Dennis Van Gerven, a CU-Boulder anthropology professor known for his collection of Nubian mummies and lively classroom presentations, will be the first featured speaker in a winter-spring lecture series at the Boulder Public Library beginning Wednesday, Jan. 13.
Van Gerven's talk on "Bones, Bodies and Disease in Ancient Nubia" kicks off the spring Chancellor's Community Lecture Series, which will feature CU arts, science and music faculty. The talk is at 7:30 p.m. in the library's main auditorium.
The program is sponsored by CU-Boulder Chancellor Richard L. Byyny and the Boulder Public Library on Wednesday evenings once a month from January through May.
The series continues the lecture series launched last September, which focused on business topics. Each of the monthly lectures are at 7:30 p.m. in the Boulder Public Library聮s main auditorium and are free and open to the public.
Van Gerven, who was named the 1998 Professor of the Year for Colorado by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, is a highly respected researcher in the field of skeletal biology and is widely known for his Nubian mummy collection, which he uses to demonstrate how knowledge of ancient peoples can be revealed by studying their well-preserved bones.
Van Gerven's study and subsequent publication of findings about the ancient Nubians established his pre-eminence in skeletal biology in the late 1970s and 1980s.
But it is Van Gerven's translation of his findings in the classroom and his infectious excitement about anthropology that have inspired students over the years and led to his naming as Professor of the Year by the Carnegie Foundation. He also has attracted appreciative audiences throughout Colorado for presentations on his work to various groups.
His enthusiasm for teaching also has driven Van Gerven as director of CU-Boulder's Honors Program, which has undergone significant expansion during his time at the helm. In the past five years, the program has added 25 new sections to make the small, seminar-style Honors classes available to more freshmen and sophomore students.
Van Gerven also has been awarded the President聮s Teaching Scholar Award and the Boulder Faculty Assembly Teaching Excellence Award.
Other lectures in the series will include:
o Physics Professor John Taylor, known locally as "Mr. Wizard," presenting an interactive talk about understanding mathematics on Feb. 10.
o Sally Susnowitz, director of the CU-Boulder Service Learning Center, presenting "Writing Persuasive Proposals," a workshop that explores different ways to write a persuasive grant proposal on March 10.
o Richard Devin, artistic director of the Colorado Shakespeare Festival discussing "Artists ... What Good Are They Anyway? The Place of the Artist in U.S. Society" on April 7.
o Jazz Professor Willie Hill, the first African American to be inducted into the Colorado Music Educators Hall of Fame, performing with his Jazz Quintet on May 5. Hill is president-elect of the International Association of Jazz Educators and immediate past-president of the Colorado Music Educators聮 Association.
For more information, contact the CU-Boulder Office of Community Relations at 303-492-8384.