Neal A. Lester Lecture: “Humanities and Entrepreneurship, or the Entrepreneurial Humanist”

Mellon Lecture in Engaged Humanities
October 6, 2020 from 10am – 11:30, via Zoom
Neal A. Lester, Foundation Professor of English, Founding Director of Project Humanities, Arizona State University

“Humanities and Entrepreneurship, or the Entrepreneurial Humanist”

Too often, too many conversations about entrepreneurship happen among those in the business world, and we humanists turn our noses up at the very idea of “corporatizing” our institutions of higher education, especially non-profit colleges and universities.  From his experience as a teacher and administrator,  Dr. Lester challenges humanists to reimagine the work that we do in the context of expanding our reach, visibility, and impact.  Ultimately, Dr. Lester challenges humanists to imagine new possibilities in a world that too often limits our abilities to think differently and in new ways about how to tell our individual and organizational stories and how to attract new supporters and new resources.

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The Mellon Lecture Series in the Engaged Humanities brings a speaker to campus each semester, and is part of the Engaged Humanities Initiative, made possible through grant support provided by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. The award mentors undergraduate students to conduct research in and explore the humanities at UIC.  Please contact ehi@uic.edu for additional information.