Join Faculty April 22 for an Evening of "Great Conversations"
For release: April 5, 2004
For press information, contact Gabrielle Maxey

Would you enjoy a lively conversation about hummingbird gardens, giant pandas, homeland security, or earthquakes? Are you interested in writing poetry, reading crime fiction, combating world hunger, or just getting a good night's sleep?

On April 22, you can chat with experts on these and other subjects when the University of Memphis presents "Great Conversations," a combination of dinner and discussion with some of the top professors from the College of Arts and Sciences.

The event will be held at the Holiday Inn at the U of M, 3700 Central Avenue. A reception will begin at 5:30 p.m., followed by the dinner and conversation at 6:30.

For a $65 fee, participants can choose three from among 28 topics. Participants may select three topics, ranking them in order of preference. Reservations are required. They are available by phone at 901-678-1618 or online at cas.memphis.edu/conversations.

The purpose of "Great Conversations" is threefold: to educate the Memphis community about the far-reaching research taking place at the University; to foster an appreciation of the U of M's mission as an urban research institution dedicated to improving the quality of life in Memphis and the Mid-South; and to highlight the University's participation in Memphis' growing role as a global city by spotlighting the college's outreach programs.

Proceeds from the dinner will go toward faculty development and community outreach initiatives.

For more information, call 901-678-3370.

Topics for the "Great Conversations" dinner are:

• "Spiderholes and Terrorist Webs: Assessing the War in Iraq" with Dr. Robert Blanton, political science
• "You say Po-tah-to, I Say 'Taters': Language Variety in the Southern United States" with Dr. Cynthia Bernstein, English
• "Memphis in Black and White: A Tale of Two Cities" with Dr. Beverly Bond and Dr. Janann Sherman, history
• "Murder and Other Things We Love: The Joys of Crime (Fiction)" with Dr. Jack Carpenter, English
• "Does Machismo Rule? Being Feminist in a Traditional Patriarchal Society" by Dr. Giomar Dueñas-Vargas, history
• "Bottled or Tap: What's In Our Drinking Water?" with Dr. Gary Emmert, chemistry
• "Sometimes the Old Way Is the Best Way: Alternative Medicine Goes Mainstream" with Dr. Ruthbeth Finerman, anthropology
  
• "The Mississippi River: the Mid-South's Greatest Natural Treasure" with Dr. Jack Grubaugh, biology
  
• "PR or Propaganda? Marketing American Policy Through Visual Communication" with Jack Hurley, history
  
• "Homeland Security" with Richard Janikowski, criminology and criminal justice
  
• "Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On: Earthquakes Where They Shouldn't Be" with Dr. Arch Johnston, Center for Earthquake Research and Information
  
• "Not Your Parents' Anti-Semitism: A New Look at an Old Prejudice" with Dr. Jonathan Judaken, history
  
• "Panda-mania in Memphis! The Giant Panda Research Program at the Memphis Zoo" with Dr. Andy Kouba and Dr. Scott Franklin, biology
  
• "What Is Philosophy?" with Dr. Len Lawlor, philosophy
  
• "Accidental Poetry" with Dr. Mary Leader, English
  
• "Anything for a Good Night's Sleep! Sleep Problems Across America" with Dr. Kenneth Lichstein, psychology
  
• "A Beer, a Bong and High School: How Adolescent Alcohol Use Alters the Brain" with Dr. Doug Matthews, psychology
  
• "When Disorder Strikes: The Case of the '03 Memphis Windstorm and Community Response" with Dr. Dorothy Norris-Tirrell, public and nonprofit administration
  
• "No Adverse Side Effects! Contemporary Drug Design, Computers and You" with Dr. Abby Parrill-Baker, chemistry
  
• "It's a Small World After All: Connecting Memphis and the World through IT" with Dr. Wanda Rushing and Dr. York Bradshaw, sociology
  
• "Can't We All Just Get Along? Jewish-Christian Relations" with Dr. David Patterson, Bornblum Judaic Studies Program
  
• "Why Isn't There Enough to Eat? Hunger and Food Insecurity in a World of Plenty" with Dr. Stephen Scanlan, sociology
  
• "The 'New South' of Old: Africans, Native Americans and Europeans in the Colonial and Antebellum South" with Dr. Arwin Smallwood, history
  
• "The Cure for Cancer? An Ounce of Prevention" with Dr. Tom Sutter, W. Harry Feinstone Center for Genomic Research
  
• "Casinos, License Plates and Fishing Rights: Modern Expressions of Native American Sovereignty" with Dr. Daniel Swan, Chucalissa Museum
  
• "Jewels in Your Garden: How to Attract and Enjoy Hummingbirds" with Barbara Taller, microbiology and molecular cell sciences
  
• "An Evening in Provence" with Dr. Brigitte Weltman-Aron, foreign languages
  
  

More News Releases