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November 2021

Building Inclusive Excellence: Removing the Structural, Interpersonal, and Intrapersonal Barriers that Perpetuate Inequality on our Campuses

Presented by Dr. Melinda Messineo

How do we make excellence in teaching and learning inclusive? Dr. Melinda聽Messineo will guide attendees on a sociological exploration of how their personal diversity stories impact their ability to see and eliminate the structural, interpersonal, and intrapersonal barriers to creating the inclusive communities that we aspire to build.聽

Dr. Melinda Messineo is Professor of Sociology at Ball State University (BSU) and a nationally recognized diversity/equity teacher, researcher, and advocate. She is the recipient of numerous awards including the Outstanding Diversity Advocate Award from BSU, Schnabel Teaching Award from the North Central Sociological Association and the Hans O. Mauksch Award from the American Sociological Association. She has served as President of the North Central Sociological Association; Vice President of Alpha Kappa Delta; the International Sociological Honor Society; and was Chair of the Section for Teaching and Learning for the American Sociological Association. Dr. Messineo has also held several academic leadership posts at BSU including interim Associate Vice President/Provost of Institutional Diversity, Chair of the Sociology Department, and Chair of the First Year Experience. Dr. Messineo is passionate about connecting students with the community and making a difference in people鈥檚 lives.

The Berger Lecture is presented each year by the 91社区 College of Liberal Arts in honor of Sydney Berger, one of Evansville's most respected attorneys who worked with local civil rights organizations and served as an instructor at 91社区 for nearly two decades. Each year, an academic department in the college hosts a guest lecturer to present on the theme of civil rights or civil liberties, celebrating the values Berger cherished.

Questions about the presentation can be directed to Dr. Ronda Priest, Department of Sociology,聽rpriest@usi.edu

2020-2021

Electoral Justice Meets Democracy

The 91社区 Social Work Department welcomed Dr. Gena McClendon as she presented the 2020 Sydney Berger Lecture.

McClendon is director of the Voter Access and Engagement and the Financial Capability and Asset Building initiatives at the Center for Social Development at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri. Her work primarily involves policy research analysis and consultation with community-based programs, academic institutions, state and federal policymakers and advocacy groups. Read the full press release.聽

2019-2020

The Re/Evolution of the Black Arts Movement

The 91社区 Psychology Department welcomes Ron Himes and Heather Beal as they present the 2019 Sydney Berger Lecture.

鈥淭he Re/Evolution of the Black Arts Movement鈥 will investigate the continued need for cultural institutions of color. Himes founded his own theatre company in 1976, during the height of the Black Arts Movement. Himes and Beal will ask and address the following question: do we still need a theatre company dedicated to blackness and why? Read the full press release.

2018-2019

The Majority Minority

The 91社区 Political Science, Public Administration and Philosophy Department welcomes Dr. Marjorie Hershey, professor of political science at Indiana University, as she presents at the 2018 Sydney Berger Lecture, 鈥淭he Majority Minority鈥.

Hershey鈥檚 talk will explore the underrepresentation of women in American politics and how that underrepresentation affects our lives. She asks, 鈥淚f we elected more women to Congress, executive leadership, and state legislatures, would we have different types of policies? A different political tone? Less partisanship- or more?鈥 Read the full press release.

2016-2017 Dr. Ron Mallon, professor and chair of philosophy at Washington University in St. Louis
2015-2016 Dr. Allison Guzman, assistant professor of Spanish at Providence College in Rhode Island
2014-2015 Dr. Venicia McGhie, Fulbright scholar and chair of the Academic Development department at University of the Western Cape in South Africa
2013-2014 Mattie Miller, Evansville鈥檚 first female African-American teacher at an all-white school
2012-2013 Dr. Steven Salaita, associate professor of English at Virginia Tech
2011-2012 Dr. Carolyn Calloway-Thomas, professor and director of the Preparing Future Faculty Program at Indiana University
2010-2011 Marilyn Ruth Signe Skoglund, Associate Justice of the Vermont Supreme Court
2009-2010 Dr. Cynthia Duarte, Fellow in the Institute of Latino Studies at the University of Notre Dame
2008-2009 Dr. Leslie Ashburn-Nardo, Assistant Professor of Psychology at Indiana University - Purdue University Indianapolis
2007-2008 Joan Callahan, Professor of Philosophy, and Professor of Gender and Women鈥檚 Studies at the University of Kentucky
2006-2007 Dr. Michael Hoeflich, the John H. and John M. Kane Professor of Law at the University of Kansas
2005-2006 Judge Patricia Walker FitzGerald of the Jefferson Circuit Court Family Division in Louisville, Kentucky
2004-2005 Robert Corn-Revere, a partner in the Washington D.C. office of Davis Wright Tremaine LLP
2003-2004 Gene Policinski, deputy directory of the First Amendment Center at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, TN
2002-2003 Charles Nelms, vice president for Student Development and Diversity at Indiana University Bloomington
2001-2002 Dr. Scott Christianson, visiting associate professor of social studies at Bard College and an acclaimed author, activist, journalist, and scholar
2000-2001 Dr. F. Robert Hunter, chair of Indiana State University鈥檚 Department of History and president of the Midwest Association of Middle East and Islamic Studies
1999-2000 Leslie Roberts, associate professor of French;
Patricia Aakhus, instructor in English;
Douglas Hubbell, associate professor of communications;
Amanda Grube, 91社区 student;
James VanLear;
Michael Waitman, associate professor of English
1998-1999 Bruce Pearl, men's varsity basketball coach;
John H. Gottcent, professor of English;
Daniel R. Craig, assistant professor of music;
Robert L. York, instructor in English;
Scott N. LaFeber, director of theatre;
Elliot H. Wasserman, associate professor of theatre;
Dr. Betty L. Hart, professor of English;
Eric L. vonFuhrmann, assistant professor of English;
Kathy Dooley, 91社区 student
1997-1998 Patrick A. Shoulders, member of the law firm of Ziemer, Stayman, Weitzel & Shoulders in Evansville
John R. Price, heads John R. Price and Associates in Indianapolis
John Dobken, news anchor at Channel 44 in Evansville