Back
in 1997, then-President Kendall Baker asked a group
of senior professors what UND might do to cultivate
a livelier academic atmosphere on the campus.
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| Art Professor Katie McCleery’s
Faculty Lecture this spring, “Carved
in Brick: Outside Art From Inside the University,”
was about the architectural use of brick,
an art form she embraced at about the midpoint
of her 31-year career at UND. Today she is
one of a handful of working brick carvers
in the United States. About 40 of her carvings
adorn churches such as the Cathedral of the
Holy Spirit in Bismarck, as well as other
buildings in the Dakotas and Minnesota. |
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That
group, the Chester FritzDistinguished Professors, had
many ideas, one of which was simplicity indeed: reactivate
the Faculty Lecture Series that had been offered from
1954 to 1988. In fact, they offered a deal: budget a
few dollars for publicity and a pre-talk reception,
and host a dinner for the speaker at the President’s
home, and the Fritz Professors would do the work to
annually plan and carry out the series.
And that’s what they did. When President
Charles Kupchella arrived two years later, it was a
“no brainer,” he recalls, when asked if
he would continue to support the program.
Nearly 40 of UND’s modern faculty have joined
the 150 or so of their predecessors whoprepared a talk
aimed primarily at their professional colleagues, although
students and members of the community are encouraged
to attend, and do. The lectures, generally five or six
per academic year, are usually presented at 4:30 p.m.
on a Tuesday in the Memorial Union’s Fred Orth
Lecture Bowl.
According to the guidelines of the organizers,
each lecture presents “with some depth and rigor
the scholarly questions and goals of the individual
faculty. In presenting the products of their scholarship,
the Lecturers will share the enthusiasm and dedication
that sustains their creative efforts.”
Moreover, the guidelines state, “these
periodic gatherings can help the public to recognize
the university as a unique institution in society, an
academic community with scholarly roles and contributions
that go beyond, but at the same time enrich, its own
educational programs.”
All true, says Kupchella, although he translates
the benefits to UND in a single word: “sizzle.”
What the lectures provide is called these days an exciting
“campus climate,” the atmosphere that encourages
collegiality and high accomplishment.
Two lectures remain on the 2004-2005 schedule.
On Feb. 1, Michael Wittgraf, associate professor of
music, will speak on “Contemporary Art Music:
A Method Behind the Madness.” On March 8, Kathleen
Gershman, professor of educational foundations and research,
will offer “Reflections on Rural Schooling.”
Here is a selection of recent Faculty
Lectures:
"The Creation and Reharmonization
of a Jazz Standard,” by Michael Blake,
associate professor of music.
“Why We Should Be Concerned About
Climate Change,” by Will Gosnold, professor
of geology.
“Dr. Orin G. Libby, The Father
of North Dakota History and the University’s Grand
Old Man,” by Gordon Iseminger, professor
of history.
“Disaster as a Political Variable,”
by Mary Kweit, professor of political science.
“Pandering to the Risk-Averse in
these Entrepreneurial Times: The Legislatures
Choose Sides,” by Randy Lee, professor
of law.
“Paul Cézanne and the Durango
Kid: The House of Poetry,” by
Jay Meek, professor of English.
“Of Mice and Men,”
by Roger Melvold, professor of biochemistry and molecular
biology.
“Planets Fit for Life,”
by George Seielstad, professor of space studies.
“Super-Resolution Enhancement of
Digital Imagery,” by Richard Schultz,
associate professor of electrical engineering.
“Genes, Alleles, and Mutations:
Their Roles in Cancer and in Stem Cells,”
by William Sheridan, professor of biology.
“The Education of a Physician: Promises
to Keep,” by H. David Wilson, dean
of the School of Medicine and Health Sciences.
“Melancholy Baby Revisited: Twenty
Years of Research on Women and Alcohol,”
by Richard and Sharon Wilsnack, professors
of neuroscience.
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