MACON - Mercer's Center for the Teaching of America's Western Foundations will hold its second annual lecture series on the Macon campus, including three lectures in the fall and two lectures and a conference in the spring, all built around the theme, "Republics Ancient and Modern." The series will feature some of the nation's most renowned scholars in the history of political thought, organizers say. The first lecture in the series is Oct. 1 at 6:30 p.m. "We are very excited about bringing some important scholars in the history of political thought to campus this semester," said Dr. Will Jordan, associate professor of political science and co-director of the Center. "This diverse trio should really get a conversation started about the ideas that underlie contemporary practice, as well as about the past, present and future course of modern democracies."
ATLANTA - Noted author and professor of science and theology Dr. Robert J. Russell told an audience at Mercer University on Tuesday that there are paths between science and theology and both can find value in interaction. He spoke at Mercer's James and Carolyn McAfee School of Theology, delivering the second annual D. Perry and Betty Ginn Lecture on Christian Faith and Modern Science.
MACON - Richard Fallis, Ph.D., dean of Mercer University's College of Liberal Arts - the University's oldest academic unit - will retire from the post at the end of the academic year. Dr. Fallis has served as dean of the college for eight years and holds a faculty appointment in English in the College. Following a sabbatical, Dr. Fallis plans to return to full-time teaching.
MACON - Mercer University, in partnership with the Center for Health and the Global Environment at Harvard Medical School, will hold a conference, titled "Caring for Creation: A Scientific and Theological Response," on the Macon campus Oct. 29-31. The conference will include two days of lectures and discussions on Oct. 29 and 30 and will conclude with a green day of service in the Macon community on Saturday, Oct. 31.
MACON - Mercer University will begin its 11th Annual College of Liberal Arts Lecture Series this month, focusing on the theme "Leftovers: 20 Years After the Wall Came Down, Reflections on a Post-Cold War World." The six-lecture series features professors from across the University delivering lectures focused on the aftermath of the Cold War. The first speaker in the series, Dr. Chris Grant, associate professor of political science, will lecture on "Frozen Conflicts in Moldova and Georgia" at 6:30 p.m., Wednesday, Sept. 9, in the Choir Rehearsal Room of the McCorkle Music Building on Mercer's Macon campus.
ATLANTA - Mercer's James and Carolyn McAfee School of Theology will hold the second annual D. Perry and Betty Ginn Lecture Series on Tuesday, Sept. 15, at 10:45 a.m. in the Cecil B. Day Hall on the Atlanta campus. The lecturer will be Dr. Robert J. Russell, an expert on the relationship between faith and science. His topic will be "Scientific Cosmology, Philosophy and Creation Theology: Creative Mutual Interactions."
ATLANTA - Dr. H.W. "Ted" Matthews, dean of the Mercer University College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, has announced the appointment of Leslie F. Taylor, PT, Ph.D., former division head of the physical therapy program at Georgia State University, to develop and implement a doctoral-level physical therapy program at Mercer.
MACON - Jessica Walden has been named director of communications and outreach for the College Hill Alliance, effective Sept. 14. Walden is currently director of communications for Imedia Group, where she edits, writes and coordinates two of the company's community-based business publications, address Macon and Houston County Magazine.
MACON/ATLANTA - As fall classes got under way yesterday for undergraduates on the Macon campus, Mercer University's first-day enrollment figures topped the 8,000 mark, a 6.8 percent increase over opening day numbers last fall and an all-time record for the 176-year-old institution. Final, official enrollment figures will not be completed until later in the fall, but the opening day tally stood at 8,044, compared with 7,533 on the first day of classes last year - a 511-student increase.
MACON - The National Endowment for the Humanities has awarded Mercer University $215,000 for an institute for high school teachers in summer 2010. The institute will be a five-week course on Southern history, titled "Cotton Culture in the South from the Civil War to the Civil Rights Movement," and will be open to 22 high school teachers from across the country.
