Roy R. Charles Center

The Monroe Lunch Program

The Monroe Lunch program is a series of lunch lecture/discussions with members of the faculty and staff of the College as well as upperclass Monroe Scholars and visitors to the College. The lunches are intended to provide the students with exposure to new and different topics in scholarship, courses, programs and careers and also provide information on how to learn more about these topics if they are interested in doing so.

Most of the lunches take place in the Charles Center lounge. Generally, they are limited to about 17 students, and sign-up takes place on line. Topics range widely - from classical physics to international peacekeeping - so there's always something for everyone. Lunches come from Florimonte's Deli and, on average, the Charles Center hosts about 15 lunches a semester. Many Monroe Scholars would probably say that this is one of the best parts of the Monroe Scholars program.

Here's a few examples of this semester's Monroe Lunches:

Michael Mehler (Theatre, Speech, and Dance): Performing American Community
Chris Myers Asch: Have you heard of the U.S. Public Service Academy?
Thomas Linneman (Sociology): From the Mouths of Babes: Anti-Gay Epithet on South Park
Kaitlyn Smoot: Russia's Disasterous Transition to Capitalism and How it Might Have Been Avoided
Sharon Zuber (English / Literary and Cultural Studies): Mercury: A Hazard without Borders
Joel Schwartz (Government): Why are we so preoccupied with Leadership?
Paul Manna (Government): China in the 21st Century: A Report from the Field
Ellen Adams (History):Ellen Churchill Semple and the Rediscovery of Appalachia
Frederick H. Smith (Anthropology): The Historical Archaeology of Slavery and Everyday Resistance in Barbados
Joshua F. Beatty (History): Storytelling and the Stamp Act Crisis
Mark Smith (Interdisciplinary Studies): Issues and Careers in International Development
Eric Engstrom (Biology): Cooler heads prevailing over HOTHEAD--a contemporary tale of evaluating an extraordinary discovery
Paula Pickering (Government): Promoting dialogue between academics and practitioners working on post-conflict statebuilding

Last semester's lunches covered things like this:

• Steve Archer (Colonial Williamsburg), Revealing the Wren Garden: 3 Years of Archaeology
• Maryse Fauvel (French), The Islamic headscarf in a secular world
• Bella Ginzbursky-Blum (Russian), Creative Freedom and Censorship at the Soviet Animation Studio "Soyuzmultfilm"
• John Griffin (Biology), The Neuroscentric Age of Discovery
• Greg Hancock (Geology), Retention Deficit: Stormwater "Management" and the Impact of Development on Streams
• Rob Hicks (Economics), Cooperative behavior: Comparing experimental results with real world behavior.
• Jordan Howell (Monroe Scholar), Community-Supported Agriculture and Socio-Economic Class
• Colleen Kennedy (English), The Truth is in There: Realism and Simulation in CSI: Las Vegas
• Sarah Klotz (Monroe Scholar), Amani, Haki, Tumaini- Kenyan Women Fight for Peace, Justice, and Hope in Mathare
• Arthur Knight (LCST / Film Studies), An Introduction to--and historical tour of--the Kimball Theatre
• Paul Mapp (History), France and the Elusive Eighteenth-Century West
• Michael Mehler (Theatre, Speech, Dance), Performing American community
• Gul Ozyegin (Sociology), Virginial Facades: Temptation, Guilt, and Respectability in Sexual Cultures of Young Turks
• Thomas Payne (Music), Number Play and Unexpected Narrative in Bach's 3rd Brandenburg Concerto
• Angela Perkey (Monroe Scholar), Members of Congress and their Mentors: A Look into the Mentor Relationships that have Guided Congressmen and Shape Who They are Today
• Dee Royster (Black Studies & Sociology), Racial Privilege and Vulnerability: Exploring the Complex Relationship between Race and Class in the U.S.
• Mary Stucky (Round Earth Productions), Telling Stories: A veteran public radio journalist talks about her work at home and abroad--why she thinks it's so important to tell these stories, along with the challenges and satisfaction in getting to them right.
• Robert Vinson (History), Transcending the Global Color Line: African Americans in Segregationist South Africa
• Chitralehka Zutshi (History), Gandhi: The Man, the Myth, and History