eInside Events

Filmmaker Ken Burns Comes to Kent State for Presidential Speaker Series

Filmmaker Ken Burns speaks at Kent State University on
April 22 as part of the Kent State University Presidential
Speaker Series.

(Photo credit: University of Texas at Arlington)

Filmmaker Ken Burns will speak at the fifth Kent State University Presidential Speaker Series on Tuesday, April 22, at 7:30 p.m. in the Memorial Athletic and Convocation Center (MAC Center).

This ticketed event is open to the public. Free general admission tickets are available at http://kentstate.universitytickets.com. A limited number of $15 chairback seats also will be available. Burns’ appearance is sponsored by Kent State’s Office of the Provost, the College of Arts and Sciences, the College of the Arts and the College of Communication and Information.

“It is a true honor to bring Ken Burns to Kent,” says Kent State President Lester A. Lefton. “As one of the most influential filmmakers of all time, he has brought history to life for millions around the world.”

Ken Burns has been making films for more than 30 years. Since the Academy Award-nominated Brooklyn Bridge in 1981, Burns has gone on to direct and produce some of the most acclaimed historical documentaries ever made.

His landmark series The Civil War was the highest-rated series in the history of American Public Television and attracted an audience of 40 million during its premiere in September 1990. In addition to directing The Civil War, Burns served as producer, co-writer, chief cinematographer, music director and executive producer. The film was honored with more than 40 major film and television awards.

Burns was the director, producer, co-writer, chief cinematographer, music director and executive producer of the Public Television series Baseball. Four-and-a-half years in the making and 18-and-a-half hours in length, the film covers the history of baseball from the 1840s to the present. It became the most watched series in PBS history, attracting more than 45 million viewers.

In fall 2009, PBS broadcast the Emmy Award-winning The National Parks: America's Best Idea. Directed and co-produced by Burns, the six-part series focuses on the ideas and individuals that helped propel the parks into existence.

In November 2012, PBS broadcast The Dust Bowl, a two-part series about the worst man-made ecological disaster in American history. Other recent projects include The Central Park Five and Prohibition.

Burns’ films have won 12 Emmy Awards and two Oscar nominations, and in 2008, he was honored by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences with a Lifetime Achievement Award. He has been the recipient of more than 25 honorary degrees and is a sought after public speaker, appearing at colleges, civic organizations and business groups throughout the country.

Projects currently in production include The Roosevelts: An Intimate History, a seven-episode series scheduled for broadcast in the fall of 2014, as well as films on the Gettysburg Address, Jackie Robinson, the Vietnam War and the history of country music.

In addition to being the spring Presidential Series Speaker, Burns' appearance will serve as the keynote address for the 2014 Symposium on Democracy.

About the Kent State University Presidential Speaker Series

The Kent State Presidential Speaker Series seeks to bring high-profile, world-renowned experts to Kent State for serious, thought-provoking discussions and conversations. The program enhances the engagement of the world beyond Kent State’s campuses, which is one of the university’s strategic goals.

For more information about Kent State University’s Presidential Speaker Series, visit www.kent.edu/president/speakers. For questions about the Kent State Presidential Speaker Series event, please call 330-672-2216 during normal business hours or email ksupresidentialspeakers@kent.edu.

About the Symposium on Democracy

The tragic events of May 4, 1970, at Kent State University had a profound impact on the university, the nation and the world. The Symposium on Democracy is part of Kent State’s commemoration of the May 4, 1970, events. The purpose of the Symposium on Democracy is to honor the memories of the four students who lost their lives on that day – Allison Krause, Jeffrey Miller, Sandra Scheuer and William Schroeder – with an enduring dedication to scholarship that seeks to prevent violence and to promote democratic values and civil discourse.

Kent State Division of Research Holds Symposium on The Neuroscience of Obesity

Researchers will present findings on the prevention and treatment of obesity and the brain’s role in food intake and physical activity

Michael Rosenbaum, M.D., an internationally
renowned expert on obesity from Columbia
University Medical Center, will deliver the
keynote address at Kent State University's
neuroscience symposium on April 3.

Kent State University’s second annual neuroscience symposium will cover the latest research findings on “The Neuroscience of Obesity” on April 3-4 at the Kent State University Hotel and Conference Center.

In a keynote address on April 3 at 7:15 p.m., Michael Rosenbaum, M.D., Columbia University Medical Center, an internationally renowned expert on obesity, will talk about, “Body Weight Regulation: Why is it so Hard to Keep the Pounds Off?” Researcher presentations on April 4 from 9 a.m. to 3:15 p.m. will cover topics such as the brain’s control over food intake, how the brain modulates calorie use and obesity prevention and treatment.

