Calvin College's award-winning January Series will hit the road in January 2008.
Remote webcasts at a dozen sites around the U.S. will bring January Series' expertise to such locales as Muskegon, Ann Arbor and Chicago.
Also included will be a downtown Grand Rapids site: Calvin's new building at 61 Sheldon Boulevard, the former home of the Ladies Literary Club.
First-year January Series director Kristi Potter (right) is excited about beaming 15 January Series speakers to far flung locations.
"We did some of this last year," she says, "but not nearly on this scale. To have 12 sites across the country receiving the broadcasts this year is really exciting. And to be able to give people in downtown Grand Rapids a convenient place to see the speakers is something we think will be a real plus."
Potter notes that although the lecture series comes at a convenient time for many, with its 12:30 p.m. start time, it can still be difficult for people to drive to campus, park, hear a speaker and then drive back to their workplace.
"With a downtown location," she says, "we hope we can draw a new audience to the January Series -- people who want to take advantage of the opportunities we offer through our speakers, but people who previously could not afford the time to come to campus."
Other locations include schools (Western Michigan Christian High School in Muskegon and Bradenton Christian in Florida) and churches (Ridge Point in Holland, North Hills in Troy, Campus Chapel in Ann Arbor, River Terrace in East Lansing, Faith in Chicago, Fairlawn in Whitinsville, Mass., and Crosspoint and The River in California).
The line-up for the 2008 series is set already with a number of interesting topics and speakers on tap.
The series opens January 3, 2008 with Michael Mandelbaum speaking on "Democracy's Good Name." It concludes on January 23 with Sigval Berg speaking on "Energy: Our Responsibility."
In between will be talks on such topics as the next election for president, renewing religious language, black gospel music, the world's rain forests, theology for an age of terror, the future of the space industry, the pillow angel case and more.