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Academic Events

Fall 2024

Core Plenary Lectures

September 25th - Opening Plenary, Matt O'Hara, Stevenson College Provost

Time: 7:10 to 8:45

Location: The Stevenson Events Center

October 14th - Genesis: The Art of Biblical Storytelling, Bruce Thompson, Stevenson College Lecturer

Time: 7:10 to 8:45

Location: The Stevenson Events Center

Presentation notes Why did the authors of the Hebrew Bible choose to construct the book of Genesis as a series of narratives of troubled families?  How did they tell those stories, and what significant themes run through them?  What do these stories tell us about the biblical writers' view of the human condition?
Note: the link to the presentation notes is from the previous year. We will post the new notes ASAP. 

October 21th -  The Man We Called Jesus- A Historical Perspective, Geoff Childers, Stevenson College Lecturer

Time: 7:10 to 8:45

Location: The Stevenson Events Center

What can the lens of academic history tell us about the life and times of Jesus of Nazareth? What events and ideas shaped his world view? What were the core tenets of his preaching? Why was he crucified? What did he think happens to us when we die? How reliable are Gospel scriptures like Matthew in establishing what actually happened? The answers historians give to these questions are often quite different from what folks typically hear in church.

October 28th - Friedrich Nietzsche: The Love of Life, Kiva Silver, Stevenson College Lecturer

Time: 7:10 to 8:45

Location: The Stevenson Events Center

Presentation notes: In this lecture, students will be introduced to the life, works, and key ideas of Friedrich Nietzsche.  Since Nietzsche was a self-described "philosopher with a hammer," the lecture will also describe the dangers of misreading and misusing Nietzsche's ideas while providing some tips for how to read Nietzsche's difficult prose.  Lastly, the lecture will also situate Nietzsche's ideas within the broader fall curriculum: Nietzsche, in other words, is providing his own "radical reading" of texts we've read earlier in the quarter such as Genesis and Matthew.  Nietzsche's first essay from The Genealogy of Morals is actually part of a wider "conversation," which is the Stevenson Core Course. Lastly, we will consider how Nietzsche's essay--like "Existentialism," Genesis and Matthew--addresses the central ethical question of how to live. In saying "yes to life," Nietzsche's work challenges us to live deliberately, passionately, and creatively.  

November 18th - Love & Serve: What the Bhagavad-Gita Says about How to Live, Caren Camblin, Stevenson College Core Course Coordinator and Lecturer

Time: 7:10 to 8:45

Location: The Stevenson Events Center

Winter 2025

Core Plenary Lectures

January 13th - The Unresolved Question of Capitalism, Edward Kehler, Lecturer at Stevenson College, UCSC

Time: 7:10 to 8:45

Location: The Stevenson Events Center

After the collapse of the Soviet Bloc, the legacy and reputation of Karl Marx & Friedrich Engels appeared to be irreparably damaged. But in the twenty-first century, political discourse has increasingly focused on the social inequality and environmental cost of capitalism.  Is the Communist Manifesto’s critique of capitalism still relevant in the contemporary world?

February 17th - TBD

Time: 7:10 to 8:45

Location: The Stevenson Events Center

Film Screening

March 9th - TBD

Time: 7:10 to 8:45

Location: The Stevenson Events Center

Lecture - TBD