Charles E. Young Opens Chancellor’s Colloquium Series for 2013-2014

Charles E. Young, Chancellor Emeritus and Professor Emeritus of Political Science and Public Policy at the University of California, Los Angeles, opens the Chancellor’s Colloquium Distinguished Speaker Series for 2013-2014 on Tuesday, October 1, 2013, in the Vanderhoef Studio Theatre at the Mondavi Center for the Performing Arts with his talk, “The University of California: Past, Present and Future.”  Dr. Young is internationally recognized as a leader of higher education, making good on his inaugural pledge to advance UCLA “from the second-level of good universities to the first rank of excellent universities” as Chancellor of UCLA from 1968 to 1997.

Educated in California universities, Dr. Young received a B.A. with honors in political science from the University of California, Riverside in 1955, and an M.A. (1957) and Ph.D. (1960) in political science from UCLA.  After retirement as UCLA Chancellor, he served as President of the University of Florida from 1999 to 2004.  He was then asked to become President of the Qatar Foundation, a post that he held from 2004 to 2006.  Following his return from Qatar he was asked to serve as CEO of the Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA).  He participated in the turnaround of that great institution from 2008 until 2010.

Since its first event in 2010, Chancellor Linda P.B. Katehi’s colloquium has worked to increase local and national awareness of UC Davis and its contribution to university-based research.  Dr. Young’s experience gives him great perspective on these issues, having served on several national and international educational commissions, including those of the American Council on Education, the National Association of State Universities and Land-Grant Colleges, and the Business Higher Education Forum.

The Chancellor’s Colloquium Series enters its fifth season this fall and will welcome three additional speakers in 2013-2014.  The speakers scheduled for this year—made up of leading voices from in higher education, journalism, and the arts—promise to continue the event’s commitment to fostering debates on the most pressing issues of our time.  This series of talks and responses by UC Davis faculty members highlights the far-reaching impact of the work engaged in by UC Davis students and faculty members.

Below is the schedule of the remaining speakers in 2012-2013:

January 14-15, 2014: Hamid Dabashi, an Iranian-American cultural critic and literary theorist.  Dabashi is the Hagop Kevorkian Professor of Iranian Studies and Comparative Literature at Columbia University. He is the author of over 20 books on subjects ranging from Iranian culture, medieval and modern Islam, the world of cinema and the philosophy of art. His most recent book Being Muslim in the World re-examines the role of Muslim identity and Islam more generally in the context of contemporary global politics.

February 26, 2014: Stephen Petronio, the artistic director of the Stephen Petronio Company, a dance studio based in New York City. For over 25 years, Petronio has collaborated with musicians and artists from across the globe to create performances that explore new forms of dance, music, art and fashion. Petronio has been awarded several prestigious distinctions, including a John Simon Guggenheim Fellowship, awards from the Foundation for Contemporary Performance Arts, New York Foundation for the Arts, an American Choreographer Award, and a New York Dance and Performance “Bessie” Award.

May 1, 2014: Henry Jenkins, Provost’s Professor of Communication, Journalism, Cinematic Arts and Education at the University of Southern California. Prior to joining USC in

2009, he was the Peter de Florez Professor in the Humanities and the director of the Media Studies graduate degree program at MIT. Over the course of his career, Jenkins has established himself as a preeminent voice in the effort to redefine the role of journalism, scholarship, and consumerism in the digital age. As a leading scholar in this area, he has been at the forefront of investigating the concept of “participatory culture,” a system that blurs the line between content providers and consumers. His most recent book, Convergence Culture: Where Old and New Media Collide, further explores this transformation of storytelling in the digital age.

To learn more about past lineups for the Chancellor’s Colloquium Distinguished Speakers series, please visit the official website.