The Vermont Academy Speakers Program series is generously supplemented by donations from:
The Bob and Beth Campbell Fund
The Vermont Academy Parents’ Association
The Horace Mann Willard Fund
*All-School Events
All presentations will take place in Horowitz Performing Arts Hall
For further information, call 802-869-6264
Previous programs
*Friday, September 14, 1:55 PM
Ted Levin
Ted Levin, noted author of books about the natural world, will address issues from his book,
Liquid Land: A Journey Through the Florida Everglades
, which won the John Burroughs Medal for nature writing.
Friday, September 28, and Monday, October 1
Rees Acheson '70
Rees Acheson will open an exhibit of his fractal art, the Mandelbrot Set, in Horowitz Performing Arts Center during Alumni Weekend; the following Monday, he will speak to classes of students about the conception and execution of his work.
*Friday, October 12, 9:40 AM
Helen Prejean and Michael Austin
Sister Helen Prejean, a native of Louisiana, is known internationally for her tireless work against the death penalty. She was instrumental in sparking national dialogue on the issue and in shaping the Catholic Church’s newly vigorous opposition to all state executions.
Michael Austin spent nearly 30 years in prison for a murder he didn’t commit. Today he is a musician and speaker with a message on the power of personal strength and resilience.
*Friday, October 26, 1:55 PM
Liam Madden & BT Nance
Liam Madden and BT Nance ’01 are both Marines who have served in the current Iraq War and emerged with very different points of view. They will share their perspectives on their service and answer questions from our community.
Wednesday, November 7, 7:30 p.m.
Ruth del Valle Cóbar
Ms. Cóbar a renowned Guatemalan human rights defender and investigator, will speak through a translator about her life in Quatemala, where she is co-founder of the Movimiento Nacional por los Derechos Humanos (National Movement for Human Rights – MNDH), a network for dozens of human rights institutions.
*Friday, November 9, 1:55 PM
Gary and Alexandra Conover
For the past 27 years, Gary ’74 and Alexandra Conover have led canoe and snowshoe and toboggan trips to the wildest remaining areas of Maine, Quebec, and Labrador. They will present a slide show, “Ungava Winter,” featuring a two-month expedition through a beautiful and remote area of Labrador.
Friday, November 16, 8:00 PM
Windham Orchestra
Under the baton of musical director and conductor, David Runnion, the Windham Orchestra will play Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony; The Fanfare from the ballet Le Peri, by Paul Dukas; and the Elgar Cello Concerto, with Eric Bartlett, soloist.
*Friday, December 7, 1:55 PM
Gould & Stearns
Peter Gould and Steve Stearns present a lively, thought-provoking look at winter holiday traditions both ancient and modern.
*Tuesday, Jan. 8, 8:00 PM, and Thursday, Jan. 10, 3:15 PM
Lisa Merton & Alan Dater
On Tuesday, Lisa Merton and Alan Dater, documentary filmmakers from Marlboro, VT, will show “Roots of Change,” about Wangari Maathai, a Kenyan woman who won the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize. On Thursday, they will return to VA to discuss the making of the film.
Friday, January 18, 8 PM
Ben Stepner
Ben Stepner is a jazz pianist and composer who has studied at Oberlin College and is currently a student at the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston.
*Thursday, February 7, 3:15 PM
Lourdes Moran
Lourdes Moran was an elected member of the New Orleans School Board in August, 2005, when Hurricane Katrina struck. She will talk about the rebuilding of New Orleans and her involvement in the transformation of several public schools to become charter schools.
Wednesday, February 13
Josh MacLeod
Mr. MacLeod, who has been working in Guatemala, will be speaking with students for 2 class periods. He'll meet with John Bohannon's Resolving Societal Conflicts and meet with three Spanish classes.
Friday, February 15, 8:00 PM
Twelfth Night
Rosa Palmeri and Allie Bliss, two sixteen-year-old actresses and multi-year veterans of the Brattleboro-based New England Youth Theater, will perform all the roles in this presentatioon of Shakespeare's
Twelfth Night.
*Thursday, March 6, 3:15 PM
Joseph Sebarenzi
Joseph Sebarenzi served as speaker of the Parliament in his nativeRwanda where he spoke out against injustice. Both of his parents and seven of his siblings were murdered in the genocide against the Tutsi people. He is now working on his doctorate in restorative justice andteaches about the power of forgiveness. Friday, April 11, at 2 PM
Former faculty members Eric and Dave Robinson '65
The
Robinsons will offer the Vermont Academy community a “Hemispheric
Sampler” a visual feast of their 2007 trip on the MV Fram from
Reykjavik, Iceland to Antarctica. By the time the Robinsons disembarked
at the end of November, they had visited 41 ports, 17 countries, and
four continents, and they sailed 17,385 miles, crossing the Tropics of
Cancer and Capricorn and the Equator and making five landings in
Antarctica. They visited the British Isles and the tropical islands of
Central America; played with dolphins and penguins; saw alpacas and
vicunas on the Altiplano of South America; watched innumerable birds,
many of them migrating; and swam in the tropical waters of Honduras and
the 33 degree water of Antarctica. They shared the ship with people
from Germany, Norway, Australia, the Philippines, Canada, Denmark,
Brazil, New Zealand, Switzerland, Belgium, and many other places. From
sailing into New York at sunrise to going through the Panama Canal
after dark, from watching the green flash over the Pacific to reveling
in the almost midnight sun of the south, they experienced a full range
of seasons and celebrated our place on the earth.*Friday, April 25, 1:55 PM
Kris Holloway
Kris Holloway, author of
Monique and the Mango Rains
, will speak about her Peace Corps experience working with a midwife in Mali.
Friday, May 9, 8:00 PM
Windham Orchestra
The Windham Orchestra performs a Pops Concert with both popular and opera pieces.
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