Host a Talk in Your Area

Thank you for your interest in sponsoring an Academy Evening talk in your community. Academy Evenings engage the public in a wide variety of topics of public interest and feature Wisconsin’s leading thinkers, scholars, and artists. These free talks are intended to encourage public interaction with these leaders in an intimate atmosphere designed to foster discussion and build community. The Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters sponsors Academy Evenings regularly in the Overture Center in Madison and at other venues across the state.

We select areas to hold Academy Evenings based on the willingness of local groups of Wisconsin Academy members to take on some organizing, publicity, and sponsorship responsibilities. We want to bring top-notch speakers and researchers to your area, but we need to ensure that there is a broad public audience and a local group to help build this audience and handle local publicity. Membership in the Wisconsin Academy is just $25 for annual first-time members and $40 for renewal, so it doesn’t take much to gather three or four interested parties and make this process work. In addition to member support for the Academy Evenings presentation, local sponsorships of $1,000–$2,000 are sought to offset travel costs for speakers, Wisconsin Academy staff arrangements and time, and in some cases paid publicity. In-kind contributions of publicity in organizational newsletters, posters, and/or other communications materials, as well as volunteers to host, set up technical needs, and staff the event, are all necessary to ensure a well-attended and successful Academy Evenings presentation.

Help us connect people and for a better Wisconsin by sponsoring an Academy Evening talk in your community. Please download and review the Academy Evenings Starter Guide (PDF) or contact Academy Evenings coordinator Jennifer Smith at 608-263-1692 x12.