"How to Predict the Present" Keynote Speaker - Louis Menand: First in a Four Part Series of the KSL 25TH Anniversary Celebration Event Series

• Presentation title: How to Predict the Present
• Presentation abstract: How should we write history? More to the point: why do we write it—and read it, and care about it?
• About the speaker: Louis Menand is the Anne T. and Robert M. Bass Professor of English and the Lee Simpkins Family Professor of Arts and Sciences at Harvard University. Menand -- who has a strong interest in literary and cultural history, and the history of ideas -- is a staff writer for the New Yorker, a long-time contributor to the New York Review of Books, and the recipient of the 2002 Pulitzer Prize for History for his book on American pragmatists, “The Metaphysical Club.” Most recently he is also the author of The Free World: Art and Thought in the Cold War.

Upcoming KSL 25th Anniversary Celebration Events

2. Bryan A. Garner. October 6, 4:00 pm. 

• Presentation title: Taming the Tongue While Chasing the Sun: Bryan A Garner on Collecting English Grammars and Dictionaries.
• Presentation abstract: Bryan A. Garner will give a virtual tour of his main library in Dallas, Texas--focusing on highlights of his collection of 4,500 dictionaries and 1,900 grammars. He is the curator of the associated rare-book exhibit at the Kelvin Smith Library, “Taming the Tongue,” which includes over 100 items from his personal collection, and that previously was recently on display at the Grolier Club in New York City).
• About the speaker. Garner is the author of more than 25 language-related books, including Garner's Modern English Usage (Oxford, 4th ed. 2016) and The Chicago Guide to Grammar, Usage, and Punctuation (2016). He has been editor in chief of Black's Law Dictionary over its past five unabridged editions. He has long been among the most widely cited authorities about language in American judicial opinions. He has one of the largest personal libraries in the Southwest, with a total of 38,000 volumes, and his bibliophilia is highly contagious.

3. Elaine L Westbrooks. November 3, 4:00 pm.

• Presentation Title: Building the Future We Want: Centering Diversity, Equity and Inclusion in Libraries
• Presentation Abstract: Library staff and faculty have a responsibility to dismantle the systems of oppression within their organizations. Westbrooks will talk about her experiences launching a DEI Initiative at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and how to make DEI initiatives to be strategic, transformational, and an integral part of a library’s mission.
• About the speaker: Elaine L. Westbrooks has been Vice Provost for University Libraries and University Librarian at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill since 2017. The UNC library system encompasses 10 libraries, nearly 10 million volumes, and 300 librarians, archivists and staff. Previously Westbrooks held leadership positions at the University of Michigan, the University of Nebraska at Lincoln, and Cornell University. She serves on the boards of the Digital Public Library of America and the HathiTrust Digital Library, and she co-edited “Metadata in Practice” with Diane Hillmann (2004) and “Academic Library Management: Case Studies” with Tammy Nickelson Dearie and Michael Meth (2017).

4. Kepler at 450: An Interdisciplinary Celebration (multiple speakers). November 18, 2021. 

• Background: Johannes Kepler (1571-1630) was one of the first to argue for the sun’s centrality in the solar system. His work was interdisciplinary, not only about astronomy and physics, but he also described musical harmonies that the planets orchestrated in their paths around the sun, offered political advice to the Holy Roman Emperor, and agonized over theological doctrines that led to his excommunication. KSL Special Collections recently acquired a valuable 1621 edition of Mysterium Cosmographicum, which laid the groundwork for many of Kepler’s pursuits. This is the 400th anniversary of the publication of the book and the 450th anniversary of Kepler’s birth. Cosponsored by Kelvin Smith Library, Baker-Nord and the CWRU Departments of History and Music.
• Speakers from CWRU: Peter Bennett (Music); William Claspy (KSL Special Collections); Chris Haufe (Philosophy); Harsh Mathur (Physics); Jesse Berezovsky (Physics); Stacy McGaugh (Astronomy); and Aviva Rothman (History).
• On the evening of November 18, the CWRU Collegium, Early Music Singers, Baroque Vocal Ensembles, and Baroque Chamber Ensembles come together at the Maltz Performing Arts Center to present Nature’s Secret Whispering, a concert event that closes this university-wide interdisciplinary conference honoring Johannes Kepler on the 450^th anniversary of his birth. Guest artist Bruce Dickey, world-renowned cornettist, and director of Concerto Palatino with whom he recently produced a CD of music inspired by Kepler’s ideas, leads the CWRU Historical Performance Practice Ensembles in celestial works for choirs of voices and instruments.

Please note: Increasing COVID-19 cases within Northeast Ohio have prompted Case Western Reserve to resume its requirement that masks be worn indoors. In addition, only those who are fully vaccinated (two weeks past their final dose) should attend any campus event. Leaders continue to monitor pandemic developments and may need to adjust health protocols further as circumstances warrant. In-person is subject to change based on COVID-19 guidelines.