Upcoming Theme Semesters

Dear Colleagues,

As most of you know, each year we send out a request for proposals for theme semesters. From the many submissions, we select and design theme semesters for future terms. Below are the theme semesters chosen for the next three terms:

  • Fall 2008 – “Energy Futures: Society, Innovation, and Technology,” sponsored by the Center for the Study of Complex Systems
  • Winter 2009 – “The Universe: Yours to Discover,” organized by the Department of Astronomy and the Exhibit Museum of Natural History, as part of the International Year of Astronomy 2009, marking the 400th anniversary of the first astronomical observation through a telescope by Galileo Galilei
  • Fall 2009 – “Museums in the Academy,” led by the Museum Studies Program and the Museum of Art, as part of a continuing celebration of the renovation and reopening of the Kelsey Museum of Archaeology and the Museum of Art earlier in the year

The upcoming Energy theme semester will feature student writing contests, prizes for energy conservation ideas, a new course on the human and social behavioral side of energy use and demand, and visiting speakers on energy innovations and history. It will be followed by an LSA research theme semester on the same topic.

During the Winter 2009 semester, look for a wide range of astronomical activities at the Angell Hall Observatory, Detroit Observatory, Ann Arbor Hands-On Museum, Exhibit Museum of Natural History, and a performance of Bertolt Brecht’s Galileo directed by Kate Mendeloff.

Behind the scenes tours of University museums are planned for the Fall 2009 Museums theme semester, as well as programs on what ‘belongs’ in a museum and special interactive public events and presentations at museums and libraries all across campus.

These discussions and explorations of global energy problems, astronomy’s contributions to science and society, and the role of museums in shaping knowledge of ourselves and the world around us will enrich our intellectual life together. I am deeply grateful to my colleagues who have agreed to organize these activities.

More information on the LSA Theme Semesters is available at https://www.lsa.umich.edu/lsa/theme.

Sincerely,

Terrence J. McDonald
Arthur F. Thurnau Professor,
Professor of History, and Dean