DURHAM, N.C. - Bard College President Leon Botstein will be the first visiting scholar to participate in the Duke Colloquium, a new, university-based initiative devoted to bridging the humanities and the professional world.

Botstein will engage in a series of conversations with Duke students about the relationships between education, morality and culture, and their impact on the practice and sustainability of the professions.

At 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, March 22, three student leaders -- Taylor Clarke, Erin Cloninger and Andrew Schreiber -- will join Botstein for a public conversation, "Intellectual Curiosity and the Professional Life: Will Your ‘Elite' Education Fall Short?" The event is free and open to the public and will be held in the Rare Book Room in Perkins Library. Dean of Undergraduate Education Stephen Nowicki will moderate.

Botstein became a college president at the age of 23 and has been president of Bard College since 1975. He has been a pioneer in linking American higher education with public secondary schools. He is also the music director of the American Symphony Orchestra and was appointed the music director of the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra in 2003. He currently serves as chair of the Central European University board and is a board member for the Open Society Institute.

He has been published widely on the subjects of music, education, history and culture, and is the author of "Jefferson's Children: Education and the Promise of American Culture."

The Duke Colloquium invites as its visiting scholars dynamic individuals who can challenge and inspire students, faculty, alumni and members of the broader community to become more forward-thinking and globally-oriented in their endeavors. To learn more and to submit comments or questions, visit the Duke Colloquium website.