The College of Arts and Sciences’ Department of Philosophy will host Kirk Ludwig, professor of philosophy at Indiana University, who will present “Corporate Speech and Corporate Persons” on Monday, September 13 from 3:30 to 5:30 p.m. in the University Center, Room 245. Professor Ludwig conducts research on foundational issues in the philosophy of language, epistemology, the philosophy of mind and action, and metaphysics, though his interests extend to every area of philosophical inquiry. He is editor of the volume Donald Davidson (2003) in the Cambridge Contemporary Philosophy in Focus series and coauthor (with Ernie Lepore of Rutgers) of Donald Davidson: Meaning, Truth, Language and Reality (OUP 2005) and Donald Davidson’s Truth-Theoretic Semantics (OUP 2007). For more information, visit the Department of Philosophy website at www.miami.edu/phi or call 305 284-4757.

Daniel Liebl, associate professor at the Miami Project to Cure Paralysis, will present “Neurogenesis after CNS Injury” on Monday, September 13 at 12:20 p.m. in the Cox Science Center, Room 166. Liebl’s research focuses on understanding how the CNS develops and regenerates following injury and disease. For more information about this event, contact Professor Akira Chiba at [email protected].

The Institute for Cuban and Cuban-American Studies (ICCAS) and The Cuban Heritage Collection of the University of Miami Libraries will present the panel discussion “American Ambassadors in Conference: U.S. Policy toward Cuba” on Monday, September 13 at 6:30 p.m. at Casa Bacardi, 1531 Brescia Avenue, on the Coral Gables campus. The panel is part of the Goizueta Lecture Series.

Panelists will include James Cason, president of Center for a Free Cuba and a former ambassador to Paraguay; Luis Lauredo, an international and governmental relations consultant and former U.S. ambassador to the Organization of American States; and Otto Reich, president of Otto Reich Associates, LLC, of Washington, D.C., who served as U.S. ambassador to Venezuela from 1986 to 1989. Jaime Suchlicki, director of ICCAS and Emilio Bacardi Moreau Professor of History at UM, will moderate the panel.

The cost is $15, with donations supporting ICCAS. The event is free to UM faculty, staff, and students. To RSVP, contact ICCAS at 305-284-CUBA (2822). Capacity is limited to 115 people.

Gregory Koger, associate professor in the Department of Political Science in UM’s College of Arts and Sciences, will present “A Primer on Filibustering and Reforming the Senate” on Monday, September 13 from 12:30 to 1:50 p.m. at the School of Law, Room A110A, as part of the school’s Law and Policy Workshop.

Koger specializes in the study of Congress, political parties, interest groups, elections, political history, and political institutions. He has published research on filibustering, legislative parties, Congressional rules, and bill co-sponsorship in the U.S. House of Representatives.

To attend the lecture, RSVP to Sandra Hernandez at [email protected] by Wednesday, September 8.

Anna Deavere Smith, playwright, actress, and Henry King Stanford Distinguished Professor in the Humanities at the University of Miami College of Arts and Sciences’ Center for the Humanities, will present “The Changing Landscape of Doctor-Patient Relationships” on Monday, September 13 at 7 p.m. in Gusman Concert Hall on the Coral Gables campus.

Hailed by Newsweek as “the most exciting individual in American theatre,” Smith is a University Professor at New York University Tisch School of the Arts and is affiliated with the NYU School of Law. She has held appointments at Stanford and at the Yale School of Medicine. She was recently commissioned by the Stanford University Medical School to create a project on diversity in the medical school. She was awarded the prestigious MacArthur Foundation “genius” Fellowship for creating “a new form of theatre—a blend of theatrical art, social commentary, journalism and intimate reverie.”

Smith has a recurring role on the Showtime series Nurse Jackie, played National Security Advisor Nancy McNally on NBC’s The West Wing, and has appeared in such films as Rachel Getting Married, Philadelphia, and The American President. She is perhaps best known as the author and performer of two one-woman plays about racial tensions in America: Fires in the Mirror (Obie Award winner and runner-up for the Pulitzer) and Twilight: Los Angeles 1992 (Obie winner and Tony Award nominee). Interviewing subjects from all walks of life, Smith recreates their words in performance, transforming herself into an astonishing number of characters.

Her latest book is Letters to a Young Artist: Straight-up Advice on Making a Life in the Arts. Her most recent play, Let Me Down Easy, which explores the resilience and vulnerability of the human body, opened on Off-Broadway’s Second Stage Theatre last fall.

Registration is required for Smith’s presentation. Tickets are free of charge. There will be advance registration for the UM Community from through September 1. Tickets will be available to the public beginning September 2. For more information and to register, click here.