A talk by Kathleen Fitzpatrick, Professor of Media Studies, Ponoma College and Director of Scholarly Communication, Modern Language Association. What if the academic monograph is a dying form? If scholarly communication is to have a future, it's clear that it lies online, and yet the most significant obstacles to such a transformation are not technological, but instead social and institutional. How must the academy and the scholars that comprise it change their ways of thinking in order for digital scholarly publishing to become a viable alternative to the university press book? This talk will explore some of those changes and their implications for our lives as scholars and our work within universities.

The 2011-2012 Distinguished Professor Lecture will be delivered by Ronald D Eller, a professor of Appalachian Studies and History. His lecture is entitled "Seeking the Good Life in America: Lessons From the Appalachian Past". It will take place in the William T. Young Library Auditorium on Thursday, April 12, at 7:30p.m. The event is free and open to the public.

Deborah Weiner, director of the Jewish Museum of Maryland, will give a public lecture on “Insiders and Outsiders:  Jewish Communities in the Appalachian Coalfields”.  Sponsored by the UK Jewish Studies program, UK Appalachian Studies program and Appalachian Center.  Free and open to the public.  Reception following the lecture at W T Young Library Gallery