JOSH WYMYCZAK
Assistant Photo Editor
Seaver Dean David Baird welcomed Dr. Leonard Shlain as the second speaker in this year’s Distinguished Lecture Series on Tuesday in Smothers Theatre. The lecture, titled “The Alphabet Versus the Goddess: The Conflict Between Word and Image,” discussed a broad spectrum, spanned across 3 million years, from the role women as goddesses and mothers to the general evolution and role of man.
The lecture series consists of five speakers each year to bring provocative and distinguished speakers to Pepperdine’s campus. Shlain follows Sen. John Kerry’s (D-Mass) Sept. 18 speech.
Tuesday night’s lecture attracted many Pepperdine students, nearly filling Smothers Theatre to capacity. During the question and answer period students and professors asked about items Shlain may have cut from the book. He described his problematic publishing process. Shlain said to make the publication date that the book would need to be cut by 80 pages.
“The book published with 33 images and 486 pages, on time” Shlain said.
The speech focused on the fact that we are part of a family of animals known as primates but humans are the one out of 270 species that are significantly different. Aside from opposable thumbs and carnivorous ways, humans rule the animal kingdom. Standing at an average of five feet tall, humans have managed to beat out the species that are bigger, faster and more.
Shlain focused on the importance of the two divisions of the human brain. “There’s actually two people in there. And they each have their own likes, dislikes, and opinions of the world” Shlain said during the lecture. The idea is that natural selection has molded our brains in ways such as training a mother to nurture her child and training us to use our dominant hand and not trust the other.
The role of women was repeatedly recognized throughout the lecture, acknowledging the fact that women started as goddesses and evolved to the maternal figure we know today.
Shlain is the Chairman of laparoscopic surgery at the California Pacific Medical Center in San Francisco. He grew up in Detroit, Mich. and earned his medical degree at Wayne State University School of Medicine in 1961, after receiving his undergraduate degree at the University of Michigan. He is also an associate clinical professor of surgery at UC San Francisco. Shlain has given this lecture at a wide range of venues including the Smithsonian Institution, Harvard University, Florence Academy of Art and the European Union’s Ministers of Culture.
Shlain’s lecture will be followed by Dr. Richard A. Muller’s speech titled “Military Secrets of the Oceans, Atmosphere, and UFOs” on Tuesday, Jan. 23 at 7 p.m.
10-26-2006