Author Topic: Best of ... MSE Symposium Speakers (Read 2517 times)

JHU_Lauren · « **on:** October 05, 2010, 01:02 PM »

This week, movie critic and Emmy-award winner Richard Roeper {of Ebert & Roeper fame} is coming to Hopkins to speak as part of the annual Milton S. Eisenhower Symposium.

For our first "Best Of..." discussion, we want to know: who was the best speaker you've seen in your years at Hopkins? What was the theme of the MSE Symposium that year and why was he/she so entertaining?

Established in 1967, the Milton S. Eisenhower Symposium is a widely acclaimed lecture series sponsored by the Johns Hopkins University. The symposium is designed to present an issue of national importance to the university, as well as to the Baltimore and Washington communities. All events are free and open to the public. The Symposium is run entirely by undergraduate students at the Johns Hopkins Homewood campus. The Symposium has a history of attracting some of the world's most prominent leaders, politicians, artists and scholars.

http://www.jhu.edu/mse/

JHU_KateT · « **Reply #1 on:** October 05, 2010, 04:27 PM »

Since I'm a freshman and was busy at the time of the of the first speaker, I haven't seen any speakers from MSE yet. :(. However, I am super excited to see Reza Pahlavi, one of the former shahs of Iran. I think it would be really interesting to hear his point of view on the current state of Iran (since he was exiled). B)

JHU_Mandy · « **Reply #2 on:** October 06, 2010, 10:33 AM »

Malcolm Gladwell came last year and his speech was fantastic. It was very original too, I was kind of expecting a general rehash of his books, but it wasn't at all.

JHU_Saznin · « **Reply #3 on:** October 06, 2010, 12:10 PM »

I really enjoyed Sean Astin's speech last year (the theme of that year's symposium is escaping me). He showed clips from the movies he's been in over the years and shared a lot of interesting stories about his showbiz career. For those of you who don't know, his father is a professor here and his brother is quite active in our theater department, so Hopkins has a connection with the Astin family.

JHU_Sydney · « **Reply #4 on:** October 06, 2010, 10:04 PM »

I wish I had been here when Bill Nye came! He is basically the idol of all science majors. :)

JHU_Lucie · « **Reply #5 on:** October 06, 2010, 10:34 PM »

"I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings" is a very influential poem. Maya Angelou was at Hopkins. I learned about her in ELEMENTARY SCHOOL. How cool is that? :blink:

JHU_Josh · « **Reply #6 on:** October 07, 2010, 12:45 AM »

MSE is an awesome event. Bill Nye was amazing. Will Ferrell was very funny. And I just saw Richard Roeper who gave some really interesting insight into how social media has changed journalism.

JHU_LaurenB · « **Reply #7 on:** October 07, 2010, 07:17 AM »

I loved hearing Malcolm Gladwell speak last year, he was so interesting and the auditorium was packed!

JHU_Nick · « **Reply #8 on:** October 07, 2010, 09:55 AM »

As a Freshman, I've yet to attend an MSE Symposium but I would have loved to have seen Tom Clancy. I've read a few of his books and thought they were awesome and hearing him speak would have been really cool!

JHU_Lauren · « **Reply #9 on:** October 07, 2010, 03:09 PM »

I haven't been to too many MSE events myself, but this year I am really excited to see Jon Landau speak on October 21st. I'm a Film/Writing Sems major and would really like to become a film producer in the future, so to have the chance to listen to an extremely successful producer right here on campus {he produced Titanic and Avatar, plus held a fancy job at 20th Century Fox and won all sorts of awards} is such a great opportunity. I'm looking forward to it already!

And of course I'm impressed every year by the list of former speakers. I would've gone crazy if I could've seen Nelson Mandela or Bob Woodward!

JHU_Marina · « **Reply #10 on:** October 07, 2010, 04:39 PM »

While I wasn't here last year, I'd have to agree with Mandy and choose Malcolm Gladwell as my top MSE speaker choice. I have been a gigantic fan since The Tipping Point came out and have read literally every piece of writing he has ever produced. If only I'd been class of '13!

JHU_Allysa · « **Reply #11 on:** October 07, 2010, 05:26 PM »

I can't believe I missed Malcom Gladwell!! He is one of my favorite authors ever. His books are amazing. I am excited to see who comes to Hopkins this year!

JHU_Keith · « **Reply #12 on:** October 07, 2010, 06:54 PM »

Elizabeth Edwards was amazing last fall. Not only does she have an intriguing law career, but she is an inspirational breast cancer activist and great public speaker.

