Dr. Kelly N. Foster, Reneé Critcher Lyons and Dr. Phyllis Thompson are the April 4 lecturers.
East Tennessee State University’s 2024-25 Great Lecture Series continues on April 4 with lectures by Dr. Kelly N. Foster, Reneé Critcher Lyons and Dr. Phyllis Thompson.
This lecture series celebrates and showcases the work of faculty recently promoted to full professor at ETSU. Faculty play an integral role in the mission of ETSU through their teaching, research and service, and this lecture series provides them with an opportunity to share their work with the broader community.
The faculty will deliver their lectures at beginning at 2 p.m. in the East Tennessee Room on the second level of the D.P. Culp Student Center. It is free and open to the public.
Foster is a professor of sociology and director of the Applied Social Research Lab at ETSU. Her lecture is titled “Hearing Voices: One Pollster’s Thoughts on the Importance of Being a Professional Nuisance.”
She earned her bachelor's and doctorate from the University of Georgia and her master’s degree from Clemson University. As an expert in survey research methodology and quantitative methods, Foster proudly considers herself a pollster. She has spent her career asking questions, listening to what people have to say and finding ways to amplify those voices.
A first-generation college student raised by a single mother, Foster deeply values education because she believes it opens doors. She has led hundreds of survey research projects throughout her career and firmly believes that research is at its best when people come first.
Lyons’ lecture is titled “From the Hills and Hollers to the Halls of Academia: A Journey Through the ‘Fields’ of Librarianship.”
She is a professor in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction. Serving as the program coordinator for the School Librarianship Program, she has published in Childhood Education Innovations, New Literaria, New Review of Children’s Literature and Librarianship, Children and Libraries, Young Adult Library Services, School Library Connection, Public Library Quarterly and the International Journal of the Book.
Lyons is also a children’s book author, having recently published “Rollin’ on Down the Line: Lady Bird Johnson’s 1964 Whistle-Stop Tour for Civil Rights” with Sleeping Bear Press. This book for today’s young students won a Junior Library Guild distinction. Lyons also serves on national book award committees for the American Library Association, Nature Generation and Children’s Literature Association.
Thompson is a literature professor and serves as chair of the Department of Counseling and Human Services. Her lecture is titled “Deep Water, Big Rocks, and Safe Eddies: Lessons from the River for Teaching, Research and Service.”
Her scholarship focuses on women's contributions to family medicine and community health care in rural 18th-century England through the medicinal recipe books, personal diaries and letters they passed down to daughters and granddaughters and on trauma-informed approaches to teaching and learning in higher education today.
With Janice Carello, she edited “Trauma-Informed Pedagogies: A Guide for Responding
to Crisis and Inequality in Higher Education” and “Lessons from the Pandemic: Trauma-Informed
Approaches to College, Crisis, Change,” both of which highlight important voices on
how and why professors teach.
She has also provided workshops, coaching and infographics on trauma- and resilience-informed
practices for classroom, residence hall, public and work spaces.
For disability accommodations, call the ETSU Office of Disability Services at (423) 439-8346.
East Tennessee State University was founded in 1911 with a singular mission: to improve the quality of life for people in the region and beyond. Through its world-class health sciences programs and interprofessional approach to health care education, ETSU is a highly respected leader in rural health research and practices. The university also boasts nationally ranked programs in the arts, technology, computing, and media studies. ETSU serves approximately 14,000 students each year and is ranked among the top 10 percent of colleges in the nation for students graduating with the least amount of debt.
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