The Art of Seating: 200 Years of American Design,” on view from Oct. 17 through Jan 3.

Sponsored by the Georgia Museum of Art

Admiral James G. Stavridis, United States Navy Admiral (Ret.) and Operating Executive, The Carlyle Group
“Geopolitics and Leadership in the Time of Coronavirus: What Lies Ahead?”
Oct. 27, 5:30 p.m., Zoom virtual lecture

Admiral Stavridis is a retired four-star officer in the U.S. Navy. He led the NATO Alliance in global operations from 2009 to 2013 as supreme allied commander with responsibility for Afghanistan, Libya, the Balkans, Syria, counter piracy and cybersecurity. He also served as commander of U.S. Southern Command. From 2006 to 2009, he was responsible for all military operations in Latin America. Stavridis holds more than 50 medals, including 28 from foreign nations. He is a monthly columnist for Timeand a chief international security analyst for NBC. Stavridis is also the author of nine books, including “Sailing True North.”

Sponsored by the School of Public and International Affairs and Center for International Trade and Security

Ralph Eubanks, Author and Visiting Professor of Southern Studies, English, and Honors in the Center for the Study of Southern Culture at the University of Mississippi

Georgia Writers Hall of Fame 20th Anniversary Celebration: “Georgia’s Literary Past and the Future of Southern Letters”
Nov. 8, 4 p.m., Livestream lecture

Eubanks, a 2007 Guggenheim Fellow, is currently a visiting professor of English and southern studies at the University of Mississippi. He is the author of “Ever Is a Long Time: A Journey Into Mississippi’s Dark Past,” “The House at the End of the Road: The Story of Three Generations of an Interracial Family in the American South” and “A Place Like Mississippi.” Eubanks is the former editor of the Virginia Quarterly Review at the University of Virginia and served as director of publishing at the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C., from 1995 to 2013. He has also published essays in The Hedgehog Review, American Scholar, The Georgia Reviewand The New Yorker.

Sponsored by the UGA Libraries, Hargrett Rare Book and Manuscript Library and The Georgia Review

Julie Borlaug, Vice President of External Relations, Inari Agriculture, Inc.
D.W. Brooks Lecture
Nov. 10, 3:30 p.m., Zoom virtual lecture

Borlaug is the granddaughter of American biologist, humanitarian and Nobel laureate Norman E. Borlaug. As the vice president of external relations for Inari Agriculture, she is continuing the Borlaug legacy and inspiring the next generation by advocating for innovation and technology to end hunger and poverty. Borlaug has developed agricultural partnerships between public, private and philanthropic groups to expand the mission to feed the world’s hungry. She previously served as director of strategic initiatives for Texas A&M Agrilife Research, associate director of external relations for the Borlaug Institute for International Agriculture, and director of development for the American Cancer Society.

Sponsored by the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences

Maxine Clark, CEO and Co-Founder, The Clark-Fox Family Foundation
Driven by Purpose: Philanthropy and Social Good
Nov. 11, 12:45 p.m., Zoom virtual lecture
*Registration required. Capacity limited.

Clark is one of the true innovators in the retail industry. She is chief inspirator of Delmar DivINe, CEO of the Clark-Fox Foundation, and founder and former CEO of Build-A-Bear Workshop. In 2013, Clark stepped down from her Chief Executive Bear role to apply her entrepreneurial skills to her passion for improving K-12 public education and to invest in and mentor women and minority entrepreneurs. Her latest venture, Delmar DivINe, is the first collaborative space dedicated to maximizing the human and financial capital of St. Louis’ social initiatives and institutions. Slated to open in 2021, Clark hopes this project will encourage community development and social improvement. She has also published the book “The Bear Necessities of Business: Building a Company with Heart.” Clark is a 1971 graduate of UGA with a bachelor’s degree in journalism and was the speaker for the university’s summer Commencement exercises in 2008.

Sponsored by the Department of Advertising and Public Relations in the Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication

Marion Nestle, Professor Emerita, New York University
Inaugural Food, Power, and Politics Lecture
Nov. 12, Time TBA, Livestream lecture

Nestle is the Paulette Goddard Professor Emerita of nutrition, food studies and public health at New York University. She is also a consumer advocate, nutritionist and author of six award-winning books. Nestle’s research examines scientific and socioeconomic influences on food choice, obesity and food safety, with an emphasis on the role of food marketing. Among her recent honors are the John Dewey Award for Distinguished Public Service from Bard College and the Public Health Hero Award from the University of California School of Public Health at Berkeley.

Sponsored by the Richard B. Russell Library for Political Research and Studies, UGA Libraries and College of Family and Consumer Sciences

Requests for accommodations for those with disabilities should be made as soon as possible but at least seven days prior to the scheduled lecture. Contact Sherri Bennett in the Office of Academic Programs at 706-542-0383 or [email protected] to request accommodations.