In the LaFarge Lecture Series, designed exclusively for Summer Hoyas in the College Preparatory program, students have the unique opportunity to attend engaging and enlightening undergraduate seminars conducted by some of Georgetown University’s most pre-eminent faculty and scholars. Named after John LaFarge, a 20th century Jesuit priest and devoted advocate of racial parity and human rights, this lecture series seeks to increase students’ awareness of contemporary moral issues and heighten their cultural appreciation for art and literature. From Shakespeare to International Relations, students will expand their world view and learn about a wide range of academic topics and current affairs straight from the experts. Stressing personal inquiry, self-respect, and social justice, our speakers will not only incite a love of knowledge and intellectual discovery but will also promote the values of honesty, integrity, and compassion. Guest lecturers will explore how these values influenced writers and artists from centuries ago and how these traits continue to shape our global perspective in today's world. This exciting lecture series provides Summer Hoyas with the chance to develop effective note-taking abilities, improve listening skills, and deepen their academic understanding. Please explore the following biographies of faculty lecturers, and prepare to expand your mind!
Michael McCaskey
This summer, Prof. Michael McCaskey will deliver a lecture to the College Preparatory students entitled, Miyazaki’s Manga and Anime Epic: Nausicaa of the Valley of the Winds. The lecture is scheduled for June 26.
Miyazaki has based a number of his Anime films on manga stories by others, but his Anime Nausicaa of the Valley of Winds (1984) is the only one based on Miyazaki’s own manga, of the same title. He began creating this manga epic in early 1982, and continued working on it long after the Anime was completed, finishing the 7-volume manga ten years later, in 1994. This epic of war and peace in turn led Miyazaki to the creation of perhaps his greatest Anime, Princess Mononoke, another saga of war and peace, in 1997. This lecture will be illustrated with images from the manga, and clips from the manga and from both Anime films.
Michael McCaskey is an Associate Professor in the Department of East Asian Languages and Cultures. He teaches courses in Japanese, and also teaches courses in English on Japanese film and Anime. He is also teaching a course on The World of Anime this Summer, focusing on the work of three major Anime artists – Miyazaki Hayao, Otomo Katsuhiro (Akira and Metropolis), and Oshii Mamoru (Ghost in the Shell and the Cerberus Cycle).
Professor McCaskey has most recently published numerous articles on notable figures and events in Japanese history, as well as a series of biographical articles on noted scholars in the field of Asian Linguistics. He has advised a number of Georgetown students writing Senior Theses, and recently mentored an M.A. Thesis on “Metaphors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in Japanese and US Films.”
Gregory Havrilak
Greg Havrilak will present a lecture on July 3 called Religion in the World After Two Wars. This lecture will highlight his experiences and conclusions after working in the Balkans during the Kosovo War and in the Persian Gulf during the war in Iraq.
Professor Greg Havrilak has worked in numerous posts as both a lecturer and religious advisor. In 2006, Professor Havrilak spent the winter and spring in Iraq as a chaplain for the Multi-National Forces. Previously, he served as Senior Religious Advisor to NATO Headquarters, AIRNORTH, and to the military attaché at the American Embassy in Paris. When the Kosovo War broke out he was dispatched to the Balkans to work with Islamic, Catholic and Orthodox leaders and NGOs in Albania and Kosovo on humanitarian, religious and human rights issues. Among his responsibilities were inspecting refugee camps to ensure Geneva Convention compliance, securing protection of religious/holy sites from destruction, and ministering to Serbian Prisoners of War. In 2000 he was sent by the U.S. Government to the Republic of Georgia to address military and government officials on human rights and religious issues, convincing the government to create a chaplaincy program that embraced all major religious bodies. He was also dispatched to Macedonia as religious advisor to the Partnership of Peace Program, building schools & medical clinics, and dialoguing with local religious leaders.
In the aftermath of the tragic events of September 11, 2001, Professor Havrilak joined the U.S. Conference of Religions for Peace in New York. As a consultant he traveled throughout North America organizing and conducting symposia in major U.S. cities to foster post-9/11 rapprochement between major religious groups, allowing distinct religious communities to co-exist peacefully. Currently, he is on the faculty of the Liberal Studies program at Georgetown University.
Michael Collins
This summer, Michael Collins will deliver a lecture to the College Preparatory students entitled, Performing Shakespeare's Tragedies: King Lear and Hamlet.The lecture is scheduled for July 10th.
Michael J. Collins is Distinguished Professor in English and Dean Emeritus at Georgetown University. At Georgetown he teaches undergraduate students in Georgetown College and graduate students in the Liberal Studies Program and serves as Director of the Villa Le Balze, the University’s Study Center in Fiesole, Italy. He has also contributed as a guest lecturer to the programs for teachers at Shakespeare’s Globe in London and at the Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington, DC. He is a fellow of Phi Beta Kappa, of the Society for Values in Higher Education, of the Royal Society of Arts (UK), and of the Northeast Wales Institute of Higher Education (University of Wales). He is a recipient of Georgetown University’s Vicennial Medal, its Bunn Award for Excellence in Teaching, and its President’s Medal, the highest honor the University awards.
Professor Collins has edited a collection of essays on Shakespeare’s early comedies, contributed chapters to numerous teaching guides, and written articles for a variety of books, bulletins, quarterlies, and other scholarly publications. He also writes on modern Anglo-Welsh poetry and on current educational issues. His most recent publications in these areas have appeared in Poetry Wales and Reflections on Higher Education.
