Nassau notes

Kwame Anthony Appiah

Princeton philosophy professor Kwame Anthony Appiah will deliver a series of lectures on “The Life of Honor?” at 4:30 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday, March 24-26, in McCosh 10.

Appiah, the Laurance S. Rockefeller University Professor of Philosophy and the University Center for Human Values, will address the following topics: “The Death of the Duel” on March 24; “The End of Footbinding” on March 25; and “Lessons and Legacies” on March 26.

The lecture series is part of Appiah’s yearlong distinction as the Romanell-Phi Beta Kappa Professor. The honor is awarded annually by the Phi Beta Kappa Society to scholars in the field of philosophy to recognize distinguished achievement and contribution to public understanding of philosophy. Recipients give a series of three special lectures during their professorship.

Known as one of the world’s most distinguished moral and political philosophers, Appiah also explores issues that capture the interest of the public at large. Appiah is the author of more than 10 books of philosophy and three works of fiction. His most recent book, “Experiments in Ethics,” explores experimental philosophy and the connection between moral philosophy and the sciences. His 2006 book “Cosmopolitanism: Ethics in a World of Strangers” was awarded the Council on Foreign Relations’ Arthur Ross Book Award.

Appiah, a Princeton faculty member since 2002, has taught in the United States, Germany, France and South Africa. He is chair of the board of directors of the American Council of Learned Societies, a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the recipient of numerous fellowships and honorary degrees.

The event is sponsored by the Office of the Dean of the College, University Center for Human Values and Department of Philosophy, and the New Jersey chapter of the Phi Beta Kappa Society.

Reinhardt speaks on Obama and health care policy

Princeton scholar Uwe Reinhardt, a leading figure in health care economics, will present a lecture titled “Health Care Sails Into a Perfect Storm: Can Obama Come to the Rescue?” at 4:30 p.m. Tuesday, March 24, in Dodds Auditorium, Robertson Hall.

Reinhardt, the James Madison Professor of Political Economy, is an authority on the U.S. health care system and is quoted frequently in the media on topics ranging from high drug prices to wasteful health care spending. He has been invited to address hundreds of organizations, from the World Bank to the Clinton administration’s health care reform transition team to the Hong Kong Hospital Authority. He has testified more than 20 times before Congress, speaking on Medicare, physician compensation and the spiraling cost of health care, among other topics. Modern Healthcare magazine ranked Reinhardt one of the 10 most powerful people in health care in 2002.

The lecture is sponsored by the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs.

Cotsen Children’s Library

Dana Sheridan, Cotsen Children’s Library

Dana Sheridan, education and outreach coordinator for the Cotsen Children’s Library, dons classic Victorian garb (including a hat with price tag in the style of the day) in preparation for “Princyclopedia 2009.” The interactive book convention, which this year explores the whimsical world of “Alice in Wonderland,” is set for 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, March 28, in Dillon Gymnasium. For more information, visit www.princeton.edu/princyclopedia. (photo: Elizabeth Lemoine)

Conference tackles financial crisis

Economic and policy experts will explore “The U.S.A. Financial Crisis: Problems and Solutions” in a conference set for 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Friday, March 27, in Dodds Auditorium, Robertson Hall.

Participants will address solutions put forth by the Concord Coalition, a nonpartisan group of experts from the Heritage Foundation, the Brookings Institution and the Peterson Foundation. Speakers will include Alice Rivlin, a senior fellow with the Brookings Institution and former director of the Congressional Budget Office and the Office of Management and Budget, and David Walker, chief executive officer of the Peterson Foundation and the former U.S. comptroller general.

The event is sponsored by the Policy Research Institute for the Region. It is open to the public, but registration is required. For more information, visit www.princeton.edu/prior/events/conferences/the-usa-financial-crisis/index.xml.

Foreign policy challenges are focus of lecture

Veteran diplomat and former ambassador William Burns, undersecretary of political affairs at the U.S. State Department, will examine “Foreign Policy Challenges Facing the New Administration” at 4:30 p.m. Monday, March 23, in Dodds Auditorium, Robertson Hall.

Burns holds the rank of career ambassador — the highest in the U.S. Foreign Service — and was appointed to his current role in the State Department in May 2008.

Burns was ambassador to Russia from 2005 to 2008, assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern affairs from 2001 to 2005 and ambassador to Jordan from 1998 to 2001. He has held various other posts since entering the Foreign Service in 1982, and has received two Presidential Distinguished Service Awards and several State Department awards.

The lecture is sponsored by the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs.

Shakespeare’s “Twelfth Night” presented by McCarter Theatre Center

Rebecca Brooksher and Christopher Innvar (photo: T. Charles Erickson)

The McCarter Theatre Center’s production of Shakespeare’s “Twelfth Night,” directed by Rebecca Taichman and co-produced with the Shakespeare Theatre Company of Washington, D.C., runs through March 29. Rebecca Brooksher (left) plays Viola and Christopher Innvar is Orsino in this classic comedy of unquenchable desire, self-deception and misdirected love. For tickets, call the McCarter box office at 258-2787 or visit www.mccarter.org.

Film features ‘Queen of Latin Soul’

Cuban-born director Ela Troyano will screen her film “La Lupe: Queen of Latin Soul” at 4:30 p.m. Thursday, March 26, in 101 Friend Center.

The film explores the life and work of Lupe “La Lupe” Yoli, a Cuban musician and vocalist also known as Latin America’s first performance artist. Filmed in various locations in Havana, New York, Miami and San Juan, the movie includes interviews and footage from Yoli’s career.

Troyano, whose other films include “Latin Boys Go to Hell” and “Carmelita Tropicana,” will take questions after the screening. The event is sponsored by the Center for African American Studies.

Memorial service for Kauzmann set for March 27

A memorial service for Walter Kauzmann, the David B. Jones Professor Emeritus of Chemistry, is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. Friday, March 27, in the University Chapel.

Kauzmann, whose deep insights into the properties of materials made him a pioneer in chemistry, died Jan. 27 at age 92.

A full obituary is available online at www.princeton.edu/main/news/archive/S23/42/01I78.

The family has suggested that memorial contributions be made to a charity of the donor’s choice.

Thesis exhibition documents the loss of a family’s home

“Home: Reflections After a Fire,” by Katie Kinnear

“Home: Reflections After a Fire,” a senior thesis exhibition in mixed media by Katie Kinnear, will be on display March 25 through April 3 in the Lucas Gallery, 185 Nassau St. Kinnear, a certificate candidate in the Program in Visual Arts in the Lewis Center for the Arts, documents the loss of her family’s Santa Barbara, Calif., home last year in a wildfire. “Ultimately, the themes of identity, memory, rehabilitation and emancipation are central to this work,” she said. “As painful as this experience has been, I have never felt so liberated in my own art.”