“Ambitions and Authenticity from Aristotle to Stephen Colbert” is the topic of the next talk in the Good Life Lecture Series.

Melissa Wade, president of the Glenn Pelham Foundation of Debate Education, will give the lecture on Wednesday, April 13, at 5:30 p.m. in Few Hall Multipurpose Room.  Refreshments will be served.

The Pelham Foundation is a non-profit supporting the national Urban Debate League network, which was founded at Emory.

Wade retired from Emory last November after 43 years as executive director of forensics in the Barkley Forum Center for Debate Education, part of Campus Life. She was a faculty member in the Division of Educational Studies and is an Emory alumna: 72C, 74G, 96T, 00T.

The talk will explore the ethics of ambition and understanding authenticity as the place where an individual’s gifts intersect the needs of the world as a path to a meaningful life. Understanding the aspirations and challenges of ambition help promote self-awareness and authenticity.

This program is presented by Flourish Emory and the Barkley Forum.

The Good Life Lecture Series seeks to facilitate a meaningful exchange of ideas on how to lead the “good life,” based on Aristotle's concept of eudemonia. The series features speakers whose experiences and knowledge provide distinctive and challenging understandings on how to lead such a life; students and other audience members can benefit from the speakers’ wisdom as they move forward constructing their own personal version of the good life.

For more information, contact Josh Perlin.