Issues such as the economy, foreign policy, and energy dominated the 2008 presidential election, and these same issues will be tackled during Ohio Wesleyan University's 2009-2010 Sagan National Colloquium.

The theme of the year-long Sagan National Colloquium (SNC) is "Renewing America for a Global Century: From Theory to Practice at Ohio Wesleyan University." In the fall, 10 speakers will engage students to think about America's renewal through timely, topical discussions, and students will be able to enroll in a quarter-credit SNC course. In the spring, theory will be put to practice.

"The SNC will bring to campus a series of distinguished speakers who will address this topic from many perspectives and enrich our conversation about the implications of life in a global century," says OWU President Rock Jones.

Professor Sean Kay, director of the 2009-2010 colloquium, says each speaker in the fall line-up specializes in a topic that has an impact on America's renewal and relevance in the world.

"The theory of the fall is to discuss how we think about the issue," says Kay, who also serves as chair of OWU's International Studies Program. "In the spring, we will apply interactive opportunities and develop projects concerning what it's going to take to really affect America. It will introduce significant off-campus studies both internationally and in the U.S."

• On September 8, Barbara Ehrenreich, author of "Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America," will kick off the series when she speaks as part of the English Department's Katherine Kearney Carpenter Lecture Series. She was invited because her book raises important questions, and her presentation will help to frame the overall challenge of renewal, Kay says.

"From there, we wanted to go global then work it from the international level to the national level, then locally, then back to the conceptual framework." Kay says. "[The series] flows very well, and we want the students to experience a curriculum that has a logical flow to it."

• On September 24, Robert Pape, a political science professor at the University of Chicago, will lead a conversation discussing America's position in the world. Pape, author of "Dying to Win: The Strategic Logic of Suicide Terrorism," will ask fundamental questions such as "Where do we stand relative to our position in the world?" and "How does it affect us?"
• On September 28, Nathaniel Fick, U.S. Marine Corps veteran and author of "One Bullet Away: The Making of a Marine Officer," will discuss the legacy America has created with its involvement in Afghanistan. Students may know Fick from his portrayal in the HBO series, "Generation Kill," which examines America in Iraq.
• On October 2, Susan Eisenhower, president of the Eisenhower Group, Inc., will discuss fueling American power and America's energy infrastructure. This discussion will coincide with Homecoming Weekend, which Kay says provides "a great opportunity for our students and alumni to interact with Eisenhower." The Eisenhower Group provides strategic counsel on political, business and public affairs projects. Eisenhower's books include "Partners in Space: US-Russian Cooperation After the Cold War,"
• On October 8, Kori Schake, a senior foreign policy adviser to the presidential campaign of Sen. John McCain and a former senior U.S. State Department and National Security Council official, will discuss American "grand strategy." Schake, author of "Managing American Hegemony: Essays on Power in a Time of Dominance," is considered a top expert on American power in the world. Schake also is a research fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University.
• On October 20, Richard Longworth, a senior fellow at the Chicago Council on Global Affairs and a former Chicago Tribune foreign correspondent, will help to redirect the international conversation to the domestic aspect of America's renewal. Longworth, author of "Caught in the Middle: America's Heartland in the Age of Globalism" and "Global Squeeze," will discuss how the changing economy affects the Midwest. "[This discussion] gives us a chance to think about Ohio and what kinds of shifts have been going on economically and how it affects our students," Kay says.
• On October 28, Anne Kronenberg, deputy director of administration and planning at the San Francisco Department of Public Health, will help to shift theory to practice with her expertise on public health in America. Kronenberg is responsible for department-wide planning initiatives including disaster preparedness, pre-hospital emergency medical services, medical surge, multiple casualty incidents, and mass prophylaxis planning.
• Next, Lisa Randall, professor of physics at Harvard University, will continue the theory-to-practice theme in her discussion of the role of science in U.S. society. Randall, author of "Warped Passages: Unraveling the Mysteries of the Universe's Hidden Dimensions" is considered to be one of the most innovative and important scientists in the world today. (Her presentation date still is being confirmed.)
• On November 3, Andrei Codrescu, an internationally acclaimed poet, filmmaker, author, and National Public Radio commentator, will bring the SNC series back full circle, asking the conceptual question, "What does American renewal mean?" Codrescu, author of "The Posthuman Dada Guide: tzara and lenin play chess," will discuss immigration and the foundations of the people that make America what it is.
• On November 10, Bonnie Honig, political and legal theorist, will conclude the speaker series by challenging "how we think about renewal and how we have conceptualized the issue," Kay says. Honig, author of "Political Theory and the Displacement of Politics," is a political science professor at Northwestern University and a research professor for the American Bar Association.

In the spring, the colloquium will feature children's art exhibits in Gallery 2001 in Beeghly Library. The artworks, created by local children, will examine American education in a global context.

Also in the spring, the curricular aspect of SNC will blossom as six faculty members, known as the Sagan Fellows, offer courses that contribute to the colloquium discussion. Each course will provide an off-campus experience, allowing students to test classroom theory in the real world.

"The objective is to hold seminars that will have some major off-campus component," Kay says.

The 2009-2010 Sagan Fellows are Chris Wolverton, botany-microbiology; Robert Harmon, physics; Patricia Ahearne-Kroll, religion; Richelle Schrock, women's and gender studies, Edward Kahn, theater and dance; and Bob Gitter, economics.

"The new additions to the SNC, like the Fellows program, represent a revitalization of the colloquium and its purpose of engaging OWU students in lectures and courses that address an issue of importance to our community," Schrock says.

This is the second year the Sagan National Colloquium has been expanded to a full-year program. The change gives students an opportunity to apply what they've learned.

"I am quite pleased with the expansion of the program to two semesters. This will enable students to gain breadth before we explore the topics in greater detail with the spring course," Gitter says. "The new format will allow us to explore issues in more depth than ever before."

Kay agrees, pleased with the opportunity the expanded program will provide for Ohio Wesleyan to have a voice in America's future.

"We want not just to talk about what needs to be done to get America going, but we really want to get students involved in the national debate," Kay says. "This provides an opportunity for us to get involved in engaging in the vital issues that affect our nation."

- Shade Fakunle '10