SHERMAN, TEXAS- The 2014 Austin College Will Mann Richardson Lecture Series will feature two guest speakers October 2, with lectures at 11 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. in Hoxie Thompson Auditorium, located on the second floor of Sherman Hall. Under the topic of “The Global Landscape: Idealized home vs. Ravaged Environment,” author James Howard Kunstler will speak at 11 a.m. on “The End of Pretend-The Bug of Wishful Thinking Hits the Windshield of Economic Reality.” Columbia University professor Kristina Ford continues the discussion at 1:30 p.m. on “Can We Stay Here? Policy Implications for a World Facing Climate Change.” Both lectures are free and open to the public.
Kunstler has been described as possibly the world’s most outspoken critic of suburban sprawl. He has written many books, including The Geography of Nowhere, which he said he wrote “because I believe a lot of people share my feelings about the tragic landscape of highway strips, parking lots, housing tracts, mega-malls, junked cities, and ravaged countryside that makes up the everyday environment where most Americans live and work.” His other books include topics such as what makes cities great or miserable, what is America going to do with its mutilated cities, the challenges posed by the coming permanent global oil crisis, climate change, and other “converging catastrophes of the 21st Century.” He has been featured in magazines, and spoken for many prestigious organizations and colleges, including Harvard, Yale, Columbia, Dartmouth, Cornell, MIT, and others.
Ford holds a Ph. D in urban and regional planning from The University of Michigan. She is a professor of professional practice in international and public affairs at Columbia, and previously was an associate professor in the Graduate School of Public Administration at NYU. After Hurricane Katrina, Ford became known as one of the public voices of reason to mediate the storm’s human and civic consequences, heard on CNN, BCC, and National Public Radio. Starting in 1992, she served as director of city planning in New Orleans, and in 2000, won the Award for Distinguished Leadership from Louisiana’s Chapter of the American Planning Association. She also spent a year as chief of staff for New Orleans’ deputy mayor in charge of public facilities, infrastructure, and community development. Ford also is a frequent speaker on urban affairs, has appeared on the Op-Ed page of the New York Times and in Planning magazine, and has written two books. She now focuses her teaching on developing and implementing public policies that originate in how land is used.
The Will Mann Richardson Lectureships and Seminars were endowed by gifts from Will Mann Richardson and his wife, Gertrude Anne Windsor Richardson; his mother-in-law, Gertrude Buckley Windsor; and his children, William Windsor Richardson, John Marshall Richardson, Gertrude Windsor Richardson, and James Windsor Richardson. The purpose of the fund is to bring outstanding individuals to campus to discuss pertinent issues in economics, banking, law, and government.
Austin College, a private national liberal arts college located north of Dallas in Sherman, Texas, has earned a reputation for excellence in academic preparation, international study, pre-professional foundations, leadership development, committed faculty, and hands-on, adventurous learning opportunities. One of 40 schools profiled in Loren Pope’s influential book Colleges That Change Lives, Austin College boasts a welcoming community that embraces diversity and individuality, with more than 36 percent of students representing ethnic minorities. A residential student body of 1,250 students and a faculty of more than 100 allow a 12:1 student-faculty ratio and personalized attention. The College is related by covenant to the Presbyterian Church (USA) and cultivates an inclusive atmosphere that supports students’ faith journeys regardless of religious tradition. Founded in 1849, the College is the oldest institution of higher education in Texas operating under original name and charter.