The Mondavi Center’s 2010-11 distinguished speakers boast a range of expertise from politics to puns:

Former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, science prodigy Jonah Lehrer, novelist Daniel Handler (aka Lemony Snicket), Professor Henry Louis Gates Jr., and humorist David Sedaris. (Besides the Distinguished Speakers series, the Mondavi Center also hosts the Campus Community Book Project author; see details below.)

“I was asked recently what we were thinking when we put Madeleine Albright and David Sedaris in the same series, given how dramatically different they are personally and professionally,” said Jeremy Ganter, associate executive director and director of programming at the Mondavi Center.

“My response was, that’s precisely the point.”

In other words, in curating the series, the Mondavi Center aims to book the very best from a number of disciplines, with a sensitivity to speakers and topics that may resonate with UC Davis faculty, staff and students.

For example, Lehrer, author of Proust Was a Neuroscientist and How We Decide, will talk about the science of decision making, and the intersections between neuroscience and the arts.

“For a campus like ours, with such tremendous strength in both areas, his lecture and residency events are sure to be the highlight of the series,” Ganter said.

Other speakers, like Albright, have a connection with defining moments in history. “And there are those, like David Sedaris and Ira Glass, who comment and shed new light on the world around us,” Ganter said.

Next year, as in years past, every speaker program will include a question-and-answer session, according to Ganter. But, for 2010-11, the process will undergo an upgrade, with people invited to submit their questions in advance or via social media in real time, during the programs.

Here are the details on the 2010-11 Distinguished Speakers series:

• Wednesday, Sept. 29 — In Conversation With Madeleine Albright. The first female secretary of state, 1997 to 2001, in the Clinton administration, plans discuss such issues as freedom, human rights, globalization and terrorism, and ongoing conflict and tension around the world.

• Wednesday, Oct. 27 — Jonah Lehrer: "How We Decide — The New Science of Decision Making," about how leaders in various fields are taking advantage of new discoveries in neuroscience to make better television shows, win more football games and improve military intelligence, to cite a few of his examples.

• Wednesday, Jan. 26 — Daniel Handler: "Why Does Lemony Snicket Keep Following Me?" Handler is the author of the literary novels The Basic Eight, Watch Your Mouth and Adverbs, and, under the name Lemony Snicket, children’s books known as “A Series of Unfortunate Events.” According to the Mondavi Center's promotional material, Handler discusses how his pseudonym stole his ideas, blocked his spotlight, seduced his wife, bought him a house and ruined forever his dream of a scruffy, anonymous, bohemian life.

• Monday, March 7 — Henry Louis Gates Jr.: "African American Lives — Genealogy, Genetics and Black History." Gates, head of the W.E.B. Du Bois Institute for African and African American Studies at Harvard University, addressing research and DNA analysis and poignant family stories in a lively discussion on individual lineage and African American history. Beyond his academic work, Gates, you may recall, made the news in connection with a July 2009 confrontation with a Cambridge, Mass., police officer.

• Thursday, April 28 — David Sedaris, humor writer and satirist who deftly slices through cultural euphemisms and political correctness. His newest book, Squirrel Seeks Chipmunk: A Modest Bestiary, is due out in October. His previous books include When You Are Engulfed in Flames, Me Talk Pretty One Day and Naked.

Tickets are available now, but only as part of a series purchase. You can buy the Distinguished Speakers series in its entirety, or you can include an individual speaker or speakers in a choose-your-own plan (five or more events from the entire Mondavi Center schedule). Or, you may add a speaker or speakers to a series purchase. The box office is open from noon to 6 p.m. Monday through Saturday. (530) 754-2787 or (866) 754-2787, or mondaviarts.org. Individual tickets are due to go on sale to staff and faculty on Aug. 20, and to the general public on Aug. 23.

Campus Community Book Project

Beverly Daniel Tatum is due on campus Dec. 10 to give an address in connection with her book Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria? And Other Conversations About Race — the 2010-11 Campus Community Book Project.

Tatum, a clinical psychologist and an expert on the development of racial identity, is president of Spelman College in Atlanta.

Tickets are available now, but only as an add-on to a series or choose-your-own plan. The box office is open from noon to 6 p.m. Monday through Saturday. (530) 754-2787 or (866) 754-2787, or mondaviarts.org. Individual tickets are due to go on sale to staff and faculty on Aug. 20, and to the general public on Aug. 23.

Earlier coverage: "2010-11 theme examines racial identity, access to higher education" (Feb. 26, 2010)

Discounts

For staff and faculty:

• Series — 30 percent

With the discount, here is what you would pay for the Distinguished Speakers series:

Price Level 1 — $191

Price Level 2 — $150

Price Level 3 — $101

• Choose-your-own plan (five or more events) — 25 percent

• Pick 3 — 20 percent

• Single-event tickets — 10 percent

Pick 3 and single-event tickets go on sale Aug. 20 for staff and faculty (Aug. 23 for the general public).

For single-event tickets to hear distinguished speakers, the discounted prices for staff and faculty will range from $23 to $61.

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For students and children:

• 50 percent off all tickets