All presentations and a poster session at 3:15 p.m. on April 4 are free and open to the public. Registration is required.

“More than a third of children and more than two thirds of adults in the U.S. are overweight or obese, a public health problem that is drawing new research attention from neuroscientists,” says Grant McGimpsey, Ph.D., Kent State’s vice president for research. “This symposium will foster an exchange of ideas as scientists look for solutions to this critical healthcare problem.”

Rosenbaum’s keynote address will focus on obesity as a biological disease and the implications for treatment and prevention.

His research, funded by the National Institutes of Health and the Nutrition Science Initiative, is on body weight regulation in adults and the development and prevention of obesity in children. He is a professor of clinical pediatrics and medicine at Columbia University Medical Center and the author of more than 90 research publications.

Speakers on April 4 include Antonio Convit, M.D., New York University of Medicine; Rajita Sinha, Ph.D., Yale University; Lei Cao, Ph.D., Ohio State University College of Medicine; and Colleen Novak, Ph.D., of Kent State.

The event is sponsored by Kent State’s Division of Research and Sponsored Programs, and the Department of Biological Sciences and Department of Psychology in the College of Arts and Sciences. Northeast Ohio Medical University also is providing support.

For a full program and registration information, visit www.kent.edu/neuroscience or call 330-672-2692.

With nearly 40 neuroscientists working across multiple departments, Kent State’s interdisciplinary research on neurological diseases and conditions covers subjects such as obesity, traumatic brain injury, the effects of aging, addiction and pain management.

For more information about research at Kent State, visit www.kent.edu/research.

Clery Center to Host Jeanne Clery Act Training in Partnership with Kent State University at Geauga

The Clery Center for Security On Campus, the nation’s leading nonprofit campus safety advocacy organization, will host a Jeanne Clery Act Training Seminar in partnership with Kent State University at Geauga from March 24-25.

The Jeanne Clery Act is a landmark federal law that requires colleges and universities across the United States to disclose ongoing information about crime on and around their campuses, as well as security policies and procedures. The act is enforced by the United States Department of Education.

“Our organization takes a true collaborative approach to training,” says Alison Kiss, executive director of the Clery Center for Security on Campus. “A multidisciplinary team designed the curriculum, which was then vetted by the Department of Education and Department of Justice.”

“The Clery Center for Security on Campus was excited about offering the Jeanne Clery Act training at Kent State University’s Regional Academic Center in Twinsburg because of the location and proximity to many of Ohio’s higher education institutions and the state-of-the-art amenities that the center provides,” says John Granny, director of business affairs and operations at Kent State Geauga.

The day-and-a-half seminar will include presentations on emergency response and alerting the campus community, crime reporting, sexual violence guidelines and how to effectively disseminate important safety information, such as the institution’s annual security report.

“My favorite aspect of our training is the opportunity for colleges and universities to interact with and learn from one another,” says Abigail Boyer, assistant executive director of programs, outreach and communications for the Clery Center. “Participants can ask questions in a safe environment and learn from instructors and fellow participants who may face similar challenges to compliance at their own institutions.”

For more information about Jeanne Clery Act trainings, visit www.clerycenter.org/training.

ABC News Anchor, Chief National Correspondent Named Winner of the 2014 McGruder Award for Media Diversity

Call & Post publisher earns Diversity in Media Distinguished Leadership Award

Byron Pitts, ABC news anchor and chief
national correspondent, has been named
the 2014 winner of the Robert G. McGruder
Award for Diversity by Kent State University’s
School of Journalism and Mass Communication.

Byron Pitts, ABC news anchor and chief national correspondent, has been named the 2014 winner of the Robert G. McGruder Award for Diversity by Kent State University’s School of Journalism and Mass Communication. The award recognizes the accomplishments of media professionals who encourage diversity in the field of journalism.

Constance D. Harper, associate publisher and editor of the Cleveland-based Call & Post newspaper, which has editions serving African-American communities throughout Ohio, will be recognized at the annual McGruder luncheon as the 2014 Diversity in Media Distinguished Leadership Award winner.

The School of Journalism and Mass Communication will honor Pitts at an awards luncheon and lecture on Monday, March 31. The annual McGruder Lecture will take place at 11 a.m. at the Kent Student Center Kiva, and is free and open to the public. Pitts will serve as keynote speaker at the lecture. The awards luncheon, by invitation only, will take place at 12:30 p.m.

