Environmental Experts Wendell Berry and Wes Jackson Kick Off Convocation Series

OBERLIN, OH—The 2013-2014 Convocation Series at Oberlin College begins with two leaders in environmental awareness and sustainability.

On Tuesday, September 10, author Wendell Berry and sustainable agriculture expert Wes Jackson will give a talk at 7:30 p.m. in Finney Chapel. The event is free and open to the public.

This year’s other speakers are composer Randy Newman, September 27; journalist and immigration activist Jose Antonio Vargas, October 1; actor/director Avery Brooks ’70, February 22, 2014; United States Poet Laureate Natasha Trethewey, March 4, 2013; and economist Jeffrey Sachs, April 10, 2014.

Wendell Berry is the author of more than 40 works of fiction, nonfiction, and poetry, and he has received numerous awards and honors throughout a career dedicated to environmental awareness and the written word. His credits include the novel Hannah Coulter, the essay collections Citizenship Papers and The Way of Ignorance, and the poetry book Given: Poems.

Wes Jackson established and served as chair of one of the country’s first environmental studies programs at California State University-Sacramento before returning to his native Kansas to found the Land Institute in 1976, of which he is president. A leader in the international sustainable agriculture movement, Jackson has written several books, including Becoming Native to This Place, Consulting the Genius of the Place, and most recently Nature as Measure.

The Oberlin Convocation Series presents free, public discussions of cutting-edge issues by some of the country’s most prominent thinkers. These talks are open to the public and take place in Finney Chapel. Some events require tickets and advance orders.

For “An Evening With Randy Newman,” limited tickets are available to the general public prior to Monday, September 9. To receive tickets (two per household) by mail, send a self-addressed stamped envelope along with your request to Central Ticket Service, 67 North Main St., Oberlin OH 44074. All mail-order ticket requests must be postmarked by September 13.