Lectures

Want to know something that you won't find here? Big lecture halls.

In fact, there's only one classroom on-campus big enough to hold 60 students, which we use often to team-teach courses in the health sciences and arts. And while our professors have plenty of knowledge they're eager to share, don't expect them to stand in front of a podium for 50 minutes and spit it all out.

What you will find are classes in which professors engage you, asking questions and seeking your perspective and insights. Ambrose courses are interactive, with students often leading classroom discussions. No matter the class size, all of our students get the one-on-one interaction with professors that they both want, and deserve. Professors have weekly office hours that allow you to drop-in for a chat, or you can make an appointment with them before or after your class.

Hob-knob with an author or fellow

Throughout the year, special guest speakers are invited to campus to present lectures to the campus community-presentations that are anything but "stuffy." In fact, Ambrose has a number of endowed lectures that range in topics from the liberal arts to political science to international issues.

• Philosopher, author, and civil rights activist Cornel West, PhD, delivered to a packed house in Fall 2012 a lecture, "Race Matters," an examination of race in America.
• With President Barack Obama calling on a significant expansion of the Peace Corps program, National Peace Corps Association President Kevin F.F. Quigley came to campus to discuss the liberal arts and public service as 2009's Woodrow Wilson Visiting Fellow.
• Jack Canfield, originator of the billion-dollar "Chicken Soup for the Soul" series, spoke to students and Quad City-area leaders thanks to a program sponsored by the College of Business. Based on his book "The Success Principles: How to Get From Where You Are to Where You Want to Be," he offered ideas on how to determine goals, develop necessary tools, shift attitudes and master key disciplines to use entrepreneurial time effectively.
• Renowned Author and Scholar David Sloan Wilson presented the 2007 Hauber Chair of Biology Lecture, contending that evolution can be applied to understanding and improving the modern human condition. The lecture was just one in a series of events that was part of The Darwin Project, a year-long reflection on the Father of Evolution.

Besides academic lectures, the Campus Activities Board sponsors a number of presentations, running the gamut of social and educational topics.