Lectures to Explore Critical Thinking for Critical Times

Each year, the Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina Presidential Lecture Series at Meredith College features nationally and internationally-recognized speakers who are invited on the basis of their expertise, accomplishments and relevance to the College's theme. For 2010-11, Meredith welcomes speakers who will offer insight on “Critical Thinking for Critical Times.”

Nicholas Kristof
Monday, September 20, 2010, 7 p.m., Jones Auditorium

Nicholas Kristof is a New York Times columnist, Pulitzer Prize winner, and author of Meredith’s 2010 Summer Reading Program selection, “Half the Sky: From Oppression to Opportunity for Women Worldwide.” Kristof has been a columnist for The New York Times since 2001. He earned a Pulitzer in 1990 with his wife, Sheryl WuDunn, for their coverage of the Tiananmen Square democracy movement, and another in 2006 for commentary on genocide in Darfur and other parts of the world.

Ticket information for the Kristof lecture will be available in August.

Maureen Hartford
Monday, February 28, 2011, 7 p.m., Jones Auditorium

Meredith College President Maureen Hartford will lecture as part of the College’s 2011 Founders’ Day observance. Hartford, Meredith’s first female president, will discuss “Critical Thinking in Women’s Education.” She holds a doctorate in higher education administration from the University of Arkansas, where her dissertation topic was “Profiles of Women Chief Executive Officers.” Hartford, whose career spans three decades of leadership in higher education administration and 12 years as Meredith’s president, will retire in June 2011.

Twyla Tharp
Wednesday, April 13, 2011, 7 p.m., Jones Auditorium

Tony and Emmy Award winner Twyla Tharp will present the 2011 Woman of Achievement Lecture. Tharp has choreographed more than 125 dances, five Hollywood movies, directed and choreographed two Broadway shows and written two books. In addition to two Emmys and one Tony Award, she is the recipient of the 2004 National Medal of the Arts.

Established in 2005, The Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina Presidential Lecture Series at Meredith College enhances the intellectual and academic climate at Meredith College and the broader Triangle community.

For more information, visit http://www.meredith.edu/campus-theme/presidential-lecture-series.htm.