Boston College Front Row

James Morris, professor of theology at Boston College, situates the McMullen Museum of Art exhibit Cosmophilia: Islamic Art from the David Collection, Copenhagen within the context of Islamic history, art, and literature. Morris emphasizes the importance of repetition and rhythm to Islamic art, which begins from the traditional daily recitation of the Koran.

Morriss most recent books include The Reflective Heart: Discovering Spiritual Intelligence in Ibn Arabis Meccan Illuminations (Fons Vitae, 2005); Orientations: Islamic Thought in a World Civilisation (Archetype, 2004); and The Master and the Disciple: An Early Islamic Spiritual Dialogue (Institute for Ismaili Studies, 2002).

Frances Fox Piven, professor of sociology and political science at the City University of New York, gives a talk based on her forthcoming book, Challenging Authority: How Ordinary People Change America (Rowman Littlefield, 2006). After recounting the current ills of a society biased toward the powerful, Piven highlights the thread of populist resistance in American history from the American Revolution through abolition to the civil rights era. Pivens books include, with Richard Cloward, Poor Peoples Movements (Vintage, 1978) and Regulating the Poor (Vintage, 1993); Why Americans Still Dont Vote (Beacon, 2000); and The War at Home (New Press, 2004).

Piven speaks as part of the sociology departments Distinguished Visiting Scholars Series.

John Christian, an independent geotechnical engineer and member of the National Research Council commission investigating Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath, presents the results of his geological research on the causes of Katrinas devastating physical impact on New Orleans and the Gulf Coast. Christian also provides an overview of the work done by four other independent commissions, including the Army Corps of Engineers and researchers at the University of California, with a particular focus on why the levies of New Orleans failed.

Robert Greifeld, president and CEO of the Nasdaq Stock Market, addresses the BC Chief Executives Club on recent changes in the global capital market that Nasdaq initiated with its purchase of 25 percent of the London Stock Exchange in early 2006. Greifeld states that a consolidation of global markets is upcoming, and explains the timing of these future mergers and acquisitions. Greifeld joined Nasdaq as its CEO in May 2003 after a 20-year career in electronic stock trading. Nasdaq, started in 1971, is the oldest electronic stock exchange in the world.

Greifeld is introduced by Sean Healey, president and CEO of Affiliated Managers Group, after welcoming remarks by Peter Rollins, executive director of corporate and government affairs at the Carroll School of Management at Boston College and president of the Chief Executives Club of Boston.

Archbishop J. Michael Miller, secretary of the Congregation of Catholic Education at the Vatican, speaks on the educational and religious responsibilities of American Catholic universities.

Eunan OHalpin, the Bank of Ireland Professor of Contemporary Irish History at Trinity College, Dublin, walks through the recent efforts of his research team to detail every violent death that occurred during and after the Irish War for Independence. To illustrate the discoveries his team has made, OHalpin reveals details from his own familys exploits during this time period.

At Trinity, OHalpin is also director of the Centre for Contemporary Irish History and a member of the executive committee of the Institute for International Integration Studies. He is the author of five books including Defending Ireland: The Irish State and Its Enemies Since 1922 (Oxford, 1999).

Jake Hyman, Odelia Englander, and Nelly Soudah, youth leaders of the joint Israeli-Palestinian peace movement OneVoice, speak on what they say is the wished for goal of the majority of citizens on either side of the conflict in Palestine: peace through concession and compromise. Englander and Soudah, who grew up on separate sides of the conflict, share stories on how they came to the movement. OneVoice began in 2002 as an attempt to encourage greater civic involvement in the peace process through a call to moderate solutions and grassroots activism.

The OneVoice leaders are introduced by Ali Banuazizi, professor of psychology and faculty member of the Middle East and Islamic Studies Program.

In the inaugural Chambers Lecture, Andrew Boynton, dean of the Carroll School of Management, introduces his concept of virtuoso teams with a case study of the 1970 Apollo 13 mission. Boynton is the author of Invented Here: Maximizing Your Organizations Internal Growth and Profitability (HBSP, 1998) and Virtuoso Teams: Lessons from Teams That Changed Their Worlds (Prentice Hall, 2005).

After his presentation, Boynton is joined in a panel discussion by three fellow Boston College alumni who are benefactors of the Winston Center for Leadership and Ethics: Norman Chambers, president and chief operating officer of NCI Building Systems, Inc.; Charles I. Clough, Jr., founder of Clough Capital Partners LP; and Robert L. Winston, retired senior vice president of American Fund Distributors.

Speaker: Andrew Boynton, Robert Winston, Charles Clough, Norman Chambers

Date: May 4, 2006

Length: 1:16:34

David Shrayer-Petrov reads from his new book Autumn in Yalta: A Novel and Three Stories (Syracuse, 2006), which includes an autobiographical novel set in Stalinist Russia, Strange Danya Rayev. Shrayer-Petrov is a medical scientist and the author of 20 books of prose and poetry in his native Russian and in translation. Shrayer-Petrov is joined by the books editor and cotranslator, his son Maxim D. Shrayer, professor of Russian and English and codirector of the Jewish Studies Program at Boston College, and two of the books cotranslators, Arna B. Bronstein and Aleksandra Fleszar, both professors of Russian at the University of New Hampshire.

Dwayne Carpenter, professor of Hispanic studies and codirector of the Jewish Studies Program, gives the introduction. This event is a part of Writers Among Us: Boston College Readings, a series spotlighting recent book publications by Boston College faculty.

Speaker: David Shrayer-Petrov and Maxim D. Shrayer

Date: May 2, 2006

Length: 1:14:16

Biologist Kenneth R. Miller recounts recent political battles over evolution, including his role as lead witness in the 2005 intelligent design trial in Dover, Pennsylvania, and argues against the presumption that evolution is inherently antireligious. Miller is a professor of biology at Brown University and author of Finding Darwins God: A Scientists Search for Common Ground Between God and Evolution (HarperCollins, 2000).

Speaker: Kenneth R. Miller

Date: May 2, 2006

Length: 1:33:15