JHU_Becca · « **Reply #13 on:** October 07, 2010, 08:38 PM »

My friend Sara is on the MSE board! I have wanted to go to more MSE events, but unfortunately they've always fallen on a day where I have had a conflict. I was disappointed that I had to miss Elizabeth Edwards speaking last year. She is such a strong woman who has endured a great deal of hardship, and it would have been interesting to see what parts of her life she focused her speech on.

JHU_Trisha · « **Reply #14 on:** October 09, 2010, 12:59 PM »

I'm a freshman, but I am really looking forward to seeing Jon Landau! His movies were amazing! (Titanic, Avatar) It would be an amazing opportunity to see him speak!

JHU_Jessica · « **Reply #15 on:** October 09, 2010, 01:04 PM »

Oh wow, as a senior, it's impossible to pick just one.

Let's see ones that I've enjoyed seeing are Howard Dean, Bill Nye, Elizabeth Edwards, and Sean Astin (just to name a few!)

I would have LOVED to hear Nelson Mandela speak.

I actually am looking forward to Colorful China - it's going to highlight 56 ethnic groups of China and feature over forty performers. I think it's pretty unique that MSE Symposium is hosting a performance.

JHU_Joe · « **Reply #16 on:** October 09, 2010, 02:22 PM »

My favorite MSE speaker was Malcolm Gladwell. I remember hearing that he was going to be speaking and to be completely honest I had no idea who he was, but my Intro Psych professor mentioned him in class and said he was a Social Psychologist so I thought his presentation would be interesting.

Even when he started talking I wasn't that interested cause he told us he would be talking about the fall of the US Economy as it relates to one of the battles in the Civil War. In the end he told us that overconfidence was the reason for the economic downfall as well as the loss of that Civil War battle. He was such an interesting speaker and he took two topics that I hate (History and Economics) and turned them into an amazing lecture which related to social psychology.

I loved his presentation so much that I bought his book Blink (The Power of Thinking Without Thinking) which talks about the adaptive unconscious, and what our mind can do in the time it takes us to blink.

Deleted User · « **Reply #17 on:** October 10, 2010, 12:23 PM »

Malcolm Gladwell was absolutely the best MSE speaker I have seen here. He is the perfect example of just how broad the social sciences can be.

JHU_Tess · « **Reply #18 on:** October 10, 2010, 10:21 PM »

Like the other freshman I haven't had the chance to see a MSE speaker, but I would have given anything to see investigative reporter Bob Woodward speak last year!

JHU_Cate · « **Reply #19 on:** October 11, 2010, 01:54 AM »

I also really enjoyed Malcolm Gladwell. As a more natural sciences person, I always love getting to experience more of the humanities.

JHU_Brian · « **Reply #20 on:** October 11, 2010, 03:06 AM »

I'd have to say Will Ferrell was probably my favorite. Last year they had Aaron Schock, which was interesting to hear no matter what one's political views are given that he's just 9 years older than my class.

JHU_Wafa · « **Reply #21 on:** October 11, 2010, 06:56 PM »

I loved getting to hear world renowned pediatric neurosurgeon Dr. Benjamin Carson speak last year, the theme was "A Transition Between Generations in a Changing America," and yes I had to google that.

It was amazing to see a personal hero speak about where he came from and how he got to be one of the foremost neurosurgeons in the world. His area of work is exactly what I am interested, and so hearing about what it is like to be that type of doctor from a humanistic point of view was an extremely enlightening experience.

JHU_Dominique · « **Reply #22 on:** October 12, 2010, 02:30 AM »

I definitely enjoyed Ben Carson as well (wht was that thing he did where he gave the abridged version of what is happening when we hear sound?? it was so fast I couldn't really understand anything loL!)

Wes Moore was pretty cool too.

JHU_Nick · « **Reply #23 on:** October 12, 2010, 09:27 PM »

So I just got back from my first MSE Symposium and must say it was wonderful. The speaker was Reza Pahlavi, former Crown Prince of Iran. Going into it, I wasn't quite sure what to expect. Would he advocate for the military overthrow of the regime that overtook his fathers? What were his thoughts on Israel? What about nuclear weapons? His opinions on all these were very insightful, as they all came from someone who has experienced them first hand. It is amazing how someone from a country with such a violent past can advocate strongly for a peaceful change in regime, brought about by the people of Iran, and how hopeful he is for the future of the Middle East.

In all, it was a great introduction to MSE Symposiums and I look forward to attending many more!

JHU_Miranda · « **Reply #24 on:** October 13, 2010, 12:33 PM »

My favorite speaker was Adam Liptak, who spoke for Constitution Day last year. He's the New York Times Supreme Court correspondent, so it was really interesting hearing his view on the direction the Roberts Court was heading in (especially now with Obama in office).

Username:
Password:

Welcome to the Hopkins Forums!

Author Topic: Best of ... MSE Symposium Speakers (Read 2517 times)

Deleted User