MVP Fridays
Hosted by the institute on Friday afternoons of select home football weekends, MVP Fridays tackle big questions by inviting national leaders, journalists, and writers to speak on questions of meaning, values, and purpose. Each lecture takes place at 4:00 p.m. in the Geddes Hall Andrews Auditorium or Coffee House.
The 2024 Lineup
For the fall 2024 series, MVP Fridays brought to the institute New York Times columnist Ross Douthat, Salvadoran poet, activist, and New York Times–bestselling author Javier Zamora, New York Times–bestselling author Ilyon Woo, and three-time National Book Award finalist and The New York Times–bestselling author Lauren Groff. Read more about each speaker below.
Ross Douthat: “Is there hope for America’s future?”
Ross Douthat spoke on “Is there hope for America’s future?” on September 6 (before the Northern Illinois game) in Andrews Auditorium. He was introduced by Richard W. Garnett, Paul J. Schierl/Fort Howard Corp. Professor of Law, and his lecture was co-sponsored by the Democracy Initiative, Department of Political Science, and the Gallivan Program in Journalism, Ethics, and Democracy.
Ross Douthat is an American political analyst, blogger, author and New York Times columnist. He was a senior editor of The Atlantic. He is the author of “The Deep Places: A Memoir of Illness and Discovery,” which was published in October 2021. His other books include “To Change the Church: Pope Francis and the Future of Catholicism,” published in 2018; “Bad Religion: How We Became a Nation of Heretics” (2012); “Privilege: Harvard and the Education of the Ruling Class” (2005); “The Decadent Society” (2020); and, with Reihan Salam, “Grand New Party: How Republicans Can Win the Working Class and Save the American Dream” (2008). He is the film critic for National Review.
Javier Zamora: “What can immigrant stories teach us?”
Javier Zamora spoke on “What can immigrant stories teach us?” on September 20 (before the Miami of Ohio game)in Andrews Auditorium. He was introduced by Francisco Robles, Assistant professor, Department of English. His talk was co-sponsored by the Creative Writing Program, Department of American Studies, Klau Institute for Civil and Human Rights, and the Institute for Latino Studies.
Javier Zamora is a Salvadoran poet and activist. In his debut New York Times bestselling memoir, SOLITO (Hogarth, September 2022), Javier retells his nine-week odyssey across Guatemala, Mexico, and eventually through the Sonoran Desert. Zamora was a 2018-2019 Radcliffe Fellow at Harvard University and holds fellowships from CantoMundo, Colgate University (Olive B. O’Connor), MacDowell, Macondo, the National Endowment for the Arts, Poetry Foundation (Ruth Lilly), Stanford University (Stegner), and Yaddo. He is the recipient of a 2017 Lannan Literary Fellowship, the 2017 Narrative Prize, and the 2016 Barnes & Noble Writer for Writers Award for his work in the Undocupoets Campaign.
Ilyon Woo: “How can history help us pursue justice?”
Ilyon Woo spoke on “How can history help us pursue justice?” on September 27 (before the Louisville game) in Andrews Auditorium. He was introduced by Sophie White, Joseph and Elizabeth Robbie College Professor, Professor of American Studies. Her talk was co-sponsored by the Creative Writing Program, Department of History, Department of American Studies, and the Program of Liberal Studies.
Ilyon Woo is the New York Times–bestselling author of Master Slave Husband Wife: An Epic Journey from Slavery to Freedom, which won the 2024 Pulitzer Prize in Biography. She has received support for her research from the National Endowment for the Humanities and the American Antiquarian Society, among other institutions. Ilyon is also the author of The Great Divorce: A Nineteenth-Century Mother’s Extraordinary Fight Against Her Husband, the Shakers, and Her Times, her writing has appeared in The Boston Globe, The Wall Street Journal, Time Magazine, and The New York Times. Ilyon has traveled the country to speak at bookstores, museums, schools, and book festivals, and she has been featured on such programs as NPR’s Morning Edition, All Things Considered, and CBS Sunday Morning. She holds a BA in the Humanities from Yale College and a PhD in English from Columbia University.
Lauren Groff: “What makes a story true?”
Lauren Groff spoke on “What makes a story true?” on October 11 (before the Stanford game) in Andrews Auditorium. She was introduced by Katie Bugyis, Rev. John A. O’Brien Associate Professor, Program of Liberal Studies. Her talk was co-sponsored by the Creative Writing Program, Gender Studies Program, and the Program of Liberal Studies.
Lauren Groff is a three-time National Book Award finalist and The New York Times–bestselling author of the novels The Monsters of Templeton, Arcadia, Fates and Furies, Matrix, and The Vaster Wilds, and the celebrated short story collections Delicate Edible Birds and Florida. She has won The Story Prize, the ABA Indies’ Choice Award, France’s Grand Prix de l’Héroïne, and the Joyce Carol Oates Prize, and has been a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award. Her work regularly appears in The New Yorker, The Atlantic, and elsewhere. Her work has been translated into thirty-six languages. She lives in Gainesville, Florida.