The luncheon and lecture are co-sponsored by the School of Journalism and Mass Communication and Kent State’s Division of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion.

The luncheon will include comments by Harper, and special awards will be given to student media representatives who have reported on diversity issues in the past year. Todd Diacon, Kent State’s senior vice president for academic affairs and provost; Alfreda Brown, vice president for diversity, equity and inclusion; Stan Wearden, dean of the College of Communication and Information; and Thor Wasbotten, director of the School of Journalism and Mass Communication, will speak at the luncheon. Special guest Annette McGruder will be recognized for her continued support of diversity initiatives and the School of Journalism and Mass Communication.

About Byron Pitts:

Pitts covers national news stories and in-depth features for the ABC network, reporting for all broadcasts and platforms including “Good Morning America,” “World News with Diane Sawyer,” “Nightline,” “This Week” and “20/20.” Pitts also reports for all ABC News digital properties including ABCNews.com.

Pitts is a multiple Emmy award winning journalist known for his thoughtful storytelling, on-the-ground reporting and in-depth interviews. A news veteran with more than 20 years of experience, Pitts has traveled around the world to cover some of the biggest news stories of our time from the Florida Presidential recount to the tsunami in Indonesia and the refugee crisis in Kosovo. With less than 24 hours at ABC News, Pitts participated in live special coverage of the Boston marathon bombing investigation, including the day-long manhunt for the Tsarnaev brothers that virtually shut down the city.

Prior to joining ABC News, Pitts spent the last 15 years at CBS News where he recently served as chief national correspondent for “The CBS Evening News” and filed regularly for “60 Minutes,” covering presidential campaigns and political conventions, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans and the devastating earthquake in Haiti. He also was one of CBS News’ first reporters at Ground Zero during the terror attacks on 9/11, winning an Emmy Award for his coverage. Pitts has received several other prestigious awards for his work including an Emmy Award for his reporting on the Chicago train wreck in 1999, a National Association of Black Journalists Award, four Associated Press Awards and six regional Emmy Awards.

Pitts is a native of Baltimore, Md., and he currently lives in Weehawken, N.J.

About Constance Harper:

Constance D. Harper, associate publisher
and editor of the Cleveland-based Call &
Post newspaper, will be recognized at the
annual McGruder luncheon as the 2014
Diversity in Media Distinguished Leadership
Award winner.

Harper is a native Clevelander and a product of the Cleveland Public School system, where she began her career in journalism. She was the editor of both her junior and senior high school newspapers, the Alexander Hamilton Federalist and the John Adams Journal.

A graduate of Central State University, she served as the editor of the college paper and school yearbook for four years. She has done graduate study at the University of Chicago. While teaching in the Cleveland Public Schools, she was the teen editor for the Cleveland Courier, a subsidiary of the Pittsburgh Courier. She left her position as a Cleveland school teacher to become the women's editor of the Call & Post and later became city editor. She was selected as one of two journalists to complete a fellowship in urban studies at the University of Chicago. She remained at the university briefly to work in the Public Affairs Department. She returned to Cleveland to direct the women's committee for Mayor Carl B. Stokes' re-election campaign.

Her next stop was Washington, D.C., where she was public affairs officer for the Leadership Institute for Community Development, a government funded program. While in D.C., her commitment to public service led her to volunteer for Africare, a nonprofit advocacy organization for the nations and people of Africa.

She is secretary of the Greater Cleveland Delta Foundation Life Development Center. She is the author of the popular column, "Constantly Yours," her signature piece that appears in the Call & Post.

Harper has been recognized often for her commitment to the community.

About Robert McGruder:

The late Robert G. McGruder was a 1963 graduate of Kent State and a foundational local figure for diversity in journalism.

He went on from Kent State to become the first black editor of the Daily Kent Stater and first black reporter at The Plain Dealer. McGruder marked several other firsts in his career, becoming the first black president of the Associated Press Managing Editors group and the first black editor of the Detroit Free Press, in 1995 and 1996.

McGruder was a strong proponent for diversity in and out of the newsroom: “Please know that I stand for diversity,” he said once. “I represent the African-Americans, Latinos, Arab-Americans, Asians, Native Americans, gays and lesbians, women and all others we must see represented in our business offices, newsrooms and newspapers.”

Previous award winners include Russ Mitchell, Debra Adams Simmons, Caesar Andrews, Richard Prince, Jannette Dates, Michelle Singletary, Leonard Pitts, Jr., Albert E. Fitzpatrick, David Lawrence, Jr. and Gregory Moore.

