A Better Setting for an Academic Lecture

I went to my first academic lecture in LA last night with a trip all the way down Sunset Blvd to the Getty Villa in Malibu. One of the most prominent scholars in my field (Erich Gruen - who recently retired after more than 3-4 decades at UCBerk) delivered a talk in the Getty auditorium on cultural identity theft and appropriation in the ancient world. Dr. Gruen will be serving as the Villa Professor this year at the Getty in his first year of quasi-retirement. As a consequence, he will likely be brought to speak as a guest in my courses at UCLA - an added bonus. The environment and following reception were excellent and I started to make the necessary political rounds at the reception to lay the groundwork for future connections. Hopefully, I've learned how to play the game well enough over the years - sadly, it's more important than most people in academia realize. The collection of antiquities was of highest quality. I'll need to go back when I have more time to stroll the villa and examine the artifacts in more detail. All in all, one of the better lecture events I've been to.