NEWS

Four UNC faculty members to speak locally in March

CHAPEL HILL -- Global positioning systems, North Carolina folklore and architecture, and economics and racial inequality will be topics of free local speeches in March by four University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill faculty members. Dates and details are as follows:

• Tuesday (March 4), 6:30 p.m., Chapel Hill Senior Center, Galleria Shopping Center, South Elliott Road, Chapel Hill. Dr. Scott Madry, research associate professor of anthropology, will discuss global positioning systems and satellite sensing. Madry, who has worked for NASA, said the agency used global positioning systems to map where pieces of the space shuttle Columbia were found after the tragic accident on Feb. 1. NASA also used remote sensing technology, to find pieces of the wreckage in isolated areas. His talk will not focus on the accident but on the advanced technologies in general. Madry studies how these technologies and aerial photography can be used to study interaction between human cultures and the environment. He also creates computer models to predict locations of archaeological areas. The Central N.C. Mineral Club will sponsor his talk. For information, call (919) 942-7871.
  
  
• Wednesday (March 5), 9:30 a.m., Carrboro Century Center, 100 N. Greensboro St., Carrboro. English professor Dr. Trudier Harris-Lopez will discuss folklore stories and literature in a talk sponsored by the Carrboro Parks and Recreation Department. Harris-Lopez specializes in African-American literature and folklore. Her books include "South of Tradition: Essays on African American Literature," "Exorcising Blackness: Historical and Literary Lynching and Burning Rituals," "Fiction and Folklore: The Novels of Toni Morrison," "The Power of the Porch: The Storyteller's Craft in Zora Neale Hurston, Gloria Naylor and Randall Kenan" and "Saints, Sinners, Saviors: Strong Black Women in African American Literature." Reservations are requested. Call 918-7372.
  
  
• Wednesday (March 5), 1:30 p.m., Carolina Meadows, off Mount Carmel Church Road, Chapel Hill. Dr. William A. "Sandy" Darity, professor of economics and sociology and director of UNC's Institute of African American Research, will discuss economic crises and racial inequality. Darity has been a visiting professor or fellow at institutions including the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve, the London School of Economics and Political Science and the Centro de Excelencia Empresarial (Monterey, Mexico). In 1980, he was staff economist for the National Urban League's research department. He has co-written four books, including "Macroeconomics" with James Kenneth Galbraith (1994). Reservations are requested. Call 967-7892.
  
  
• March 16, 3 p.m., Chapel Hill Public Library, Library Drive (off Estes Drive, just west of Franklin Street), Chapel Hill. Professor Emeritus Dr. Charles "Terry" Zug will discuss "Down Home: North Carolina Architecture." Zug chaired UNC's folklore curriculum and has studied North Carolina’s heritage of architecture and folk art for 25 years. He is best known for his book, "Turners and Burners: The Folk Potters of North Carolina," which explores one of the state’s most important indigenous art forms. For more information, call 968-2779.

The talks were arranged by Carolina Speakers at UNC, a statewide outreach program. Since 1993, the program has brought more than 90 faculty members to business, civic and community groups. The speakers share expertise on more than 150 topics, including 46 on North Carolina and the South.

For more information or to schedule a Carolina Speaker, contact Sandy Roberts at (919) 962-1993 or sandy_roberts@unc.eduor visit the Carolina Speakers web site, www.unc.edu/depts/uncspeak.

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Contact: Sandy Roberts at 919-962-1993 or sandy_roberts@unc.edu