MUNCIE, Ind. -- From Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel to Vietnam Veterans Memorial designer Maya Lin, some of the world's greatest minds usher in the millennium at UniverCity 2000.

Ball State University's weeklong outdoor festival Sept. 16-22 also welcomes a Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright, the 39th U.S. poet laureate, the worldwide Guggenheim director, the author of "Dead Man Walking" and noted public radio and television hosts. They offer diverse insights on critical social issues.

More than 200 free lectures, discussions, demonstrations, performances and exhibits are scheduled each day. Most take place in a tent village on the lawn east of McKinley Avenue between Bracken Library and the Architecture Building.

Events in other locations include Elie Wiesel's talk in Emens Auditorium and Japanese sumo wrestling in Worthen Arena and the downtown Muncie Fieldhouse.

All of the activities are open to the public. Parking and shuttle service to the tent village are available at the L.A. Pittenger Student Center Parking Structure on campus.

For a complete schedule of UniverCity 2000 events, call (765) 285-3546.

With the theme "Time to Time," participants will explore the positive potential for the world in the next century.

"UniverCity 2000 will allow for not only a connection between centuries, but also new connections in our thinking," said project director Beth Turcotte, a Ball State theater professor and executive director of the Muncie Center for the Arts.

"It is our goal during this festival to engage all participants in a process of discovery that will lead to exciting ideas and concepts that will make the 21st century the most interesting and challenging time of all," Turcotte said.

Keynoters for UniverCity 2000 include:

• Sister Helen Prejean, author of the autobiographical "Dead Man Walking" and a Sister of St. Joseph of Medaille. Keynote talk: "Moral Issues of the Death Penalty," Sept. 16, 1 p.m., Tent 1.
• Margaret Edson, 1999 Pulitzer Prize winner for her play "Wit" and former cancer/AIDS inpatient unit clerk. Response to "Wit" performance: Sept. 16, 2:30 p.m., University Theatre.
• James Burke, science historian, TV producer/writer and best-selling author of "Connections" and "The Day the Universe Changed." Keynote talk: "The Culture of Scarcity," Sept. 16, 8 p.m., Tent 1.
• Anna Deavere Smith, actress, playwright and social commentator who won an Obie Award for her play "Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992." Keynote talk: "Snapshots: Glimpses of America in Change," Sept. 17, 8 p.m., Tent 1.
• Kay Redfield Jamison, author of books on mood disorders and manic-depressive illness, including "An Unquiet Mind." Keynote talk: "Suicide and Its Prevention," Sept. 18, 4 p.m., Tent 1.
• Thomas Krens, director of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation and all five Guggenheim Museums. Keynote talk: "The Arts and Culture in the 21st Century," Sept. 18, 8 p.m., Tent 1.
• Robert Pinsky, 39th poet laureate of the United States and founder of the Favorite Poem Project. Keynote talk, poetry reading: Sept. 19, 8 p.m., Tent 1.
• Peter Benson, president of the Search Institute, dedicated to child and adolescent welfare. Keynote talk: "Healthy Community, Healthy Youth," Sept. 20, 2 p.m., Tent 1.
• Scott Simon, National Public Radio's Peabody Award-winning news correspondent and host of "Weekend Edition Saturday." Keynote talk: "World Affairs in the Millennium," Sept. 20, 8 p.m., Tent 1.
• Maya Lin, award-winning architect and designer of "The Wall," the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C. Keynote talk: "An Afternoon With Maya Lin," Sept. 21, 4 p.m., Tent 1.
• Elie Wiesel, Nobel Peace Prize recipient, Holocaust survivor and author of the acclaimed book "Night." Keynote talk:"Confronting Fanaticism: Building Moral Unity in a Diverse Society," Sept. 21, 8 p.m., Emens Auditorium.
• Brian Greene, pioneering physicist working on the unified theory of superstrings and author of "The Elegant Universe." Keynote talk: "The Elegant Universe," Sept. 22, 8 p.m., Tent 1.

Other special guests range from silent film choreographer Dan Kamin, Billy Evans Horse's Native American tribal dancers and Vietnam War folk singer Saul Broudy to Japanese artist Ueda Rikuo, Kids of Survival founder Tim Rollins and New York Philharmonic principal oboist Joseph Robinson.

Steven Austad, author of "Why We Age," explores the biology of aging, and Michael Piraino, chief executive officer of the Court Appointed Special Advocate Association (CASA), examines national developments affecting children.

Celtic storyteller Charlotte Ross explores "Celtic Legends in Appalache," and historian/journalist Ruth Dudley Edwards discusses the "Peace Process in Northern Ireland." Wayne Leonard, chief executive officer of Entergy Power Co., examines "The Next Millennium: Why Should We Care?"

Other highlights include a Japanese education lecture panel from Aichi University of Education from Aichi University of Education, Japanese traditional musicians and a Native American studies symposium featuring leaders in the field.

Sponsored by Ball State and the Ball State University Foundation, UniverCity 2000 brings together a wide range of disciplines to promote creative and intellectual exchange and interaction among students, faculty members and the community.

(NOTE TO EDITORS: For more information about the UniverCity 2000 events, please contact Cathy Hardwick, project coordinator, at (765)285-3546.)