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, Archivist in Special Collections, Ramsey Library at UNC Asheville. amwhittle@unca.edu or 828-251-6645.
Thursday, January 23
12 - 1 PM
Via Zoom - login information will be sent via email a few days before the talk
Alvis Dunn, Professor of History
"'On This Day' and Me: How History Intersects with Our Daily Lives."
The hashtag #OnThisDay reminds us what happened historically on a given date in the past. In short recollections told mainly in North Carolinaese historian Dr. Alvis Dunn takes the audience back to those specific days in search of connections with daily life in the rural Piedmont Chatham County.
Thursday, January 30
12 - 1 PM
Via Zoom - login information will be sent via email a few days before the talk
Greg Dillingham, Manager of Distance Learning Services
Academic Continuity Through the Use of Technology.
The focus would be content delivery, student outcomes and online communication. Adverse weather, pandemics, traffic anomalies can all impact a students ability to attend local class sessions and technology can help bridge that gap.
Thursday, February 13
12 - 1 PM
Via Zoom - login information will be sent via email a few days before the talk
Anne Slatton, Assistant Professor and Stephanie O'Brien, Lecturer of Mass Communication and CTL Faculty Fellow 2024-2026
Preserving a Legacy: The Ava Gardner Museum
Anne Slatton and Stephanie O'Brien will discuss their short documentary: Preserving a Legacy: The Ava Gardner Museum. The documentary grew out of a collaborative interest in North Carolina Film and Television History.
Thursday, February 20
12 - 1 PM
Via Zoom - login information will be sent via email a few days before the talk
Blu Buchanan, Assistant Professor of Sociology
Social Darwinism, Bioessentialism, and the Spread of Fascism
In this library talk we'll be exploring how bioessentialism plays a key role in propping up current fascist political movements here and abroad. From topics like abortion, to critical race theory, to trans health care, what appears to be separate right-wing movements are connected by an increasingly popular notion of bioessential social and political realities. Seeing these interconnections not only allows us to deconstruct the root logics of fascist violence, but it helps us to ask how we can challenge, deradicalize, and heal from fascist politics.
Thursday, February 27
12 - 1 PM
Via Zoom - login information will be sent via email a few days before the talk
Sonya DiPalma, Chair and Associate Professor of Mass Communication
Creating the Best Course Bundle: Open Education Resources & Artificial Intelligence
This discussion will focus on my first attempt creating a course bundle using Open Education Resources and artificial intelligence for peer-reviewed and mainstream content curation, enhanced student interactivity and affordable accessibility.
Thursday, March 20
12 - 1 PM
Via Zoom - login information will be sent via email a few days before the talk
Forest Gamble, Lecturer of New Media
Book Talk: Holler Back: Writers & Artists in Western North Carolina Respond to Hurricane Heléne
In this talk, Forest Gamble (Lecturer of New Media) introduces a new print anthology he organized and edited featuring work by local artists from WNC and their personal stories related to Hurricane Heléne. He will present selections of comics, illustrations, photography, prose, and poetry from the anthology and discuss the impact of storytelling after disaster.
Thursday, March 27
12 - 1 PM
Via Zoom - login information will be sent via email a few days before the talk
Britt Lundgren, Philip G. Carson Distinguished Professor in the Sciences and Associate Professor of Physics and Astronomy
Action at a Distance: Did physicist Thomas Young's 1807 Lecture inspire some of the earliest examples of abstract art?
The pioneering Swedish abstract artist Hilma af Klint is known to have been influenced by scientific developments at the turn of the 20th century. However, many of her paintings from 1914 to 1916 exhibit similarities to diagrams published much earlier in the English polymath Thomas Young’s 1807 Lectures on Natural Philosophy and the Mechanical Arts. Key elements and themes in af Klint’s The Dove, The Swan, Parsifal, and Altarpieces series suggest Young’s Lectures may have been a previously unknown, major source for her work. This talk will share recently discovered evidence supporting this idea and other parallels between the lives and legacies of the visionary scientist and abstract art pioneer.
Thursday, April 10
12 - 1 PM
Via Zoom - login information will be sent via email a few days before the talk
Christian Kerpal, Assistant Professor of Physics and Astronomy
Quantum Biology in Action? - On the Physical Origin of Avian Magnetoreception
The talk will highlight behavioral evidence for migratory birds' ability to sense and utilize the Earth magnetic field during long distance migrations. It will then discuss the possible quantum mechanical origin of this remarkable sense and explain the research currently done by UNCA faculty and collaborators on this topic.
Thursday, April 17
12 - 1 PM
Via Zoom - login information will be sent via email a few days before the talk
Giovanny D. Pleites-Hernandez, Ph.D. Assistant Professor, Department of Political Science
U.S. Voting Rights in the 21st Century: The Continued Push for Representation in the Face of Democratic Backsliding
This talk will explore state voting laws, gerrymandering, and their impact on the political representation afforded to the American public in the present day.
Thursday, April 24
12 - 1 PM
Via Zoom - login information will be sent via email a few days before the talk
Megan Keiser, Assistant Professor of Education; Coordinator of 6-9 Language Arts and 9-12 English Licensure
Nurturing Joyful Sparks: Preparing Future Educators Using Experiential Learning.
The talk will explore ways that I have used experiential education to prepare future educators. Community partnerships, field trips, and project based learning can help to nurture joy and connection, serving as an antidote to burn out and apathy. Future research will explore impact on teacher candidates' skills and dispositions to implement experiential learning in their future classrooms.