Alfred Brendel’s accomplishments as an interpreter of the great composers have earned him a place among the world’s most revered musicians. He is the first pianist to have recorded all of Beethoven’s piano compositions and one of the few to have recorded the complete Mozart piano concertos.
Panel Discussants: Robert Post, Deniz Göktürk (German), David Hollinger (History) and Saba Mahmood (Anthropology)
Moderator: Anthony J. Cascardi (Townsend Center Director)
Robert Post, Law, Yale University
Robert Post is David Boies Professor of Law at Yale University. His subject areas are constitutional law, the First Amendment, legal history, and affirmative action, and his books include Constitutional Domains: Democracy, Community, Management and Prejudicial Appearances: The Logic of American Antidiscrimination Law.
Robert Reich, Professor of the Goldman School of Public Policy
As the nation’s 22nd Secretary of Labor under Bill Clinton, Robert Reich implemented the Family and Medical Leave Act; led a national fight against sweatshops in the U.S. and illegal child labor around the world; headed the administration’s successful effort to raise the minimum wage; secured worker’s pensions; and launched job-training programs, one-stop career centers, and school-to-work initiatives.
Robert Pinsky, U.S. Poet Laureate, 1997-2000
Throughout his career, Robert Pinsky has been dedicated to identifying and invigorating poetry’s place in the world. As Poet Laureate, Pinsky founded the Favorite Poem Project, in which thousands of Americans shared their favorite poems.
Panel Discussants: Walter Mignolo, Pheng Cheah (Rhetoric), Gillian Hart (Geography) and José David Saldívar (Ethnic Studies and English). Moderated by Anthony J. Cascardi (Townsend Center Director)
Walter D. Mignolo, Literature and Romance Studies, Duke University
Walter D. Mignolo is William H. Wannamaker Professor of Literature and Romance Studies, Cultural Anthropology and Spanish at Duke University. Professor Mignolo’s research focuses on global coloniality and the history of capitalism.
Panel Discussants: Stephen Greenblatt, Wendy Brown (Political Science, Gender and Women’s Studies), Roland Greene, (English, Comparative Literature, Stanford University) and Jeffrey Knapp (English)
Stephen Greenblatt, American Literary Critic
Stephen Greenblatt is Cogan University Professor of the Humanities at Harvard University. His areas of specialization include Shakespeare, 16th- and 17th-century English literature, the literature of travel and exploration, and literary theory.
Panel Discussants: Hélène Cixous, Pheng Cheah (Rhetoric), Suzanne Guerlac (French) and Judith Butler (Rhetoric, Comparative Literature)