Last Lecture Series returns to campus
By HELENA PAYNE
News Editor
In an effort to continue promoting student-faculty relations, student government is bringing back the Last Lecture Series where professors will deliver speeches to students in informal settings on campus as if it were their last time.
"It provides a little more of a human spin on your professors," said sophomore Kim Anderson, co-chair of the Academic Division in the Office of the Student Body President.
The Academic Division, also co-chaired by sophomore Allison Vater, has speakers lined up from each College except Architecture to share their ideas and insight on a variety of topics.
The first lecture is today at 8 p.m., featuring political science professor Martha Merritt, in the McGlinn Hall 24-hour lounge.
Merritt specializes in international relations, but she will talk primarily on personal experiences in traveling.
The lecture's personal touch, which is encouraged by the Academic Vision, is what the co-chairs said has appealed to students.
"That is what distinguishes their interest in coming to class from coming to a lecture like this. They'll get more of a person al view of the professor," Vater said.
Following Merritt's lecture, finance professor Carl Ackermann will give the second Last Lecture on Dec. 3.
Other professors included in the series are physics professor Michael Hildreth, political science professors Daniel Philpott and Alvin Tillery, classics professors Asma Afsaruddin and Joseph Amar and computer science professor Ramzi Bualuan.
The professors are selected based on student recommendations and, according to Anderson, they fall under the unofficial category of "the teacher you've got to take class from."
In its third year, Anderson said the series has been successful in the past and professors are usually eager to participate.
For students, Anderson said the lectures, often hosted in residence hall lounges, allow for a relaxed atmosphere that puts both the students and professors at ease.
"It is done in a very informal environment and you get more of the professors's views and not necessarily what the teacher thinks is important for a test," she said.
To draw more students to the lectures, dorms will host the lectures with their brother or sister dorm. This also cuts down costs and promotes unity, Vater said.
The Academic Division is also looking to use the Coleman-Morse Center lounge as another venue for the lecture series.
Other projects in the Academic Division include a distinguished lecture series that would bring prominent speakers to campus and a graduate schools review to help juniors prepare for graduate school.
All News Stories for Wednesday, November 13, 2002
