NEWS

Briefs

UNC to exhibit works and papers of American novelist Walker Percy

The Rare Book Collection in UNC’s Wilson Library will host "Walker Percy: From Pen to Print," a free exhibit on the UNC alumnus and major American novelist, from April 17 to Aug. 15.

A reception and collection viewing at 5 p.m. April 17 will open the display, on the third floor of Wilson Library. At 6 p.m., UNC alumnus and Wake Forest University English professor Dr. Farrell O’Gorman will speak on "Reading Walker Percy" in the Pleasants Family Assembly Room. O’Gorman’s talk will focus on the historical context and religious underpinnings of Percy’s first novel, "The Moviegoer" (1961), which won the 1962 National Book Award.

The display will include manuscripts, first edition copies of Percy’s novels, correspondence with his lifelong friend, Southern author Shelby Foote, and photographic material provided by Percy’s wife, said Dr. Charles McNamara, collection curator.

Percy went on to distinguish himself before his death in 1990 with the publication of five more novels and three nonfiction works dedicated to exploring the peculiar situation that is the human condition.

Exhibit hours will be 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Mondays-Fridays and 9 a.m.-1 p.m. Saturdays. For more information, call Libby Chenault at (919) 962-1143.

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Brown, former faculty chair, receives award honoring contributions by UNC women

Dr. Jane D. Brown, James L. Knight professor in the UNC School of Journalism and Mass Communication, has received the 2002 Cornelia Phillips Spencer Bell Award. Chancellor James Moeser made the presentation to Brown March 20 in a ceremony at the George Watts Hill Alumni Center.

The Bell award, now in its ninth year, recognizes a woman who has made outstanding contributions to the university. It is named for Cornelia Phillips Spencer, who campaigned to reopen the university after the Civil War.

Dr. Deb Aikat, media futurist and associate professor in the journalism school, nominated Brown for the award. "Brown’s attainments in public service, scholarship, teaching and research are outstanding and merit every consideration in the awarding of the prestigious honor," wrote Aikat. "I know of no one who is as conscientious and hard working as Dr. Brown."

Brown joined Carolina in 1977. As chair of the faculty from 1994 to 1997, she worked with multiple groups to help determine the direction that Carolina would take, specifically providing the impetus behind the Intellectual Climate Task Force and helping to develop the University Priorities and Budget Committee, an advisory panel.

Brown is an internationally renowned communication scholar and an authority on mass media’s effects on adolescents’ health. She also received the Mary Turner Lane Award in 1996 and the David Brinkley Teaching Excellence Award in 1992.

Photo URL: To download a photo of Brown, click to http://www.unc.edu/news/pics/faculty/brown_jane.jpg

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'Centering the South' speakers series concludes with talk by Hall

Award-winning scholar Jacquelyn Dowd Hall, director of UNC's Southern Oral History Program, will discuss "Representing Women/Worker: 'True Fictions' from the South" Tuesday (March 26) at 7:30 p.m. in Toy Lounge, Dey Hall, on the UNC campus. Admission is free.

Hall received the National Humanities Medal in 1999 and is president of the Southern Historical Association. She is president elect of the Organization of American Historians and was the founding president of the Labor and Working Class History Association.

Her remarks will conclude the "Centering the South" speaker series presented by the UNC Center for the Study of the American South. Through that series, the center has presented a number of distinguished Southern scholars to the community. They have addressed a wide range of topics illustrating the current evolution of the South.

For more information, contact Harry Watson, center director, 962-5436.

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Contact: UNC News Services, (919) 962-209