2008 Woodie Awards
SSU professors present their passions in Last Lecture Series
Laurel Smith, Staff Writer
Issue date: 2/15/06 Section: Student Life
Do you wonder what your favorite professor would say at their last lecture ever? Attend the Last Lecture Series to find out!
Presented by Residential Life's Academic Initiatives Committee, the Last Lecture Series gives students a chance to nominate faculty members at Sonoma State they'd like to hear give their last lecture ever.
Students voted last semester, the results were tallied, and the nominees with the most votes were asked to speak. From dream interpretation to life lessons to music, the faculty lecture on a variety of topics, not limited to the subjects they may teach in the classrooms.
Julie Greathouse, the Residential Life Coordinator for Cabernet Village and the person who heads up the Academic Initiatives Committee, is largely responsible for the creation of the Last Lecture Series.
"When I was an undergraduate at Muskingum College, they had the Last Lecture Series and it was pretty successful there," said Greathouse. "I thought it would be a great idea for us to bridge the gap between the academic classroom and the residential community. I wanted to get faculty into the students' world, but also have our residents see their faculty members in a new light - to see the faculty's passions and interests."
Carliza Bataller, a member of the Academic Initiatives Committee, had this to say: "The Last Lecture Series is a great opportunity to hear from students' favorite professors about something they are really passionate about, other than the class subject they teach. It provides the professors a chance to share with their student a life principle, lesson, realization, talent, or something special that they would like to express."
Siobhan Byrne, another Committee member, agreed. "This is the chance where we can see our professors passionate about something more personal to them. All day long they lecture about equations, social constructionism, and stock fluxes," said Byrne. "This is the outlet for students to see their teachers as 'people' - because we all know SSU professors eat, sleep, and drink lectures - and learn more about them. It's fun, and you don't have to take notes."
Presented by Residential Life's Academic Initiatives Committee, the Last Lecture Series gives students a chance to nominate faculty members at Sonoma State they'd like to hear give their last lecture ever.
Students voted last semester, the results were tallied, and the nominees with the most votes were asked to speak. From dream interpretation to life lessons to music, the faculty lecture on a variety of topics, not limited to the subjects they may teach in the classrooms.
Julie Greathouse, the Residential Life Coordinator for Cabernet Village and the person who heads up the Academic Initiatives Committee, is largely responsible for the creation of the Last Lecture Series.
"When I was an undergraduate at Muskingum College, they had the Last Lecture Series and it was pretty successful there," said Greathouse. "I thought it would be a great idea for us to bridge the gap between the academic classroom and the residential community. I wanted to get faculty into the students' world, but also have our residents see their faculty members in a new light - to see the faculty's passions and interests."
Carliza Bataller, a member of the Academic Initiatives Committee, had this to say: "The Last Lecture Series is a great opportunity to hear from students' favorite professors about something they are really passionate about, other than the class subject they teach. It provides the professors a chance to share with their student a life principle, lesson, realization, talent, or something special that they would like to express."
Siobhan Byrne, another Committee member, agreed. "This is the chance where we can see our professors passionate about something more personal to them. All day long they lecture about equations, social constructionism, and stock fluxes," said Byrne. "This is the outlet for students to see their teachers as 'people' - because we all know SSU professors eat, sleep, and drink lectures - and learn more about them. It's fun, and you don't have to take notes."