For more information about the Robert G. McGruder Award or event, contact Eugene Shelton, associate professor in the School of Journalism and Mass Communication, at eshelto1@kent.edu.

To R.S.V.P. for the luncheon by March 24, contact Darlene Contrucci at 330-672-2623.

For more information about Kent State's School of Journalism and Mass Communication, visit www.kent.edu/jmc.

Walk a Mile in Her Shoes Set for April 15 at Kent State

High-heeled shoe donations, sizes 11 and above, are requested for the event

Kent State University students participate in last year's
Walk a Mile in Her Shoes event.

There is an old saying: "You can't really understand another person's experience until you've walked a mile in their shoes." On April 15, the Office of Sexual and Relationship Violence Support Services and the Women’s Center, in collaboration with other campus departments and student organizations at Kent State University, will host the fourth annual Walk a Mile in Her Shoes: The International Men’s March to Stop Rape, Sexual Assault and Gender Violence.

Walk a Mile in Her Shoes® is a playful opportunity for men to get involved in raising awareness in the community about the serious causes, effects and remediation to sexualized violence by wearing high-heeled shoes on a march across campus. Women can wear tennis shoes. The event is open to all members of the Kent State community.

Early registration goes from now through April 1. Anyone who registers by April 1 will be guaranteed a free T-shirt and bag. You can register online through April 13 at http://ksuwam2014.eventbrite.com.

More than 300 participants are expected at the event on April 15. With an event of this size, support from the Kent State community is needed, as shoe donations are integral to the success of the march. Campus communities and organizations are encouraged to support the event by donating new or used high-heeled women’s dress shoes, sizes 11 and above.

Do a little spring cleaning this month and bring one or two pairs to the Carriage House (the Kent State Women’s Center) starting now, Monday through Friday, from 9 a.m.-4 p.m. There also are drop-off locations in The Nest at the Kent Student, DeWeese Health Center (1st floor patient lobby), the Academic Support Offices at the Memorial Athletic and Convocation (MAC) Center, and at the KIC Office at Tri-Towers.

If you have any questions about shoe donations or the event, contact Jennie O’Connell, coordinator for Sexual Assault Response with the Office of Sexual and Relationship Violence Support Services, at 330-672-8016.

For more information about the event at Kent State and to register, visit www.kent.edu/womenscenter.

For more information about Walk a Mile in Her Shoes: The International Men’s March to Stop Rape, Sexual Assault or Gender Violence, visit www.walkamileinhershoes.org.

Thank you in advance for your consideration to donate just one or two pairs of shoes to the Walk a Mile in Her Shoes event.

Statistics from the Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network reveal that every two minutes someone in the U.S. is sexually assaulted, and one in six U.S. women is a victim of an attempted or completed rape in her lifetime. Please join in this campaign against sexual violence.

Attend the Symposium on Research, Scholarship and Creative Activity

Kent State University will hold its first Undergraduate
Symposium on Research, Scholarship and Creative Activity
on April 2.

On April 2, you are invited to attend the Undergraduate Symposium on Research, Scholarship and Creative Activity. View more than 100 innovative student research projects from a variety of areas, such as architecture, biology, psychology and visual communication design, and find out which students win cash awards.

• 1-4 p.m., view student displays and enjoy refreshments
• 4 p.m., awards ceremony
  

The symposium will be held in the University Library on the Kent Campus, and the event is free and open to the public.

For details, visit www.kent.edu/undergradstudies/ugresearch.

International Social Media Experts to Headline Seventh Annual YouToo Social Media Conference at Kent State University

Danny Brown, manager of social
engagement and insights at the Ontario
Lottery and Gaming Corporation, will be
the keynote speaker at the YouToo Social
Media Conference at Kent State University.

Kent State University’s School of Journalism and Mass Communication will once again host the award-winning YouToo Social Media Conference co-sponsored by the Akron Area Chapter of the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) and the Kent State Chapter of the Public Relations Student Society of America (PRSSA).

The conference will take place from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Friday, April 11, at Kent State’s Franklin Hall, with a networking reception to follow at the Kent State Hotel and Conference Center. Northeast Ohio professionals in public relations, communication and marketing, along with students studying these disciplines, are encouraged to register, but anyone can attend.

