Erik S. Kristensen Memorial Lecture Series

Honoring a Fallen Navy SEAL and St. John’s Alum

This special lecture series, jointly sponsored by St. John’s College and the United States Naval Academy, honors LCDR Erik S. Kristensen (AGI00)—an alumnus of the Academy and the St. John’s Graduate Institute. Kristensen, a Navy SEAL, was killed in the line of duty while leading a search and rescue mission in Afghanistan in 2005.

2024 Lecture

Wednesday, April 3 at 7:30 p.m.
McDowell Great Hall

No registration required. The lecture is free and open to the public.

Ambassador Roger D. Carstens (AGI17) is the Special Presidential Envoy for Hostage Affairs. He will deliver the Erik S. Kristensen Memorial Lecture, "Reclaiming Our Intuition: The Poetic Conduct of War and Diplomacy in the Age of AI."

Carstens says to "expect a sprinkling of Heraclitus, Homer, Thucydides, Pascal, Clausewitz, and (of course) James Cameron, who penned the great American classic The Terminator.”

Read more about Carstens.

A Literary Life Taken Too Soon

A fellow Johnnie established the lecture series in 2013 to honor the life and legacy of GI alumnus Erik Kristensen.

Read About Kristensen

The annual memorial lecture series to honor Kristensen was initiated by a 1992 St. John’s College graduate, Lt. Michael Zampella, along with friends and family. All inquiries concerning the lecture should be directed to mzampella(at)mac.com.

The lecture series is supported in large part by the Navy SEAL Foundation, Inc., Eye-Street Kristensen Klassic, and the Navy SEAL Family Foundation.

Past Lectures

Recordings of most past Kristensen Memorial Lectures are available on the St. John’s College Digital Archives site.

More About the Erik S. Kristensen Memorial Lecture Series