Idee Levitan IHC Endowed Lecture Series

Idee Levitan IHC Endowed Lecture Series Prior to her death in 1997, Idee Levitan-Maxted, calligrapher, painter and poet, contributed a generous endowment to the Interdisciplinary Humanities Center. The Idee Levitan IHC Endowed Lecture Series was established in recognition of her gift. It will ensure that visiting
scholars are brought to campus annually to discuss the relationship between the disciplines of art, philosophy and science as well as the creative processes that bridge the disciplines.

Known to her friends as "Mighty Idee," Levitan-Maxted was both an artist and a patron of the arts who participated regularly in the cultural life of Santa Barbara. She also had a lifelong passion for Eastern
spirituality and alternative health practices. The inaugural address in the Idee Levitan IHC Lecture Series was delivered by Simon Schama, Old Dominion Professor of the Humanities at Columbia University, who spoke on "Rembrandt and Blindness" (Spring, 1999). The next event in this series featured Svetlana Alpers, Professor Emerita at the University of California, Berkeley and Visiting Research Professor in the Department of Fine Art at New York University, discussing "Velasquez's The Spinners or What Are We Looking For?" (Spring, 2000). It was followed by an international conference, "Packrats and Bureaucrats: Study in the Archives" (Winter, 2001) devoted to the phenomenon of collecting that featured the participation of renowned Russian artists, Ilya & Emilia Kabakov. The next event featured eminent poet and professor of English at the University of Houston, Edward Hirsch who discussed his just released book, "The Demon and the Angel: Searching for the Source of Artistic Inspiration" (Spring 2002).

Since then there have been a number of highlights in Idee Levitan IHC Lecture Series: Thomas Crow, Director of the Getty Research Center, spoke on "The Unknown Conversation: The Last Works of Mark Rothko and Eva Hesse" (Fall 2002); Okwui Enwezor, Curator of Documenta XI, discussed "The Postcolonial Constellation: Contemporary Art in a State of Permanent Transition" (Spring 2003); and W. J. T. Mitchell, Gaylord Donnelley Distinguished Service Professor of English and Art History, University of Chicago, explored "Abstraction and Intimacy" (Spring 2003).

Past Events

3 on 3: triangulating OUT OF SITE
THOMAS CROW, Thursday, February 10, 2005
CECILE WHITING,Wednesday, February 16, 2005
DAVE HICKEY,Wednesday, February 23, 5:00 PM, 2005
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W. J. T. Mitchell
"Abstraction and Intimacy"
Thursday, May 15, 2003
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Okwui Enwezor
"Symposium on Curatorial Paradigms in Contemporary Art after Documenta XI"
Thursday, May 8, 2003
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Okwui Enwezor
"The Postcolonial Constellation: Contemporary Art in a State of
Permanent Transition"
Wednesday, May 7, 2003
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Sogobi (2001, 90 minutes)
With an appearance by filmmaker James Benning
Wednesday, February 5, 2003
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Thomas Crow
"The Unknown Conversation: The Last Works of Mark Rothko and Eva Hesse"
Friday, November 15, 2002
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"David Hockney's Secret Knowledge"
Wednesday, October 23, 2002
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Edward Hirsch
"The Demon and the Angel:Searching for the Source of Artistic
Inspiration"
Thursday, May 9, 2002
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Timothy J. Clark
"The Monster Picasso"
Wednesday, November 7, 2001
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