Faculty Pub Night Brings Authors, Audience Together

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HANNON LIBRARY | It is another instance when the university becomes collegial.

Faculty Pub Night has become a keystone of the William H. Hannon Library’s programming. Each semester for nine years, Hannon Library has hosted a lineup of LMU faculty members who present and discuss their publications and creative works, giving students, faculty, staff members and guests from the community an opportunity to celebrate and examine these accomplishments.

Hannon Library is calling for proposals for the 2018-19 academic year. The applications are due at 5 p.m., on Friday, March 30, 2018. Faculty speakers are selected by a committee of librarians and library staff and approved by the dean of the library. The committee responsible for developing the series strives to select an annual lineup of faculty, four each semester, with diverse and inclusive representation across schools and colleges, academic departments and programs.

While the ambiance is casual, complete with wine and beer for those of legal age, Faculty Pub Night has led to serious explorations of academic works. Each speaker has roughly an hour for a presentation in a format that suits their work best, followed by a question-and-answer period; mingling and chatting usually caps off the evening. But the programs are the main draw:

  • An art history presentation about a curated exhibit in the San Fernando Valley became a lively, personal conversation between two talented scholars about art and society;
  • A discussion of a journalism professor’s biography of an all-woman punk band from the 1970s was broadcast live on KXLU and the gathering was treated to a short concert by a contemporary all-woman punk band.

The average attendance for Faculty Pub Night evenings has grown steadily, and in a more profound but less quantifiable way, the commitment of the presenters and responses of the audiences has become more vibrant. Scholarly explorations of subjects that LMU faculty members hold dear animates the social life of the university and propels the intellectual life to new heights.

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