IPFW Announces Omnibus Lecture Lineup

Award-winning actors Marlee Matlin and Henry Winkler will kick off Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne's Omnibus Lecture Series, which begins its 15th season Sept. 17.

IPFW announced the lineup for the 2009-2010 lecture series on Thursday. The guest speakers and their topics are:
* Marlee Matlin and Henry Winkler, "A Conversation with Marlee Matlin and Henry Winkler," 7:30 p.m. Sept. 17. Matlin and Winkler will talk about their friendship, their lives and their belief that anything is possible when following your dreams.

* James Galbraith, "The Great Financial Crisis at Two Years," 7:30 p.m. Oct. 14. Galbraith is an author and economist who is the Lloyd M. Bentsen Jr. Chair of Government/Business Relations and professor of government at the University of Texas. In his most recent book, "The Predatory State: How Conservatives Abandoned the Free Market and Why Liberals Should Too," he explains the gap between conservative ideas and their use to cover up the Bush administration's "predator state," which, he argues, took advantage of the public sector and undermined public institutions for private profit.

* Andrew Sullivan, "Friendship: The Forgotten Relationship," 7:30 p.m. Nov. 10. Sullivan is a senior editor and blog writer of the Daily Dish for the Atlantic magazine, and a frequent commentator who argues that conservatism in America should return to the conservative traditions of the Republican Party.

* Jamaica Kincaid, "Reading and Growing Up Under Colonial Rule," 7:30 p.m. Feb. 11. Kincaid, an author and professor, has written for the Village Voice and the New Yorker. Her novels include "At the Bottom of the River," "Annie John," "A Small Place" and "Among Flowers: A Walk in the Himalaya."

* Neil LaBute, "Changing Course: The Serpentine Road to Success," 7:30 p.m. March 25. LaBute, no stranger to Fort Wayne, was an assistant professor of theater at IPFW in the early 1990s and returned to the city later that decade to film his directorial debut, "In the Company of Men." His most recent play, "Reasons to be Pretty," earned three Tony nominations.

* Christopher Buckley, "An Evening with Christopher Buckley," 7:30 p.m. April 8. Buckley, an author and satirist who was the chief speechwriter to then-Vice President George H. W. Bush, has written 13 books. His latest, "Losing Mum and Pup: A Memoir," was published this year.

All lectures will be held in the John and Ruth Rhinehart Music Center at IPFW. The lectures are free, but the Matlin and Winkler lecture requires free reserved tickets. Tickets can be reserved beginning Sept. 4 at (260) 481-6555 or www.ipfw/rhinehart.
For more information about the 2009-2010 Omnibus Lecture Series, visit www.omnibuslectures.org.