Alum’s Book Chronicles Tiger Experience in the ‘70s

Actor, author, athlete and Auburn alumnus Thom Gossom, Jr., will read from his memoir, Walk-On, on Thursday, Nov. 6, 2008 from 6 - 7 p.m. at the Jule Collins Smith Museum of Fine Art in Auburn, Alabama. A reception will follow the reading, and both the reading and the reception are free and open to the public.

Walk-On is a coming of age memoir set in the culturally changing Alabama of the 1970's. The memoir chronicles Gossom's barrier shattering journey to become the first black athlete to graduate from Auburn University. It is a story of overcoming adversity, gaining success, losing it, regaining it and in doing so making history. The author will sign copies and Walk On will be available for purchase at the Museum.

Lewis Nordan and the Heartbreaking Laughter of Transcendence and Hope: A Symposium

Writer Lewis "Buddy" Nordan will be the focus of the second annual Pebble Hill Books Symposium, scheduled for Jan. 23, 2009, in Auburn. An international slate of scholars and writers-including Nordan himself and his friend and colleague Clyde Edgerton-will convene to celebrate the much beloved author of four novels, three short story collections and a memoir.

The symposium, sponsored by the Caroline Marshall Draughon Center for the Arts & Humanities in the College of Liberal Arts and designed to showcase significant literary, arts and cultural figures with connections to Alabama, follows the successful 2008 symposium on writer and critic Albert Murray.

Details can be found here.

Noted Public Engagement Scholar on Campus in November

The Caroline Marshall Draughon Center for the Arts & Humanities in the College of Liberal Arts will host a campus visit from Dr. David Scobey on Thursday November 20.  Dr. Scobey is the founding director of Arts of Citizenship at the University of Michigan, inaugural director of the Harward Center for Community Partnerships at Bates College, and past chairman of Imagining America: Artists in Public Life, a national consortium of institutions that supports the civic work of university artist, humanists, and designers.  Nationally recognized as a leader in the theory and practice of community-based learning, Scobey is the author of several well-respected publications including "Putting the Academy in its Place" and Empire Study: The Making and Meaning of the New York City Landscape.  Scobey will discuss Imagining America's recent report, "Scholarship in Public:  Knowledge Creation and Tenure Policy in the Engaged University" with the Pebble Hill Faculty Committee.  All Auburn University Faculty, students, and staff are invited to visit with Scobey during a reception to be held from 3:30 to 5:00 at the Caroline Marshall Draughon Center on November 20.  For more information, contact the Center at (334) 844-4946.

Panel on Higher Education Available Online

Should a university foster diversity and democracy and produce responsible citizens?  Is this part of its public mission?  Stanley Fish thinks not.  A panel discussion addressing these questions and Fish's recently published Save the World on Your Own Time (Oxford) will be held on Tuesday, Oct. 21 at 3pm in room 239, Broun Hall.

The event will also be available via the web at http://connect.auburn.edu/savetheworld.

CLA Speakers Bureau

Each year the Auburn University College of Liberal Arts Speakers Bureau offers free talks on topics ranging from leadership and democracy to souther literature and child psychology. The faculty selected to participate are seasoned speakers with something to say about a subject that interests you, and the programs are offered free of charge on a first come, first served basis. This year's line up focuses on government, citizenship, and politics.

For more information, or to book one of the programs listed below, call (334) 844-4946 or email claspeakers@auburn.edu.

Murray Jardine -- "The Meaning of Freedom in America"

Rene McEldowney -- "Universal Health Care"

Lindy Biggs -- "Sustainability as Citizenship"

Margaret Fitch-Hauser -- "Can You Hear Me Now?"

Clifton Perry -- "Citizenship Rights of Native Americans"

Join us for the second lecture in the Discover Auburn series!

Dr. Thomas Vaughn will present a lecture entitled "History of the Horse Throughout Time" on Thursday October 16 at 3:00 p.m. in the Special Collections and Archives department of the Ralph Brown Draughon Library. Vaughn earned his doctor of veterinary medicine degree from Auburn University in 1955. An internationally recognized equine surgeon, Vaughan was dean at Auburn from 1977-1995. The Large Animal Hospital was named in his honor.

A reception will follow the talk. The third lecture in the Discover Auburn Series will be held on Wednesday, November 5.

The Discover Auburn series is co-sponsored by the Caroline Marshall Draughon Center for the Arts and Humanities in the College of Liberal Arts at Auburn University, the Auburn University Libraries, and the Auburn University Bookstore. For more information on the program and the series, contact the Caroline Marshall Draughon Center at 334-844-4946.