Greg Downey, assistant professor in the Department of Anthropology, presented "The Pleasure of Dissent: Selfish Reasons for Activism," the first in the "Last Lecture Series" in the basement of Lewis Hall Wednesday night.
The lecture blended personal examination with intellectual reflection and concentrated on his personal opinions on dissent.
After talking of dissent, he touched briefly upon religion, and the role of faith in dissent.
"Faith," Downey said, "is not certainty." He said that it takes faith to start anything.
The series asks faculty to present a lecture as if it were their last.
The Academic Division of the Office of the Student Body President and the dorm that hosts that lecture cohost the series, in its fourth year. The series is presented so that "students can meet popular professors outside the classroom," series coordinator Mary Mullen said.
Professors are chosen by the hall presidents, and the list of nominations come from a random survey of students.
Other lecturers in the series are Jill Godmillow, Joseph Buttigieg, Peter Walshe, Matthew Bloom and Charles Rosenburg. Each will lecture on a topic of personal interest.
"Hopefully, by sharing my self-motivations, it might help students to become more involved in political and societal action," Downey said.
