I have never
attended a Distinguished Lecture Series event. This periodic event offered by the
local University of Wisconsin permits individuals to attend talks by highly
influential people that have impacted our lives and our society in some way. As
someone always interested in learning from such events, attending a Distinguished
Lecture Series presentation has been on my to-do list for several years, but I
consistently failed to act on researching when they would occur. As a result, I
was either too late to attend the lectures I wanted to see, or I put off the
trip to the University of Wisconsin campus when I received notice of an
upcoming Distinguished Lecture Series talk.
Realizing my
ignorance and procrastination regarding the Distinguished Lecture Series would
mean my participation in such an event would likely never occur, I resolved to
attend one of the lectures during my “I have never...” year. I knew my best
chance to achieve my goal would be to locate a lecture occurring during the
otherwise slow winter months. Doing so would permit me to cross off a long
overdue experience and keep my “I have never...” year going during an otherwise
challenging time of year. As a result, I began researching some of the
Distinguished Lecture Series events scheduled for the end of the fall semester
this year. Although the bulk of the events didn’t fit in my schedule or didn’t
particularly appeal to me, a lecture from Max Brooks, the author of The Zombie Survival Guide and World War Z, caught my eye. I wasn’t
necessarily a fan of the zombie fiction pop culture movement, but the idea of
seeing the son of famed comedian, actor, director Mel Brooks was enough to
pique my curiosity.
As a result,
I set aside time in my calendar to attend tonight’s Distinguished Lecture
Series event featuring Max Brooks. While I didn’t know quite what to expect
from the speaker or the crowd at an event focused on works of zombie fiction, I
figured the event would be, at minimum, an interesting new experience.
Consequently, my anticipation of the event grew as it drew nearer, and the fact
that a good friend of mine I had not seen for some time, Jesse, decided to
accompany me only added to the evening’s potential. Ready for what I knew would
be a fun and unique event, I met Jesse at my house this evening, and together
we headed to Union South on the University of Wisconsin campus to partake in
tonight’s Distinguished Lecture Series.
Waiting for things to start |
Our plans
resulted in Jesse and me arriving somewhat early to the lecture, which gave us
some time to catch up and settle into the lecture hall. After locating some
choice seats in the venue, we chatted a bit about the months that had passed
since we last spent time together, which was more than enough to fill the time
until the Distinguished Lecture Series event began. After a brief introduction
from a University of Wisconsin History Professor, Max Brooks took the stage and
immediately began talking about his inspiration and purpose for writing his
famed works, The Zombie Survival Guide
and World War Z.
The crowd |
As someone
almost expecting a talk that bordered on “doomsday prepper” style preparedness,
I was happy to hear Max speak about the ridiculousness of the modern fixation
on doomsday scenarios and the overzealousness of many “preppers.” With a fair
share of humor and an ample amount of reason, he called attention to the
follies in such an approach to disaster scenarios and laid out the perspectives
that guided his work on The Zombie
Survival Guide. With particular focus on the inherent downfalls of the
all=American trait of individualism, Max honed in on the importance of
specialization in building a functioning society and belied the concept of
reliance on finite resources during times of crisis. More broadly, he spoke of
the persistent self-preservation and groupthink across world governments that
result in poor decision making during such times, which he stated played a
direct role in the core of his work. His points were cogent and his wit kept
the audience laughing and engaged throughout the lecture. From that, it was easy
to see Max was definitely his father’s son, and it was easy to tell why he had
attained such success in his chosen forms of media.
"What about zombies?" |
At the
conclusion of his lecture, Max was quick to open the floor up to questions from
members of the audience. Although many of the questions related to specific
portions of Max’s books were unfamiliar to me, Max provided answers that
reached further than the point of inquiry. Often, he would explain the
historical facts and experiences that helped create each topic discussed, which
gave deeper insight into the mind of a man with a clear intent to evoke
conversation on our way of life through the unique forum of zombie-themed
works. By the time the question and answer session drew to a close, I found
myself impressed by the depth and focus of Max Brooks’ work, and I walked away
with a certain degree of reverence for his approach to influencing the
perspectives of others. Needless to say, it was a great experience led by a man
with a powerful mind, which made me happy I finally decided to attend a Distinguished
Lecture Series event.
Q&A |
Tonight’s
event provided some great topics to ponder and definitely left me inspired to
continue seeking new sources of knowledge as my “I have never...” year moves
forward. I went into my first Distinguished Lecture Series event not knowing
what to expect, but I hoped I gain some new information and some new
perspectives. Thanks to the University of Wisconsin and Max Brooks, I didn’t
walk away from tonight’s experience disappointed. Now that I have finally made
time to attend an event in the Distinguished Lecture Series, I know it will be
nearly impossible for me to avoid attending another. After tonight’s
experience, ignorance to the schedule of upcoming talks or outright procrastination
won’t be sufficient excuses for missing these unique events. Stated simply, I’d
be a fool not to make the Distinguished Lecture Series a part of my routine. The
only downside is that will have to wait until I get back to having some sort of
a routine.
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