David Boren talked about how long America will lead the world.
Kenneth Copeland, pediatrics professor and chair, presented a lecture in which participants evaluated the impact of medical research on cures and treatments for disease.
Joseph Thai, law professor, talked about the principles of free speech and how they relate to campaign finance.
Mariam Mufti, international and area studies professor, talked about the future foreign policy decisions of the United States following the War on Terror and U.S. policy toward Pakistan, Afghanistan and India.
David Ray, dean of OU’s Honors College, talked about America’s current political climate in regard to polarization and policymaking.
Joshua Landis, international and area studies professor, discussed Syria’s recent revolution and its impact on the country’s future.
OU alumni returned to campus to continue their education on topics that varied from history and politics to the latest cancer research Friday and Saturday.
OU’s President’s Day of Learning was held for alumni who wished to return to the university to continue learning from OU faculty through a series of lectures.
The event was meant to signify OU’s interest in life-long learning, said Kyle Harper, senior vice provost and classics and letters professor, who gave a lecture about the political philosophy of the classical world and how those principles shaped modern civilization.
“I wanted to be a part of this event because, like any other teacher, I find it encouraging and inspiring to be in the presence of men and women united by intellectual curiosity and an openness to ideas,” said OU historian David Levy, who taught attendees about OU’s early history.
Levy said he hoped his talk would raise curiosity in the audience about OU’s history and cause them to look at the institution in a different light than they had before.
Attendees also learned about cancer research from Shubham Pant, professor and researcher of hematology, the study of blood, and oncology, the study of cancer.
In his lecture, Pant described how cancer research has developed over time and talked about clinical trials taking place at OU to help cancer patients get new drugs.
Pant hoped his lecture would help attendees understand how complex cancer is so they will be more open to participating in clinical trials, which would help researchers continue to develop new cancer treatments, he said.
“Every cancer is different and treatments are varied … I want to encourage more participation from patients in clinical trials so we can move forward,” Pant said.
Following Pant’s lecture, classics and letters professor Andrew Powancher discussed the Gilded Age murder trials of the 1800s.
Powancher talked about the book he’s currently working on, which tells the tale of a revered Civil War hero who was slain by his daughter's fiancé while defending her honor. This story helps people understand the tumultuous political, legal and cultural climate of Gilded Age America, Powancher said.
“History furnishes us with real life dramas far richer than anything Hollywood could ever dream up,” Powancher said.
Dinner was provided Saturday at the Oklahoma Memorial Union's Jan Marie and Richard J. Crawford University Club and was followed by the annual President’s Concert featuring the performance of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9. at Catlett Music Center.
CLARIFICATION: In the original version of this story about the President's Day of Learning, The Daily was unclear about the dates and locations of the dinners for the event. There was a dinner Friday at the Sam Noble Museum of Natural History and a dinner Saturday at the Oklahoma Memorial Union's Jan Marie and Richard J. Crawford University Club.
