04/17/98
	CONTACT: Margie Yu, Public Affairs Asst. (323) 343-3047 Calendar of Events	Essayist Joseph Epstein to Deliver Special Lecture in Honor of Cal State L.A.'s 50th Anniversary Los Angeles, CA - April 17, 1998 -- On Wednesday, April 22, Cal State L.A. will present a special 50th anniversary lecture by Joseph Epstein, leading American essayist and recent past editor of The American Scholar. The lecture, "What's the Point of a College Education?", will touch on Epstein's personal experience and his perception of the current professional and political pressures on higher education. The event is free to the public, and will take place at 5 p.m. in the University-Student Union Los Angeles Room. Part of Cal State L.A.'s 50th anniversary celebration, the lecture has been organized by the Cal State L.A. Academic Senate. Joseph Epstein has been called "one of our last men of letters." One critic praised his writings as "a one-man revival of the familiar essay at its most genial and urbane." The subjects of his essays range from the pleasures and annoyances of dealing with mail-junk and all, to "Sex and the Professors." Explaining why things are funny can be a dull affair, but Epstein's sharp and warm wit make him a master at it. Despite the irony and the clever puns, Epstein is no mere lighthearted entertainer. Underneath the urbane geniality lies a nostalgia for values, a concern with high seriousness, a passion for clear and cliche-free language. For more than 20 years, he wrote for and edited The American Scholar, the official journal of America's pre-eminent honor society, Phi Beta Kappa. In every issue, he contributed an editorial essay signed "Aristides" in which he shared his thoughts with the academic community on matters light and grave. Epstein grew up in Chicago, street smart and street wise. He has taught literature for many years at Northwestern and has kept close to the American university in life as well as print. Of an early book, Ambition: The Secret Passion (1980), a critic wrote: "[he has] given us the image of our own entangled wishes and fears." Earlier this year, Epstein published a collection of essays titled Life Sentences. The pun tells about the way his mind uses humor to underscore the connection between creativity and commitment, desire and anxiety, will and ethics. For more information, call the Academic Senate Office at Cal State L.A., (323) 343-3750. * M E D I A A L E R T * What & Who: In celebration of the 50th anniversary of Cal State L.A., Cal State L.A. will present a lecture by essayist Joseph Epstein, recent past editor of The American Scholar. The lecture, "What's the Point of a College Education?", will touch on Epstein's personal experience and his perception of the current professional and political pressures on higher education. When: Wednesday, April 22, 1998, 5 p.m. Where: Cal State L.A. University-Student Union, Los Angeles Room. The University is located at the Eastern Avenue exit, San Bernardino (I-10) Freeway, at the interchange of the 10 and 710 Freeways. Public permit dispenser parking at 50 cents per hour is available on the top level of North Parking Structure II, and in Lots C and G. Info: Free to the public. For more information on the lecture, call the Academic Senate Office at Cal State L.A., (323) 343-3750. # # # | Cal State L.A. | | Publications/Public Affairs | News Releases main page