FORT WAYNE, Ind. – University of Saint Francis professors will share their expertise in the Allen County Public Library’s USF Lecture Series.
The virtual lectures to be presented in February, March and April are:
“Removing Statues and Rewriting History: Lessons from the Byzantine Past Relevant to an American Future,” by Dr. Adam DeVille, Associate Professor of Theology, Division Director of Humanities. Why, for the last several years around the world, have some people wanted to defend, but some others want to remove, statues of Civil War generals, or British colonialists, or Belgian kings? Is it right to remove statues and rewrite history? What does it mean to take statues down and view the past differently? This lecture will first explore whether Byzantine fights over “iconoclasm” have lessons for today before turning to an examination of recent scholarship in historiography, memory studies, and traumatology, concluding with some guiding principles for how to think about removing statues and re-envisaging history.
Date, time: February 22, 6:30 p.m.
“COVID-19: A Once in a Century Pandemic,” by Dr. Michael P. Bechill, Associate Professor of Biology, Coordinator, Pre-Physician Assistant Program. COVID-19…What have we learned? Where are we now? What may the future hold? The author of “Just the Facts Podcast,” Dr. Bechill will discuss the SARS-CoV-2 virus and COVID-19 disease. Starting with the basics of viral infection building through the complexities of airborne respiratory infections you will discover how this pandemic has impacted people locally in Allen County and on a global scale.
Date, time: March 24, 6:30 p.m.
“Aging Doesn’t Have to be Painful!” by Dr. Matthew Hopf, Associate Professor of Kinesiology.
Inflamm-aging is the term used to describe the chronic low-grade inflammation that many individuals experience as they age, resulting in a deterioration of one’s health. In this interactive lecture, Dr. Hopf will discuss the physiology behind inflamm-aging as well as how to avoid becoming inflamm-aged.
Date, time: April 7, 6:30 p.m.
To register for the virtual lectures, visit acpl.info/calendar.
In addition, the University of Saint Francis lecture from January, “Mental Health and Wellness of Today’s Students,” by Dr. Mike Martynowicz and Dr. Monica Heller, associate professors of psychology, is now available to watch on YouTube.
Founded in 1890 in the Catholic Franciscan tradition, the University of Saint Francis offers more than 60 undergraduate, graduate and doctoral programs through the College of Health Sciences, College of Arts, Sciences, and Business and College of Adult and Distance Education. In addition to its traditional programs, USF designs focused curricula for working adults in Fort Wayne, Crown Point and online. USF Downtown houses the university’s business and music technology programs while offering enhanced internship and networking opportunities for students. The University of Saint Francis campus experience includes 18 athletic programs boasting two individual and four team NAIA national championships and is recognized as an NAIA Five-Star Champion of Character institution. Approximately 2,200 students from a broad geographic region attend USF.