Always something new to learn with Town & Gown’s ‘Lunch at the Forum’ series

There’s still time to join Town & Gown this academic year and enjoy their upcoming “Lunch at the Forum” events featuring captivating talks by the outstanding faculty of Chapman University.

Upcoming lunch talks include:

• “An Uneasy Truce: Religion, Violence and the Pursuit of Peace,” Thursday, Feb. 7. Associate Professor Nancy Martin, chair of the Department of Religious Studies. The religions of the world all speak of moving from self-centeredness to other-centeredness and of deepening compassion and love toward other beings. How then does religion seem so often to be implicated in violence and war? What role has and can religion play not only in averting war but also in creating positive peace? Using contemporary India as an entry point, Dr. Martin will discuss some of the complex dynamics that make religion such a powerful yet volatile force, for both despair and hope, in local and global politics.
• “Extreme Leadership: Lessons from Ernest Shackleton and the Polar Explorers,” Thursday, March 7. Associate Professor Cristina M. Giannantonio from the Argyros School of Business and Economics. The heroic age of Polar exploration offers an exciting lens through which to view extreme leadership. Dr. Giannantonio will take listeners to Antarctica to accompany Ernest Shackleton, Robert Falcon Scott, and Roald Amundsen as they race to be the first to reach the South Pole. The stories of their expeditions continue to capture our interest 100 years after they set sail. Dr. Giannantonio will discuss how she uses the stories of these expeditions as historical case studies to help students develop as leaders and prepare them to lead organizations that will operate in extreme business environments.

Town & Gown membership is open to community residents, alumni, parents and grandparents of Chapman students, as well as the campus community. Annual membership dues for faculty, staff and administrators start at $25. Forum lunches are held in The William and Willa Dean Lyon Conference Center, Argyros Forum, Room 209.

More information is available at the Town & Gown website.