Luther S. and Dorothy Cecilia Cressman
Lecture in the Humanities 

The Cressman lecture was inaugurated in 1997 with a generous bequest from former UO anthropology professor and archaeologist Luther S. Cressman. As is stated in the bequest, the lectureship's goal is “the presentation and illumination of fundamental humanities issues that confront . . . societies centrally occupied with science, technology, and business.”

The 2007-08 Cressman lecturer was Bill McKibben. He spoke on "Building the Climate Movement" on Tuesday, October 30, 2007. McKibben is an environmentalist and writer who frequently writes about global warming, alternative energy, and the risks associated with human genetic engineering. Beginning in the summer of 2006, he led the organization of the largest demonstrations against global warming in American history. His book, Deep Economy: the Wealth of Communities and the Durable Future, (March 2007) addresses what he sees as shortcomings of the growth economy and envisions a transition to more local-scale enterprise. In late summer 2006, Bill helped lead a five-day walk across Vermont to demand action on global warming that some newspaper accounts called the largest demonstration to date in America about climate change. Beginning in January 2007 he founded stepitup07.org to demand that Congress enact curbs on carbon emissions that would cut global warming pollution 80 percent by 2050. With the help of six college students, he organized 1,400 global warming demonstrations across all 50 states of America and gained the support of environmental, student and religious groups. Step It Up 2007 has been described as the largest day of protest about climate change in the nation's history. A guide to help people initiate environmental activism in their community coming out of the Step It Up 2007 experience entitled Fight Global Warming Now was published in October 2007.

Streaming video of lecture: Quicktime (High) Quicktime (Low)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For a complete list of previous Cressman lecturers, click here.

updated:5/1/08