Coe Thursday Forum Explores Tragedy and Heroism
B.D. Silliman Professor of Physics Steve Feller
B.D. Silliman Professor of Physics Steve Feller offers a close examination of three of the late American author Leon Uris’s best selling novels: “Mila 18,” “Exodus” and “Armageddon.” Forum participants will take a critical look at the historical accuracy of Uris’s works while acknowledging the fictional nature of his novels.
This four-week Thursday Forum series begins Oct. 4 with an exploration of “Mila 18” and the events that lead to the Warsaw Ghetto uprising of 1943. The Oct. 11 and 18 forums focus on “Exodus,” the story of the founding of the State of Israel and the origins of the current situation in the Middle East. Lastly, the Oct. 25 forum explores “Armageddon” — a key post-World War II story of heroism and success that tells the story of the late-1940s Berlin blockade and airlift.
Thursday Forum lectures are held in Kesler Lecture Hall in Hickok Hall on the Coe campus. Each session begins with coffee and pastries from 8:45-9:15 a.m., followed by the class until 11:30 a.m. Each series concludes with an optional luncheon on the final Thursday. Admission is $35 for a four-week course or $12 per week. Visit www.coe.edu/thursday-forum to register.
For the remainder of the 2018-2019 academic year, the Thursday Forum schedule includes:
- Tragedy and Heroism: Three Historical Novels of Leon Uris — Oct. 4, 11, 18, 25
- From Icon to Virtual Space: Shifting Understandings of Pictorial Beauty From the Ancients to the Renaissance — Nov. 1, 8, 15, 29
- Reviving the Plays of Early 20th Century Black Women Playwrights — Dec. 6
- A New European State? Catalonia Past and Present — Jan. 17, 24
- Women in the Hebrew Bible — Feb. 7, 14, 21, 28
- Urbanism to Save Us All: How Cities are Reshaping our Social and Physical Lives — March 7, 14, 21, 28
- The Count, The Duke, The King and Glenn: Music of the Big Band and Swing Era — April 4, 11, 18, 25
Coe values its location and relationship with the Cedar Rapids community and looks forward to providing insightful forum topics. Established in 1851, Coe has a national reputation for academic excellence enhanced by a student-centered, highly supportive campus environment. Our success in offering superb academics and exciting co-curricular activities stems in large part from our location in a thriving urban setting that promotes student growth and success. As such, we welcome the community to participate in this event.