McDermott Lectureship
In 1974, the university established the Eugene McDermott Lectureship, an endowed lecture series created in honor of Eugene McDermott, the late scientist, businessman, civic leader, and philanthropist. Each year the Lectureship brings to the region some of the world's foremost thinkers and visionaries. Speakers have included Jacques Barzun, Bruce Cole, Mortimer Adler, Leon Kass, Paul Goldberger, Derek Walcott, Francis Fukuyama, Maya Lin, and Mark Helprin.
Mark Helprin
Mark Helprin has been published in The New Yorker for almost a quarter of a centry, and his stories and essays on politics and aesthetics appear in The Atlantic Monthly, The New Criterion, The Wall Street Journal, Commentary, The New York Times, and many other publications.
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 Master Class I
A Discussion in Which I Will Try to Convey to You My Amazement That I have Spent My Life and Made My Living as a Writer
Date: October 16, 2008
NEH Chairman Dr. Bruce Cole visits the University of Dallas
(Excerpt from the McDermott Lecture, October 24, 2002)
Good evening. It is an honor and a pleasure to be here. I have long been a fan of the University of Dallas. Its seriousness of purpose, excellence of scholarship and commitment to teaching are exemplary and, I'm sad to say, increasingly rare.
I also want to express my admiration for the vigorous and rigorous core curriculum at the University of Dallas. At a time when many colleges and universities are sweeping away their last remaining required courses, the University of Dallas stands out as a shining exception. The University of Dallas recognizes that great challenges and rapid changes increase the need to learn from history, to understand from whence we came, and to benefit from the wisdom of the ages. Your curriculum offers something unfashionable, but priceless: the essentials of the examined life. May your worthy example be widely followed.
Tonight, I'd like to speak about the centrality of the humanities to democratic and civic life; the challenges facing the humanities and the study of history, the danger of American amnesia; and the possibilities of recovering our memory and protecting the best of our culture...
[Read the rest of Dr. Cole's speech here] [PDF]
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