Voice!

While Wesleyan Professors are some of the best there are (Woodhouse/Sysco Professor of Economics Gary Yohe, for example, recently won the Nobel Prize for his work with Al Gore on Global Warming ), it is sometimes nice to bring a new perspective to campus. Fortunately, Wesleyan has AWESOME lectures with top notch academics, entertainers, creators, and authors that are some of the best in the world.

A small sampling of some of the best speakers to come to campus in the past four years:

Music and Art:

Dar Williams ‘89 - a folk singer-songwriter

Patti Smith - singer-songwriter, poet, musician, who was one of the women most influential in the birth of punk rock.

Sol LeWitt - minimalist and conceptual artist specializing in wall drawings with exhibitions in museums such as the Museum of Modern Art.

Amiri Baraka - author and poet, former Poet Laureate of New Jersey.

Books and Literature:

Art Spiegelman - comics artist, editor, and Pulitzer-Prize winner for his best selling graphic memoir, Maus.

Daniel Handler/Lemony Snicket ‘92 - author, screenwriter, and musician. Best known for his children’s series A Series of Unfortunate Events. He has played accordion with The Magnetic Fields.

Eric Schlosser - author best known for Fast Food Nation and Reefer Madness.

Journalism and Politics:

Ralph Nader - consumer advocate and presidential candidate.

Seymour Hersh - Pulitzer-Prize winning investigative journalist and author.

Amy Goodman - progressive broadcast journalist and host of the radio program “Democracy Now!”

Madeline Albright - former United States Secretary of State.

Film and Television:

Joss Whedon ‘87 - Academy-Award nominated writer and director famous for his show Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

Alexander Payne - Academy- Award winning director and screenwriter best known for Election.

Michael Bay ‘86 - director and producer best known for The Rock, Transformers, Armageddon, and Pearl Harbor.

Paul Weitz ‘88 - director and screenwriter best known for American Pie, American Dreamz, and In Good Company.

Jonathan Demme - Academy- Award winning director, producer, and writer best known for Silence of the Lambs, Stop Making Sense, and Philadelphia.

Martin Scorsese - Academy-Award winning director, producer, and writer best known for Taxi Driver, Raging Bull, Goodfellas, Gangs of New York, The Aviator, and The Departed.

and… finally… gracing our campus this coming Thursday …

Robin Williams - Academy-Award winning actor and comedian best known for Mork and Mindy, The Birdcage, Patch Adams, Jack, Aladdin, Mrs. Doubtfire, Good Will Hunting, and Dead Poet’s Society.

Enjoy!

Emily Einhorn ‘08 and Jeff Wong ‘08
Senior Interviewers