Yale Bulletin and Calendar

October 21, 2005|Volume 34, Number 8

Ruth Reichl

Tanner Lecture, related events focus
on food and art of autobiography

Gourmet editor and renowned writer Ruth Reichl will deliver the 2005 Tanner Lectures on Human Values Wednesday-and Thursday, Oct. 26 and 27.

In conjunction with the lectures, there will be a film festival based on the theme of food, a panel discussion on autobiography with several Yale authors who have mastered the genre, and a symposium titled "Autobiography Across the Disciplines." The Tanner Lectures and related events are all free and open to the public; all will be held in the Whitney Humanities Center (WHC) (see related story), 53 Wall St.

Reichl is an award-winning and prolific author, who served as a restaurant critic for the Los Angeles Times and food editor for The New York Times before becoming editor-in-chief of Gourmet magazine in 1999. She has been honored with four James Beard Awards for excellence in journalism and the culinary arts, and has received numerous accolades for her critically acclaimed memoirs "Tender at the Bone," "Comfort Me with Apples" and, most recently, "Garlic and Sapphires: The Secret Life of a Critic in Disguise."

The theme of Reichl's Tanner Lectures is "Why Food Matters." The Oct. 26 lecture, "Cooking Lessons: A Short History of Eating," will address the social and political implications of food in a historical context; the Oct. 27 talk, "Stories We Tell: The Subtext of the Table," will touch on the autobiographical theme, showing how food has been crucial to Reichl's personal development throughout her life. Both lectures, which are free and open to the public, take place at 5 p.m. in the WHC auditorium.

The appointment as Tanner Lecturer is a recognition for outstanding achievement in the humanities. The Tanner Lectures were established by the American scholar, industrialist and philanthropist Obert Clark Tanner for the purpose of contributing to the moral and intellectual life of mankind.

Food-themed films

The newly launched film society The Cinema at the Whitney will present "My Architect," Nathaniel Kahn's 2003 documentary memoir about his father, architect Louis Kahn, at 4 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 21.

On Saturday, Oct. 22, The Cinema will show "Tampopo," a 1985 film directed by Juzo Itami about a trucker who helps to set up the "perfect" Japanese noodle shop, and "Babette's Feast," a 1988 film directed by Gabriel Axel about a maid who prepares the meal of a lifetime for two sisters and their gentlemen friends. On Sunday, Oct. 23, the film society will screen "Eat Drink Man Woman," a 1994 film directed by Ang Lee about a chef and his three daughters, and "Big Night," a 1996 film co-directed by Campbell Scott and Stanley Tucci about two brothers who emigrate to the United States to open an Italian restaurant. On both days, the screenings will take place at 4 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. in the auditorium of WHC.

Yale autobiographers

The editors of the undergraduate publication Yale College Review of Books will present "Yale Studies in Autobiography: Student Critics on Faculty Writers," a panel discussion and interview of eight current and former Yale faculty members who have written autobiographies, at 4:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 25.

Participants will include John Morton Blum, author of "A Life with History"; John Donatich, author of "Ambivalence: A Love Story"; Carlos Eire, author of "Waiting for Snow in Havana: Confessions of a Cuban Boy," winner of the 2003 National Book Award for non-fiction; Peter Gay, author of "My German Question: Growing Up in Nazi Berlin"; Sherwin B. Nuland, author of "Lost in America: A Journey with My Father"; Willie Ruff Jr., author of "A Call to Assembly: The Autobiography of a Musical Storyteller"; Robert B. Stepto, author of "Blue as the Lake: A Personal Geography"; and Edward Stankiewicz, author of "My War: Memoir of a Young Jewish Poet."

Autobiography symposium

"Autobiography Across the Disciplines," an academic conference featuring world-renowned experts on and practitioners of autobiography, will take place Friday and Saturday, Oct. 28 and 29 at the Whitney Humanities Center.

The event will open at 1:30 p.m. on Friday and will feature three panel discussions led by Yale faculty members -- "The Inescapability of Autobiography" chaired by David Apter, 1:45-3:45 p.m. Friday; "Genre Issues in Autobiographical Studies" chaired by Linda Peterson, 4:15-6:15 p.m. Friday; and "The Ethics of Memory" chaired by Jonathan Holloway, 10:30 a.m.-noon, Saturday. The conference will also include a public reception following the last panel on Friday and a talk by Philippe Lejeune of the Université Paris-Nord at 12:15 p.m. on Saturday.

For more information, contact norma.thompson@yale.edu.

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