You're InvitedPublic Memory, Public Imagination, and the Stories We Choose A Conversation with Adriane Lentz-Smith and Wylin Wilson The stories we tell, preserve, question, and pass along shape how we understand ourselves, our communities, and our future. But who tells those stories? How do history, ethics, and imagination help us see beyond the moment we are living in? And what do we owe one another as we imagine what comes next? Join OLLI at Duke for our Fall Kickoff Speaker & Social as two remarkable Duke scholars, Adriane Lentz-Smith and Wylin Wilson, come together for a timely conversation about memory, storytelling, democracy, and hope. Together, they will explore how history and imagination work hand in hand, why stories matter, how art opens new ways of seeing, and what it means to build a caring democracy in a complicated time. Rather than offering easy answers, this conversation invites us to think deeply, listen generously, and remain open to perspectives we have not yet imagined. Whether you are drawn to history, literature, ethics, the arts, or simply good conversation, this promises to be a thought-provoking and inspiring beginning to OLLI's fall term. Coffee, tea, orange juice, and light refreshments will be ready, along with plenty of time to visit with fellow members before the conversation begins. Adriane Lentz-Smith, Associate Professor of History and African & African American Studies, is a nationally recognized historian whose scholarship explores Black freedom struggles, citizenship, and the ways history is remembered, interpreted, and shared with the public. Beyond the classroom, she brings historians into conversation with communities through documentaries, public media, and Duke's The Ethics of Now series. Wylin Wilson, Associate Professor of Theological Ethics at Duke Divinity School, explores the intersections of religion, gender, bioethics, and public life. Her work examines questions of human dignity, community, and justice, drawing on experience in academic medicine, theology, and public engagement to help us think more deeply about how we care for one another. Come at 9:30 a.m. to enjoy refreshments and connection with fellow OLLI members before the conversation begins at 10:15 a.m. |
