Pauline Yu presented her lecture as part of the Townsend Center for the Humanities' Forum on the Humanities and the Public World. Yu has been President of the American Council of Learned Societies since July 2003. She has previously served as Professor of East Asian Languages and Cultures and Dean of Humanities in the College of Letters and Science at the University of California, Los Angeles. Professor Yu has written numerous books and articles on classical Chinese poetry, comparative literature, and issues in the humanities.