Václav Havel

Václav Havel, playwright and the ex-president of Czechoslovakia, spent the Fall 2006 semester as Columbia's artist in residence. This primarily involved him giving mostly incomprehensible speeches in poor English, most notably a terribly garbled and underwhelming CC Coursewide Lecture.

Columbia completely milked his 7-week stay for all it was worth including:

• Controversially, the first semester Lit Hum syllabus, which is traditionally limited to ancient Greek texts and the Bible, was altered that year to include one of Havel's plays, The Garden Party.
• Littered the campus with [havel water bottles][photo needed]
• CCNMTL Created an entire website, http://havel.columbia.edu/, including video of
  • His 'core' speach (be sure and read the feedback before Columbia erases it)
  • A set of interviews with Lou Reed -- that's right, Lou fucking Reed, secretly a Havel scholar apparently, and
  • Photos, his personal notebooks, and myriad other miscellany. Unbelievable, really.