A&M International Presents Lecture on Emerson April 15

Texas A&M International University will present the second lecture in the A.R. Sanchez, Sr. Distinguished Lecture Series on Wednesday, April 15 at 7 p.m. at the University in the Great Room of the Sue and Radcliffe Killam Library (room 319).

The lecture, "Emerson at the Core of the World," will provide an in-depth view of Ralph Waldo Emerson, one of the most important figures in the history of American thought, religion, and literature

Featured guest speaker will be Robert D. Richardson Jr., professor of letters at Wesleyan University and award-winning author of Emerson: The Mind on Fire (1995), Henry Thoreau: A Life of the Mind (1986), and Myth and Literature in the American Renaissance (1978).

Richardson's lecture will draw special attention to the enormous range of Emerson's readings and to his many friendships and personal encounters, from Mary Moody Emerson to the Cherokee Chiefs in Boston. He will provide analysis on Emerson the thinker, the social activist, and intellectual adventurer. Drawing on a vast amount of new material, including previously unavailable correspondence, he will discuss Emerson's inner life, mind, and spirit, and relate the personal tragedy of the deaths of Emerson's first wife and son. By shedding light on both Emerson's emotions and intellect, he will bring to life an Emerson very different from the stereotype of the passionless "Sage of Concord."

The third lecture in the A.R. Sanchez, Sr. Distinguished Lecture Series, "Lyndon Johnson and Vietman," will be presented on Tuesday, April 28 at 7 p.m. in the Great Room. Guest speaker will be Frank E Vandiver, president emeritus and distinguished professor of History at Texas A&M University and director of the Mosher Institute for International Policy Studies, and Texas A&M University. Vandiver is the author of Shadows of Vietnam: Lyndon Johnson's Wars, and the critically acclaimed biographies Mighty Stonewall and Black Jack: The Life and Times of John J. Pershing.

Next Fall, the A. R. Sanchez, Sr. Distinguished Lecture Series will include a lecture by Nobel Laureate (Physics 1979) Dr. Steven Weinberg.

The A.R. Sanchez, Sr. Distinguished Lecture Series was instituted by the University's College of Arts and Humanities with funding from a trust established by A. R. Sanchez, Jr. in honor of the late A. R. Sanchez, Sr., founder of International Bancshares Corporation, successful oil and gas producer and longtime supporter of higher education.

The lecture series will offer the community rare opportunities to hear from distinguished researchers, prominent leaders and respected thinkers.

For additional information on the A. R. Sanchez, Sr. Distinguished Lecture Series, please contact the Office of the Dean of the College of Arts and Humanities at A&M International at (956) 326-2460.

University office hours are from 8 a.m.- 5 p.m. Monday-Friday.

Journalists who need additional information or help with media requests and interviews should contact the Office of Public Affairs and Information Services at pais@tamiu.edu