George Will to Keynote Wendt Center for Character Education Fall Conference
Oct 17, 2007 | University of Dubuque Theological Seminary
The University of Dubuque's Wendt Center for Character Education will hold its third annual fall conference on Wednesday and Thursday, October 24-25, 2007. The theme of the 2007-08 conference is "The Content of our National Character: Ethics in Public Policy Making."
"The Wendt Character Initiative fosters both learning about character development and personal commitment to leading lives of purpose and excellent moral character," stated Dr. Paula Carlson, director of the Wendt Center. "At the conference this year, we will focus on ethics in public policy making, beginning with an address by the Pulitzer-prize winning political commentator, Mr. George Will, on October 24 and continuing throughout the next day, October 25, in panel discussions on health care, Social Security, education, religion and politics, political discourse, and immigration."
The conference will explore how the making of public policy reflects our national character, and will examine how our values, principles, and religious beliefs shape how we engage in political debate and make decisions that determine the nature of our society.
On Wednesday, October 24, George Will will deliver the conference keynote address titled "The Political Argument Today" at 7:00 p.m. in McCormick Gymnasium. A reception will follow in Steffens Hall in the Charles and Romona Myers Center.
George F. Will's newspaper column has been syndicated by The Washington Post since 1974. Today it appears twice weekly in just under 500 newspapers in the United States and in Europe. In 1976, he became a regular contributing editor of Newsweek magazine, for which he provides a bimonthly back-page essay. In 1977, he won a Pulitzer Prize for commentary in his newspaper columns.
Altogether, seven collections of Mr. Will's Newsweek and Washington Post columns have been published, the most recent being With A Happy Eye But...: America and the World, 1997-2002 (2002). Mr. Will has also published three books on political theory, Statecraft as Soulcraft: What Government Does (1983), The New Season: A Spectator's Guide to the 1988 Election (1987), and Restoration: Congress, Term Limits and The Recovery of Deliberative Democracy (1992). In 1990, Mr. Will published Men at Work: The Craft of Baseball , which topped The New York Times bestseller list for two months. In 1998, Scribner published Bunts: Curt Flood, Camden Yards, Peter Rose and Other Reflections on Baseball , a best-selling collection of new and previously published writings by Mr. Will on baseball. In July 2000, Mr. Will was a member of Major League Baseball's Blue Ribbon Panel, examining baseball economics.
Thursday's schedule will include six concurrent morning and afternoon panel discussions presented by panels of individuals from the University of Dubuque as well as area businesses and organizations. Sessions will be held at various locations on campus beginning at 9:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. The conference's concluding panel will convene at 4:15 p.m. in Couchman Reading Room in the
Charles C. Myers Library.
Conference Schedule
Wednesday, October 24
7:00 p.m. Keynote Address - Mr. George F. Will, Washington Post columnist
(McCormick Gymnasium)
8:30 p.m. Reception & Book Signing
(Steffens Hall, Charles and Romona Myers Center)
Thursday, October 25
9:00 a.m. University Chapel Service
(Blades Chapel)
9:30 a.m. & 1:30 p.m. - Concurrent Panel Sessions are as follows:
Panel 1: "Should Faith and Politics Mix?" (Alumni Hall)
Panel 2: "The Social Security Dilemma: You May Be Outta Luck."
(Room 146 Myers Center)
Panel 3: "Does No Child Left Behind follow the Golden Rule?" (Hadley Auditorium, Jackaline Baldwin Dunlap Technology Center)
Panel 4: "Ethical Issues in Health Policy: Introduction to Issues in Health Care Policy."
(Blades Chapel)
Panel 5: "Let's Talk Immigration: From Stories and Experience to Policy."
(105 Science Center)
Panel 6: "Making or Breaking Good Policy: The Character of Our Political Communication." (Couchman Reading Room, Myers Library)
4:15 p.m. Concluding Panel on Ethics and Politics (Couchman Reading Room, Myers Library)
8:30 p.m. Jazz Concert and Dessert,
(Steffens Hall, Charles and Romona Myers Center)
The Wendt Character Initiative was established in 2004 at the University of Dubuque by the endowed Lester G. Wendt and Michael Lester Wendt Character Initiative Fund. The Initiative operates under the care of the Wendt Center for Character Education. This Initiative promotes a campus culture that nurtures the formation of excellent moral character, and that encourages all members of the community to live lives of purpose. The work of the Wendt Character Initiative is centered in the University's Mission and values, a commitment to its Reformed Christian identity, and a sense of creative vocation in faithful response to the Creator. This Initiative is part of the total educational experience of all University of Dubuque students through curricular and co-curricular programs. Faculty and staff also participate in the Initiative through special programs during the school year.
