Historian Patricia Limerick of the University of Colorado at Boulder and former Colorado Gov. Richard Lamm will give a public lecture June 10 titled "What is a Patriot to Do? Can History Help Us in These Times?"
The talk is part of the Reynolds Lecture Series presented at Chautauqua in collaboration with CU-Boulder and will be held at 7 p.m. in the Chautauqua Auditorium at 900 Baseline Road in Boulder. The event is free and open to the public.
Limerick and Gov. Lamm will discuss how people and nations can and have learned from history by putting it to work to anticipate problems. But both also believe the effectiveness and benefits of history as a source of wisdom are diminishing.
Limerick believes part of the problem lies in the fact Americans want to be told a "feel-good" version of history and that this preference shrinks the likelihood of learning history's lessons. Gov. Lamm, who cares deeply about history and said he considers historical ignorance a form of blindness, argues that history has become a trap for humanity as we enter a profoundly different era of human life.
During the lecture, Limerick and Gov. Lamm will invite the audience to join in their discussion to examine the underpinnings of life in 2003.
Limerick is a professor of history and environmental studies and chair of the CU-Boulder Center of the American West. She is a leading scholar of Western American history and author of the landmark book, "The Legacy of Conquest: The Unbroken Past of the American West."
Gov. Lamm was governor of Colorado from 1975 to 1987 and is now director of the University of Denver's Center for Public Policy and Contemporary Issues. He is recognized as an early leader of the environmental movement.
The Reynolds Lecture series will include two other talks to be held in July and August at the Chautauqua Community House.
On July 29 at 7 p.m., CU-Boulder Associate Professor Joseph Ryan of the civil, environmental and architectural engineering department will present a talk on "Cleaning up Waters Polluted by Abandoned Mines: Obstacles and Opportunities."
On Aug. 4 at 7 p.m., CU-Boulder Professor Frederick Denny, chair of the religious studies department, will present a talk on "Whither Islam and the Muslim? Emerging Progressivist Challenges to Fundamentalism."
For more information call the CU-Boulder Office of Community Affairs at (303) 492-7084.