University of Oklahoma alumni and friends have the opportunity to “come back to college for a day” at the President’s Day of Learning on Friday and Saturday, April 11 and 12. The event will begin with a President’s Concert at 7 p.m. on Friday, April 11, featuring the OU Symphony Orchestra, OU Combined Choirs and the Oklahoma Festival Ballet performing Haydn’s The Seasons at the Donald W. Reynolds Performing Arts Center.
The following day, participants will have the opportunity to learn from some of the University’s most outstanding professors on topics ranging from understanding the global community to the history of tradition. Three groups of concurrent sessions will be offered throughout the day in the Oklahoma Memorial Union with participants choosing a discussion from each session to attend. There will also be a luncheon session with OU history Professor David Levy.
Saturday morning will open with registration at 8 a.m. on the Stuart Landing of the Oklahoma Memorial Union followed by an opening session featuring a talk by OU President David Boren. The morning sessions will feature lectures from Kyle Harper, senior vice provost and director of the Institute for the American Constitutional Heritage and Dr. Jason Sanders vice provost for planning and administrative affairs at the OU Health Sciences Center and assistant professor at the OU College of Medicine Department of Internal Medicine. Harper will speak on “The Voting Booth: Your Responsibility and Privilege” and Dr. Sanders, will give a lecture on “Patient as Participant: Help Your Doctor Help You.”
Levy, Professor Emeritus of History, will give a luncheon lecture on “The Life and Thought of Daniel Boorstin.”
Following the luncheon, Suzette Grillot, dean of the College of International Studies, will begin the afternoon sessions with a talk on “Understanding the Global Community.” The concurrent session will feature Joe Thai, Presidential Professor of Law and Watson Centennial Chair in Law from the OU College of Law. Thai will present “Someone to Watch Over Me: Government Surveillance in the Digital Era.”
The final sessions of the day will feature Rick Luce, associate vice president for research and dean of university libraries and Wilfred McClay, professor and director and Blankenship Chair in the History of Liberty. Luce will speak on “Redefining University Libraries” and McClay will give a lecture on “The Uses of Tradition.” To conclude the day, a reception will be held at 3 p.m. in the Sandy Bell Gallery of the Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art.
To register for the event, visit outreach.ou.edu or call (405) 325-3488. The registration fee includes all lectures, the luncheon and reception. Complimentary tickets to the concert contact the Office of Public Affairs at (405) 325-3784 or specialevents@ou.edu.
For more information, or to request an informational brochure be mailed to you, please contact Chris Elliott at OU’s Osher Lifelong Learning Institute by emailing celliott@ou.edu or by calling (405) 325-3488.
