Library Talks are presented via Zoom on most Thursdays from 12-1. An email will be sent to the UNC Asheville community during the week of the talk with information about logging into Zoom.
All Library Talks are free and open to UNC Asheville students, faculty, and staff. Library Talks can be open to the larger community and may require registration.
For questions or comments about Library Talks, please contact Ashley Whittle, Assistant Archivist in Special Collections, Ramsey Library at UNC Asheville. amwhittle@unca.edu or 828-251-6645.
Thursday, January 25
12 - 1 PM
Via Zoom - login information will be sent via email a few days before the talk
John G Stevens, Professor Emeritus
The New Science
We are still teaching and doing science as we were fifty years ago. Examining the fundamentals of our approach to science has resulted in the development of 12 Principles for The New Science. These are key drivers that enable not only a far more expansive role for science, but also for science to position itself to take a more active role in society by being more actively addressing today’s international challenges. It also opens the environment allowing for more fundamental breakthroughs in science.
In brief, the 12 Principles for The New Science are:
1. Think Systemically
2. Develop and Deepen Communications
3. Reshape the Use of Information
4. Realize Diversity
5. Incorporate Green Chemistry
6. Develop Timeless Products
7. Use Design Thinking
8. Be Social Stewards
9. Engage in Ethics
10. Monitor and Review with Metrics
11. Cultivate Curiosity
12. Advocate for Accountability
Thursday, February 8
12 - 1 PM
Via Zoom - login information will be sent via email a few days before the talk
Shaquana Suggs, Career Coach and Adjunct Humanities Faculty
In this session, I will briefly introduce the latest context surrounding my recently published memoir, Honey & Vinegar. This book is a testimony and survival guide for othered individuals who need motivational support and actionable solutions to help them persevere through the struggles of academia. We will talk about our needs and hopes as othered individuals in the academy and our techniques for thriving. I hope faculty, staff, and students leave with a glimmer of promise that there is light at the end of the tunnel.
Thursday, February 15
12 - 1 PM
Via Zoom - login information will be sent via email a few days before the talk
Emily Wilson, Director of Annual Giving
This spring's Give UNC Asheville, our 4th annual day of giving, will run from midnight to midnight on Wednesday, April 17. As many as 25% of all the gifts UNC Asheville will receive this year will be raised during this 24-hour window. Why should faculty and staff get involved? Great question! As a public liberal arts university, our donors provide $1 out of every $5 that keep our university running, and the University Advancement office of annual giving wants you and your department to benefit from Give UNC Asheville's excitement and impact. Learn how you can become an advocate, why this type of advocacy is vital to the day's success, and how we can leverage our community's generosity to support you and your students.
Thursday, February 22
12 - 1 PM
Via Zoom - login information will be sent via email a few days before the talk
DeWayne Barton, Safi Martin, and The Key Center
Join us for updates & information about projects, priorities, & the best ways to support & partner with HHI/UPG
Thursday, February 29
12 - 1 PM
Via Zoom - login information will be sent via email a few days before the talk
Ellen Perry, English Department
A central figure in Southern Appalachian culture is the granny woman. In both literature and life, she represents wisdom and healing; she holds sacred the key role she plays in ushering new life into the world and honoring the dead. To explore the granny woman as a feminist archetype who represents women’s agency in a patriarchal society, Ellen will discuss fictional wise women such as Mary Dorthula White in Mildred Haun’s The Hawk’s Done Gone, Granny Younger in Lee Smith’s Oral History, Granny Rowe in Lee Smith’s Fair and Tender Ladies, and Mama Minnie in Crystal Wilkinson’s The Birds of Opulence. She will highlight Nancy Ann Wood Ashworth, perhaps the first medical practitioner in Buncombe County, North Carolina, an 18th-century “yarb woman” who scandalized local church members with her threatening curses and flamboyant style. Ellen will also synthesize the non-fiction works of contemporary herbalists including H. Byron Ballard and Rebecca Beyer, noting ways in which folk magic and witchcraft are deeply woven into the granny woman’s daily life. Ultimately, Ellen will underscore the importance of remembering the Appalachian granny woman’s spirit of autonomy, pride in identity, and love of community.
Thursday, March 21
12 - 1 PM
Via Zoom - login information will be sent via email a few days before the talk
Alvis Dunn, Associate Professor of the History Department
Latin America and Black Mountain College
From 1933 to 1957 Buncombe County North Carolina was the home to avante-garde Black Mountain College. During that brief period countless influential artists passed through the campus, among them, Anni and Joseph Albers, Robert Creeley, Charles Olson, Ruth Asawa, Herminio Portell Vilá, José Yglesias, Carlos Merida, Jean Charlot, John Cage, Robert Motherwell, and Frank Hurst. Others prominent and prolific in innovative art that are often noted for their association with Black Mountain College are Elaine de Kooning, Robert Rauschenberg, Jacob Lawrence, Merce Cunningham, Cy Twombly, Kenneth Noland, Susan Weil, Vera B. Williams, Ben Shahn, Franz Kline, Arthur Penn, Buckminster Fuller, and M.C. Richards. Significantly the first set of notables mentioned above were all connected in some way with Latin America. This paper begins the exploration of Latin America at Black Mountain College.
POSTPONED TO FALL 2024
Thursday, March 28
12 - 1 PM
Via Zoom - login information will be sent via email a few days before the talk
Cate Marshall, Associate Director for Student Employment Development
Join in a conversation around the benefits of student employment on a college campus and community for students and supervisors. Best practices will be discussed and attendees are encouraged to share their own insights during this session.
Thursday, April 11
12 - 1 PM
Via Zoom - login information will be sent via email a few days before the talk
Forest Gamble, Lecturer, New Media
In this talk, Lecturer of New Media (and stop-motion animator) Forest Gamble will discuss techniques for creating stop-motion puppets, props, sets, animations, and DIY filmmaking equipment utilizing traditional and experimental media, including found materials and repurposed objects. Special emphasis will be placed on sustainable design practices and the role of materiality and craft in stop-motion animation. He will analyze current design trends in stop-motion animation and advances being developed to make this medium more eco-friendly. He will use the production of two personal films as case studies: the stop-motion short film HEXED and Chicken of the Woods, a forthcoming film with sets and props made at the UNC Asheville STEAM Studio.
Thursday, April 18
12 - 1 PM
Via Zoom - login information will be sent via email a few days before the talk
Melissa Burchard, Chair and Professor of Philosophy
In Fall 2023 I taught an FYS 178 on Paranormal Romance, focusing on vampire romance. Since I have been reading both adult and young adult versions of paranormal romance for years (and enjoying some of them), I thought this might be fun and fruitful, hopefully both for me and for the students. While the students will have to speak for themselves, I certainly learned some interesting, and sometimes disturbing, things, which I will happily share at this talk, including how it is that vampires turn out to be sexy and desirable partners for human (mostly) women.