The Faculty Distinguished Lecture honors a member of the Meredith College faculty with the opportunity to present a significant achievement in their research to the Meredith College community. The speaker is selected by the administration from a list of faculty members nominated by their peers. Lecturers have come from all college departments including Dance, Voice, Psychology, History, Mathematics, Biology and Languages.
English professor Dr. Norma Rose delivered the first Faculty Distinguished Lecture in 1964. She described the ideal lecture as reaching both scholarly and popular audiences by providing “just the right combination of meat and froth.” Today, the Faculty Distinguished Lecture is presented during the spring semester each academic year.
In 1982 the transcripts of the lectures from 1964 to 1981 (with three exceptions) were compiled into the book, Faculty Distinguished Lectures, 1964-81. The book, available transcripts and subsequent recorded lectures are available in the college Archives.
For a complete list of lecturers, go to:
https://www.meredith.edu/faculty-development/faculty-distinguished-lecture/
Dr. Norma Rose was a Professor of English at Meredith College from 1937 to 1986. She presented the first Faculty Distinguished Lecture in 1964, the year this photograph appeared in the Oak Leaves. The title of her talk was "Shakespearean limnings: a study of children in Shakespeare's plays"
For several years, the lectures were reproduced in the alumnae magazines.
In 1968, Harry Cooper of the Department of Music presented a program of both talk and music titled, "Changing styles in music: from hoop-skirt to mini-skirt." Afterwards, he posed with his daughter-in-law and daughter, one in a mini-skirt, the other in a hoop skirt.
Dr. Rebecca Bailey speaking at her 1995 Faculty Distinguished Lecture. At the time of the talk, Dr. Bailey was the Head of the Department of Art.
Dr. Ellen Goode was a Professor of Interior Design in the Department of Human Environmental Sciences. Her 1999 lecture was titled, "The Workplace: A Century of Change."
An account of her talk was reported in the Herald at: https://newspapers.digitalnc.org/lccn/2015236798/1999-11-17/ed-1/seq-1/#words=Ellen+Goode
Carlyle Campbell Library
Meredith College
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Raleigh, NC 27607
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