Danny Brown, manager of social engagement and insights at the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation, will be the keynote speaker. His session, “Adapt or Secede: The Future of PR Isn't Tomorrow, It's Now,” will address changes that the public relations industry needs to implement to keep up, including:

• Communication strategies that adapt to the latest Google algorithms;
• The ethical pitch and partnership, where long-term wins are valued over short-term gains;
• The blurring lines between PR, marketing and advertising;
• How to use influencers and unfiltered brand champions to react to a crisis.
  

“The PR industry is at a crossroads – making the right changes now will prepare you for these changes,” Brown says. “Ignorance will simply see you secede to not only your competitors, but to those up-and-coming channels that are taking the attention online your clients crave, but you can't deliver on.”

Brown is co-author of Influence Marketing: How to Create, Manage and Measure Brand Influencers in Social Media Marketing, which is recognized as one of the Top 100 Business Books in America by Nielsen BookScan. Also a multiple award-winning marketer and blogger, Brown’s blog is recognized as the No. 1 marketing blog in the world by HubSpot, Social Media Examiner’s Top 10 Social Media Blog in 2011 and 2013, voted one of Canada’s Top 50 Marketing Blogs and won the Hive Award for Best Social Media Blog at the 2010 South by Southwest festival.

Andrea Weckerle, founder and president
of CiviliNation, will serve as the opening
speaker at the YouToo Social Media
Conference at Kent State University.

Andrea Weckerle, founder and president of CiviliNation, will serve as the opening speaker at the social media conference. "Too Much Digital Drama: A Better Approach to Online Discourse and Conflict” will explore the current online landscape, discuss the different types of online antagonists and conflict issues that practitioners are most likely to come across, and offer suggestions for change.

Weckerle leads CiviliNation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to reducing online hostility, character assassination and adult cyberbullying. She is the author of the book Civility in the Digital Age: How Companies and People Can Triumph over Haters, Trolls, Bullies, and Other Jerks. Previously, she worked in the legal management services division of a global professional services firm, helping to design, develop and implement comprehensive alternative dispute resolution systems for Fortune® 500 firms. She also underwent extensive mediation training, earning certificates in commercial mediation and conflict resolution processes. In addition to a juris doctor, she holds a Master of Arts in Public Relations/Conflict Analysis and Resolution.

The conference also will feature breakout sessions in the morning and afternoon, as well as panel discussions by regional experts.

YouToo Conference sponsorship is open to both businesses and individuals and supports the YouToo Scholarship Fund, the Kent State PRSSA Chapter, and the Akron Area PRSA Chapter. For more information, contact Tracy L. Teuscher, APR, at tracy@thebuzzmaker.com or 330-936-1331.

Early-bird pricing for conference registration ends March 22. All professional attendees will receive a copy of Weckerle’s book Civility in the Digital Age: How Companies and People Can Triumph over Haters, Trolls, Bullies, and Other Jerks.

Pricing:
$159: PRSA members of any chapter/Kent State alumni ($179 after March 22)
$179: Nonmembers ($199 after March 22)
$149: Groups of three or more from one organization ($169 after March 22)
$129: Faculty/staff of any university ($149 after March 22)
$30: PRSSA members of any chapter ($35 after March 22. Book separate.)
$35: Students ($40 after March 22. Book separate.)

For more information, conference pricing and updates about the YouToo Social Media Conference, visit www.youtoosm.com. Also, find YouToo on Facebook, Twitter or via email at youtoosm@yahoo.com.

Department of Psychology Hosts U-Night to End Stigma

Kent State University’s Department of
Psychology will host U-Night to End
Stigma on April 14 from 5-9 p.m. at the
Kent Student Center Ballroom.

Kent State University’s Department of Psychology will host U-Night to End Stigma on April 14 from 5-9 p.m. at the Kent Student Center Ballroom. Attendees can come and go as their schedule allows. This event will provide a platform for students, community members, professionals and activists to speak about their insights and experience in the following domains: mental illness/difference, cognitive and physical disabilities/differences, sexuality, gender and addiction.

Headliners for the event are Morton Gernsbacher, Ph.D., a researcher from the University of Wisconsin – Madison, and Sascha DuBrul, co-founder of the Icarus Project and author of Maps to the Other Side: The Adventures of a Bipolar Cartographer.

Gernsbacher will speak about autism and embracing neurodiversity. One psychology continuing education unit is available for this talk. DuBrul will speak about the stigma barrier and how to create a new language and culture surrounding psychic diversity.

There will be an extra credit table at the event, and professors and instructors are asked to consider offering extra credit to their students who attend. Relevant student and community organizations are encouraged to participate by having a table at this event.

