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 Open every Sunday
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The Holland Lecture Series
Sponsored by the First Unitarian Church of Omaha
Established by Mary and Richard Holland
Announcing the 9th Speaker in the series
Dr. Richard Dawkins
Charles Simonyi Professor of the Public Understanding of Science, Oxford University
The Holland Lecture Series
The Holland Lectures address a variety of important ethical and global issues by bringing internationally recognized speakers to Omaha. These thought-provoking lectures provide a forum for the open discussion of sometimes controversial, but always provocative, ideas that might not otherwise be given voice in Nebraska. In the end, the lecture series aspires to challenge and broaden the listeners' understanding of ethics, philosophy, religion, and science as they relate to current national and world concerns.
First Unitarian Church has a long history of encouraging free and open discussion of controversial topics. For 10 years, between 1954 and 1964, the church was the home of the Frank R. Hoagland Lectures. As a young man, Dick Holland attended many of those lectures and discussed new ideas and ways of thinking that shaped his world perspective. His current desire to resurrect a speaker series and bring distinguished speakers to Omaha is rooted in his memories of attending those earlier presentations. Dick and Mary Holland believed that the Hoagland Lectures, which also brought well-known national figures to speak in Omaha, was an appropriate model for the new Holland Lecture Series that they established. In June 2006,
First
Unitarian
Church
and the Omaha
community
lost a very good friend with the passing of Mary Holland.
Future Holland Lecture speakers:
March 2009 - Richard Dawkins, Charles Simonyi Professor of the Public Understanding of Science, Oxford University
Previous Holland Lecture speakers:
June 15, 2005 - "The Changing Ethics of Life and Death". Dr. Peter Singer, Professor of Bioethics, Princeton University.
November 10, 2005 - "Stem Cells Meet Politics and Religion". Dr. Irving Weissman, Professor of Pathology and Developmental Biology, Stanford University
May 10, 2006 - "Sexual Morality, Justice and Healing". Rev. Debra Haffner, Director of The Religious Institute on Sexual Morality, Justice, and Healing, Community Minister, The Unitarian Church in Westport Westport, Ct.
October 5, 2006 - "Nuclear Terrorism: A Preventable Catastrophe". Dr. Graham Allison, Douglas Dillon Professor of Government and Director of the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs at Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government.
May 3, 2007 - "Earth's Changing Climate: What is in Store for the Future?". Dr. Henry Pollack, Professor Emeritus of the Department of Geological Sciences, University of Michigan.
November 1, 2007 - "Universal Health Coverage: Not If But When!". Henry J. Aaron, Ph.D., Brookings Institution.
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