Acclaimed composer Jake Heggie and San Diego Opera General & Artistic Director Ian Campbell explore the creation of Heggie's 2010 opera, Moby-Dick, based on Herman Melville's classic novel, and what went into the composition of this stunning theatrical showpiece. In a lively and engaging conversation, the two discuss Heggie's artistic process, his unique musical language, his experiences with collaborators involved in the Moby-Dick project, and the state of contemporary opera and new music in America.

Hosted by Robert Hass and University Librarian Thomas C. Leonard, distinguished faculty and staff from a wide range of disciplines introduce and read a favorite poem. This year's participants: Ronelle Alexander (Slavic Languages and Literatures), Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost George Breslauer, Myrtis Cochran (Reference Services), George Jaqua (Physical Plant), Trinh T. Minh-ha (Rhetoric and Gender & Women's Studies), Michael L. Palmer (Summer Sessions), Kent Puckett (English), Samuel J. Redman (Regional Oral History).

MSNBC commentator, columnist for The Nation, and Professor of Political Science at Tulane University, where she serves as founding director of the Project on Gender, Race, and Politics in the South, Melissa Harris-Perry examines black women's political and emotional responses to pervasive negative race and gender images in her new book, "Sister Citizen." With wit and family anecdotes, Harris-Perry elaborates on how the shared struggle to preserve an authentic self and secure recognition as a citizen links black women together in America.

A champion of women's empowerment around the world, Leymah Gbowee is an African peace activist often credited with aiding the cessation of the Second Liberian Civil War in 2003 through her extraordinary women-led peace movement. Currently the Executive Director of the Women Peace and Security Network Africa, Gbowee's work was the subject of the 2008 award-winning documentary Pray the Devil Back to Hell, which has been used as a tool to mobilize African women to petition for peace and security. In October 2007, the Women's Leadership Board at Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government honored Ms. Gbowee with the Blue Ribbon Peace Award for her significant contribution to peace-building. Two days after this talk was recorded, Gbowee became the co-recipient of the 2011 Nobel Peace Prize.

Carol Edgarian is an author, editor, and publisher. Her novels include the New York Times bestseller "Three Stages of Amazement" and the international bestseller "Rise the Euphrates." Edgarian and her husband, editor and writer Tom Jenks, founded the non-profit magazine Narrative which publishes more than three hundred artists each year. She speaks to an audience at UC Berkeley.