For more information about the event, contact Morgan Shields at mshield2@kent.edu.

Local Author to Speak at Kent State Tuscarawas

Nicole Willey, Ph.D., associate
professor of English at Kent State University
at Tuscarawas and local author will present
Motherhood Memoirs: Mothers Creating/Writing
Lives with her co-editor Justine Dymond, Ph.D.,
on March 18 at 7 p.m. at Kent State Tuscarawas.

Local author Nicole Willey, Ph.D., who also is an associate professor of English at Kent State University at Tuscarawas, will present Motherhood Memoirs: Mothers Creating/Writing Lives with her co-editor Justine Dymond, Ph.D., on March 18 at 7 p.m. at Kent State Tuscarawas. Sponsored by the Artist/Lecture Series, the event will be held in Founders Hall Auditorium with doors opening at 6:30 p.m. Seating is available on a first-come, first-served basis.

Their presentation will include readings and a book discussion of this anthology on mothering and memoirs. In this collection, Willey and Dymond examine and critique motherhood memoirs alongside the texts of their own lives, while seeking to transform mother practice – highlighting revolutionary praxis within books, or, when none is available, creating new visions for social change. Many essays interrogate the tensions of maternal narrative - the negotiation of the historical location of writer and readers, narrative and linguistic constraints, and the slippery ground of memory, as well as the borders constructed between the “objective” scholar and the reader who engages with and identifies with texts through her intellect and her emotional being.

Willey teaches African-American and other literatures, along with a variety of writing courses. Her research interests include mothering, memoir, 19th-century American literature and slave narratives. She wrote Creating a New Ideal of Masculinity for American Men: The Achievement of Sentimental Women Writers in the Mid-Nineteenth Century. She and her husband, Chris Roman, Ph.D., have two sons and reside in New Philadelphia, Ohio.

Dymond is an assistant professor of English at Springfield College in Massachusetts, where she teaches writing and literature. She holds a Master of Fine Arts in creative writing and a Ph.D. in English from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. Her publications include essays on Linda Hogan, Mourning Dove, Virginia Woolf and Gertrude Stein, and she is the editor of a special cluster in Modern Language Studies on 9/11 literature and culture. Her fiction and poetry have been published in numerous journals, including The Massachusetts Review, Pleiades and The Briar Cliff Review. Her short story, “Cherubs,” was selected for an O. Henry Prize and also appeared on the list of distinguished stories in the 2006 Best American Short Stories. She lives in western Massachusetts with her family.

Kent State Tuscarawas is located at 330 University Dr. N.E. in New Philadelphia.

Author, Educator Steven McCarthy to Speak at Kent State

Internationally known creative scholar Steven McCarthy
will visit Kent State University on March 20 to give an
illustrated presentation about the researching, writing and
designing of his new book.

Internationally known creative scholar Steven McCarthy will visit Kent State University on March 20 to give an illustrated presentation about the researching, writing and designing of his new book The Designer As ... Author, Producer, Activist, Entrepreneur, Curator and Collaborator: New Models for Communicating. McCarthy’s lecture will begin at 7 p.m. in the FirstEnergy Auditorium (Room 340) at Franklin Hall. Kent State’s School of Visual Communication Design is hosting the event, which is free and open to the public.

A professor of graphic design at the University of Minnesota, McCarthy’s graphic design work has been published in Graphis Poster, the American Institute of Graphic Arts annual; HOW; Page and in Provocative Graphics: The Power of the Unexpected in Graphic Design, among others. His creative work has been in more than 90 juried and invitational exhibitions.

Working with celebrated book designer Martin Venezky of the San Francisco-based design studio Appetite Engineers, and commissioned by BIS Publishers of Amsterdam, McCarthy explores the role of designers in communication and visual culture, from commercial designers to those assuming the more empowering roles of design authorship. He will share the book's back story: Learn how 1,447 images were obtained legitimately without copyright permission. And, discover how interviews with 12 notable graphic designers, including Ellen Lupton and Rick Poynor, were conducted.

McCarthy also will share examples of his own works of design authorship, ranging from artist's books to videos to posters, and will be available for a signing following the event. The Designer As ... Author, Producer, Activist, Entrepreneur, Curator and Collaborator: New Models for Communicating will be available for purchase for $32.

The School of Visual Communication Design’s [in]VISION Speaker Series aims to bring in experts from a broad range of visual communication-related areas to educate and inspire students, faculty and staff, and the professional community, so all can see how design and communication-related issues play a role in shaping the world.