Seven University intellectuals had 12 minutes yesterday evening to tell students gathered in Old Cabell Hall about their "greatest idea" for "Look Hoos Talking," a Student Council-sponsored event.
The seven speakers were Dean of Students Allen Groves, Media Studies Prof. Siva Vaidhyanathan, History Prof. Herbert Tico Braun, Religious Studies Prof. Martien Halvorson-Taylor, Politics Prof. Herman Schwartz, Psychology Prof. Shigehiro Oishi and English Prof. Michael Levenson.
Student Council President-elect Johnny Vroom said the program was modeled after an event held at Harvard University. "[I like] the fact that Harvard made an intellectual event appealing to students, glamorized it, and made discussion appealing outside of the classroom," he said.
Students selected the event speakers in an online survey last spring organized by the Student Council Academic Affairs Committee.
Vaidhyanathan spoke about what he called the "Googlization of everything and the Human Knowledge Project," which is the central focus of his book, "The Googlization of Everything." He addressed Google's 2004 project to create a virtual library, which attempted to "Googlize" everything, he said.
Vaidhyanathan added although it may be tempting to entrust information to Google individuals should not simply go for the quickest, easiest fix. "It's about enhancing human life," he said. "We can't just outsource it to a private company."
Braun spoke about the importance of reevaluating the way in which individuals empathize with others.
Levenson spoke last, encouraging students to send him an email which said "I'm in" to emphasize the importance of living life to the fullest.
Tickets for the 800 available seats in Old Cabell Hall were reserved less than 24 hours after they had become accessible to students. "For me, it was definitely encouraging this year how quickly the tickets sold out," said Stephen Nash, Committee co-chair and third-year College student. Vroom said he hopes Council will continue the event in the future.
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