Thursday, January 12 / 8 pm / Victoria Hall Theater, 33 W. Victoria St.

Pulitzer Prize-nominated writer, cellist and martial artist Mark Salzman is the author of several books including True Notebooks and the bestseller Iron & Silk (he also starred in the film version). Noted for his lyrical style, gut-wrenching honesty and great sense of humor, Salzman will discuss his work with esteemed author Pico Iyer (The Global Soul).

General public $10 / UCSB students $8

Saturday, January 14 / 3 pm / Campbell Hall

This timely debate about the state of the news media will feature Eric Alterman, Nation columnist and author of What Liberal Media? on the left, and Tucker Carlson, former host of CNN’s Crossfire and host of MSNBC’s The Situation with Tucker Carlson on the right.

General public $10 / UCSB students $5

Sunday, January 22 / 3 pm / Campbell Hall / Free

Glenn Hening, founder of the Surfrider Foundation, surfing’s largest environmental organization, will take a look at modern surfing from his own unique perspective in this illustrated lecture. Co-founder of The Groundswell Society, he is a Regents’ Lecturer in the Department of Geography and author of Waves of Warning, a novel about Polynesia, Wall Street, and the future of surfing.

Sunday, January 29 / 3 pm / Victoria Hall Theater, 33 W. Victoria St.

Born in Iran, Reza Aslan, a scholar of comparative religions, has published the eye-opening No god but God, a counter to the “clash of civilizations” viewpoint. He will discuss the state of Islam with acclaimed author Jack Miles, Pulitzer Prize-winning writer of God: A Biography, Christ: A Crisis in the Life of God, and other works.

General public $10 / UCSB students $8

Wednesday, February 1 / 8 pm / Campbell Hall / Free

With the publication of 1992’s In My Father’s House, Kwame Anthony Appiah claimed his place at the forefront of African-American literary and cultural studies. A professor of philosophy at Princeton, he will discuss how Western intellectuals and leaders have exaggerated the power of difference while neglecting the power of commonality.

Co-presented with the Walter H. Capps Center for the Study of Ethics, Religion and Public Life

Friday, February 17 / 8 pm / Arlington Theatre

General Colin L. Powell, U.S. Secretary of State from 2001-2004, was a professional soldier for 35 years, during which time he rose to the rank of 4-Star General. His last assignment, from 1989 to 1993, was as the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the highest military position in the Department of Defense. Drawing on examples garnered from experience as both a leader on the world stage and as eyewitness to leadership in action, Gen. Powell illustrates for audiences precisely what it takes to be a leader, providing strategies for “taking charge” during times of great change and great crises.

General public $50, 35 / UCSB students $20
All tickets subject to facility and convenience fees

Wednesday, February 22 / 4 pm / Corwin Pavilion / Free

Maxine Hong Kingston is the author of the landmark The Woman Warrior: Memoirs of a Girlhood Among Ghosts and China Men which seamlessly blend myth and fact in their exploration of Chinese-American identity. Her most recent work The Fifth Book of Peace considers the Vietnam War and the current war in Iraq, shaping a moving new literary form in the spirit of nonviolence.

Thursday, February 23 / 8 pm / Campbell Hall

Robert S. McNamara, defense secretary during the Kennedy and Johnson administrations, will discuss the folly of nuclear weapons. His talk will be followed by comments from 1976 Nobel Peace Prize-recipient Mairead Corrigan Maguire, co-founder of the Northern Ireland Peace Movement (later renamed Community of Peace People), Richard Falk, Distinguished Visiting Professor of Global and International Studies at UCSB, and Ambassador Thomas Graham, Jr., former Special Representative of the President for Arms Control, Non-Proliferation and Disarmament from 1994-97.

Co-presented with the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation

General public $12 / UCSB students $10

Sunday, February 26 / 1 & 3:30 pm / Farrand Hall, Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History

NPR’s environment correspondent John Nielsen examines the captive breeding program that has brought the condor population from near extinction to over 200 birds. His lecture will depict the unusual beauty of this giant bird and chronicle the infighting in the scientific and environmental communities associated with of the $20-million California Condor Recovery program.

Co-presented with the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History

All tickets $10

Thursday, March 16 / 8 pm / Campbell Hall

Awarded the 1999 Nobel Peace Prize, Doctors Without Borders provides emergency medical care to people caught in armed conflicts, epidemics and natural and man-made disasters. With examples drawn from MSF’s recent experiences in Pakistan, Niger, and Darfur, Nicolas de Torrenté will talk about how the organization decides to intervene, the importance of independent funding, and the ongoing challenge of working in conflict zones.

Private post-lecture reception with Mr. de Torrenté for Producers Circle members

General public $10 / UCSB students $8