The Office of the Provost is pleased to announce the recipients of the Women and Minority Artists and Scholars Lecture Series Grants for 2008-2009. The fund, as in past years, provides up to $750 to supplement departmental or college funds in support of selected events and visits. The purpose of the program is to increase the diversity of perspectives and creative expression available on campus and to increase the number of women and minority role models for our students.

The following are the applicants, speakers, and topics for 2008-2009:

• Rosemary Blieszner, Alumni Distinguished Professor and Associate Director (Center for Gerontology): Melissa Hardy, Director of the Gerontology Center and Distinguished Professor of Human Development and Family, The Pennsylvania State University, How Women Age: Family, Work, Health, and the Challenges We Face, April 16, 2009.
• Brian Britt, Professor (Religious Studies): Bashir Bashir, Fellow, Hebrew University of Jerusalem and Van Leer Institute, Out of the Impass: The Politics of Reconciliation in Palestine/Israel, September 24, 2008.
• Jean Elliott, Communication Manager (University Relations) and Edd Sewell, Associate Professor Emeritus (Communication): Cynthia Burack, Associate Professor of Women's Studies, Ohio State University, Sin, Sex, and Democracy: Antigay Rhetoric and the Christian Right, November 14, 2008.
• E. Thomas Ewing, Associate Professor (History): Eric Silverman, Associate Professor of American Studies and Human Development, Wheelock College, Clothing, Gender, and the Rethinking of American Jewish Identity, April 2, 2009.
• Bruce Goldstein, Assistant Professor (Public and International Affairs): Robert Bullard, Professor of Sociology, Clark Atlanta University, Race, Place, and Environmental Justice after Hurricane Katrina, October 17, 2008.
• Kathryn Graham, Assistant Director (Literature, Language, and Culture): Jacqueline Whipple Walker, Ph.D. candidate, University of Florida, Exemplary Grammar and Grace in John Donne's Sermons, October 15, 2008.
• Ann Kilkelly, Professor (Women's Studies and Theatre Arts): Celeste Miller, Celeste Miller and Company, Living Darwin and The Annunciation (Sort of): What if Mary said 'No'?, September 18-24, 2008.
• Minjeong Kim, Assistant Professor (Women's Studies): Regina M. Park, Senior Producer and Independent Documentary Filmmaker, Storm Media Studios, Never Perfect: Racial and Gender Politics, April 3, 2009.
• Barbara Lockee, Professor and Associate Director (Office of Educational Research and Outreach): David Oxendine, Assistant Professor, University of North Carolina—Pembroke, Prejudice, Discrimination, Stereotyping, and Culture: Implications for the Native Learner, November 10, 2008.
• Lisa Martin, Program Coordinator (The Reynolds Homestead): The Latin Ballet of Virginia, The Legend of the Poinsettia, December 2-4, 2008.
• Aileen Murphy, Senior Instructor and Assistant Director (Creative Writing): Denise Duhamel, Poet and Professor, Florida International University, November 7, 2008; Terrance Hayes, Poet and Professor, Carnegie Mellon, March 2, 2009.
• Wolfgang Natter, Professor and Director (ASPECT): Dana Nelson, Gertrude Conaway Vanderbilt Professor of English, Vanderbilt University, Barriers against Democracy: Rethinking the Nation's Founding, February 11, 2009.
• Lydia Patton, Assistant Professor (Philosophy): Deborah Johnson, Chair, Science, Technology, and Society and Olson Professor of Applied Ethics, University of Virginia, December 4-5, 2008.
• Suchitra Samanta, Instructor (interdisciplinary Studies): Elaine Enarson, Consulting Sociologist and Adjunct Professor, Department of Disaster—Emergency Management, Royal Roads University, Building Safer Communities: Gender and Disaster Risk Reduction, March 2, 2009.
• Brett Shadle, Assistant Professor (History): Emily Burrill, Assistant Professor of Women's Studies, University of North Carolina—Chapel Hill, Domestic Violence in Africa, February 15, 2009.
• Ashley Tomisek, Graduate Assistant (School of Performing Arts and Cinema): Jan Cohen-Cruz, Director, Imagining America, Syracuse University, Designing Piano Tops for Pianos and Art Programs for 21st Century Artists, February 27, 2009.
• Janell Watson, Associate Professor (Foreign Languages and Literatures): French and Francophone Film Festival, February 2009, Saturday afternoons.