The Wittenberg Series enters its 35^th season this year offering the Wittenberg University, Springfield and surrounding communities a diverse selection of guest lecturers and world-renowned performers in the 2017-2018 school year, starting with a keynote address by the new 15^th president at Wittenberg, Dr. Michael L. Frandsen, at 11:45 a.m. Tuesday, Aug. 22, in historic Weaver Chapel.

The Wittenberg Series was created in 1982 during President William Kinnison’s tenure. Since its inception, Nobel Laureates, significant literary figures, most of America’s foremost modern dance companies, as well as hundreds of prominent psychologists, educators, economists, writers, theologians, urban planners and historians, have visited campus to participate.

A wide range of lecturers will share their expertise with audiences during the 2017-2018 Wittenberg Series, including J.D. Vance, New York Times best-selling author; Dunya Mikhail, Iraqi poet; Bernadette Evans, Wittenberg class of 1989, and a community activist and author; Elisabeth Haviland James, documentary filmmaker; Dr. Sean B. Carroll, evolutionary biologist; and Annette Gordon-Reed, Charles Warren Professor of American Legal History at Harvard University and Pulitzer Prize-winning author. The series will also include a concert by the Seraph Brass quintet.

All events of The Wittenberg Series are open to the public free of charge. Doors open 30 minutes prior to the beginning of each lecture or performance. Below are further details related to this year’s Series.

2017-2018 Wittenberg Series Events:

• Tuesday, Aug. 22: Opening Convocation, 11:45 a.m., Weaver Chapel featuring Dr. Michael Frandsen, Wittenberg University’s 15^th president.
• Monday, Sept. 25: Concert with Seraph Brass, 7:30 p.m., Weaver Chapel.
• Wednesday, Oct. 25: Kenneth H. Sauer Luther Symposium, 7:30 p.m., Bayley Auditorium featuring Dr. Joy Schroeder, Trinity Lutheran Seminary. Q & A, 3:30 p.m., Weaver Chapel.
• Sunday, Oct. 29: Reformation Service, 7:30 p.m. in Weaver Chapel (music begins at 7 p.m.).
• Monday, Oct. 30: Fred R. Leventhal Family Lecture, 7:30 p.m., Pam Evans Smith Arena featuring New York Times best-selling author, JD Vance.
• Tuesday, Nov. 14: Allen J. Koppenhaver Literary Lecture, 7:30 p.m., Bayley Auditorium featuring Iraqi poet Dunya Mikhail. Colloquium, 4:30 p.m., Bayley Auditorium.
• Friday, Dec. 8: Lessons and Carols, 7:30 p.m. (Pre-service at 7 p.m.), Weaver Chapel.
• Monday, Jan. 15, 2018: Martin Luther King, Jr. Convocation, 11:15 a.m., Weaver Chapel, featuring Bernadette Evans '89, community activist and author. Q & A, 3:30 p.m., 105 Joseph C. Shouvlin Center for Lifelong Learning.
• Monday & Tuesday, Feb. 5-6, 2018: Visual Arts Residency, 7:30 p.m., Springfield City School District's John Legend Theater at The Dome with documentary filmmaker, Elisabeth Haviland James. In celebration of Black History Month, there will be screenings of the films Althea (Monday) and The Loving Story (Tuesday).
• Wednesday, March 21, 2018: IBM Endowed Lecture in the Sciences, 7:30 p.m., Bayley Auditorium featuring evolutionary biologist Dr. Sean B. Carroll. Colloquium, 4 p.m., Bayley Auditorium.
• Friday, March 26, 2018: William A. Kinnison Endowed Lecture, 7:30 p.m., Weaver Chapel, featuring Annette Gordon-Reed, Charles Warren Professor of American Legal History at Harvard University and Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Hemingses of Monticello: An American Family.

For more information on the Wittenberg Series, click here. To make special arrangements, request a Series poster, or become a friend of the Wittenberg Series, contact Lisa Watson by phone at (937) 327-7363 or at WatsonL4@wittenberg.edu.