Last Lectures series sends seniors off with practicality, pizazz

Classes may be over, but some seniors are still heading to lecture. The Last Lectures series, organized by the Class of 2010 commencement committee, packs more than a dozen speeches from some of the University’s most distinguished professors and other well-known speakers into a three-week period.

The speakers span the ideological spectrum, from Wilson School professor Paul Krugman to politics professor Robert George, and cross disciplines from art to astrophysics. In a unique addition to this year’s series, seniors can learn how to choose a health insurance plan from the University’s director of benefits or how to run for public office from former New Jersey governor Jon Corzine, who will teach at the Wilson School next fall.

David Christie ’10, who has attended five of the lectures so far, said the balance of intellectual stimulation and practicality over the first two weeks of talks has been the series’ greatest asset. Christie is also a member of The Daily Princetonian editorial board.

“I think each type is really important,” he said. “I’m really impressed by the breadth and depth of the different speakers that they’ve gotten across a wide range of disciplines and topics.”

The speakers for the series were invited early in the spring and given complete freedom regarding their lecture topics.

Astrophysics professor David Spergel explained that he prepared his lecture with a general audience in mind.

“For me, it was about describing the Big Bang theory, about describing that we now know the age of the universe quite well,” he said. “I thought, ‘What were the one or two key ideas that I would want people to understand? What should an educated person know about our universe?’ ”

Wilson School professor Hugh Price, whose lecture was titled “Tales from an Unorthodox Career Odyssey,” said he stressed the role serendipity plays in one’s professional career and the importance of role models in shaping ideals and career goals.

“Most of the positions I’ve occupied have sort of presented themselves without me strategizing or scheming to get them,” he explained, “so I talked about how to just be open to new things and not have a mentality of specialization.”

Colin Mattis ’10, who organized the Last Lectures with Mike Wang ’10 and Sarah Hogarty ’10, said that the entire process was relatively painless.

“We worked really well together, so it wasn’t ever arduous work, and the timing of the lectures didn’t interfere with our theses,” he said. “The only part that was a little difficult was just coordinating all these speakers, with their different schedules and everything, into a close timeframe.”

Wang noted that most of the speakers the group contacted were more than willing to participate.

Get the best of the ‘Prince’ delivered straight to your inbox. Subscribe now »

“I was impressed by the extent to which professors and the other speakers were actually very eager to come to campus, even if they weren’t based here,” he said. “It was a sometimes slow but straightforward process, and they were very accommodating.”

Mattis said the series puts a fitting capstone on the University’s emphasis on a varied education.

“It’s a chance to engage with these amazing, world-renowned professors one last time and really get a feel for the diversity of interests and expertise on this campus,” he explained. “It really shows how special this place is.”

Hogarty noted that attendance has been strong.

“We’ve really had an amazing turnout,” she said. “We’ve probably had an average between 50 and 60 for most of the lectures, and upwards of 100 or more for Robbie George and Paul Krugman.”

Hogarty is a also a former editor for The Daily Princetonian.

Margaret Walker ’10 noted that the series is a valuable opportunity, especially for those who did not attend optional lectures as undergraduates.

“I feel like, for the most part, it’s easy during the year for people to get swept up in their classes and other activities and skip a lot of the cool talks going on here,” she said. “Now that theses are in and there’s not as much to do, it’s neat to see that so many of us really do just love being here and going to random lectures simply for the sake of learning.”