Kinkead gives Last Lecture on stories
Joyce Kinkead began her remarks for the 36th Annual Last Lecture in a fitting way for a teacher.
“Good afternoon class,” Kinkead, vice president for research, said,. She drew laughter from the audience as she began her lecture containing family stories, fictional stories and a classic story modernized with zombies.
The Last Lecture, held Wednesday in the TSC Ballroom, is an annual lecture given by a full time professor who is nominated by students in the honors program. The lecture allows professors to give a lecture as if it were their last at USU.
“I am keenly aware though, the irony of delivering a lecture, as the approach I take in my own classroom is one that focuses on students. So as much as I enjoy being the “sage on the stage,” I continually try to be the “guide on the side Kinkead said.
Dr. Christie Fox, honors director, said professors are nominated for the Last Lecture by students.
“They want to find somebody who’s made a significant impact on campus but also who will have a topic that will appeal widely to the student body,” Fox said.
Fox said a committee of honors students look through the student nominations and choose a deserving professor for the Last Lecture.
“She seemed to us to be able to expand to a more broad audience and to have something very important to say to every person who would be listening to her last lecture,” said Nikelle Hunsaker, a member of the committee that selected Kinkead for the lecture.
Vice President of Research Brent Miller said it is fitting for Kinkead to give the Last Lecture.
“She stands out as a professor who mentors undergraduate students especially and creates opportunities for them,” Miller said.
Kinkead’s lecture, “Standing on Boo Radley’s Porch: The Importance of Story,” emphasized the importance of stories in people’s lives. She explained that reading stories help students think critically and enable them to solve complex problems as well as understand the world around them.
“I really want to call this talk “the joy of text,” as I wanted to focus on more than just fictional stories. But I realize now that “text” means something really quite different than what we in the English profession talk about,” Kinkead said. She said the word story would be the better term for her lecture.
“Stories are how people make sense of themselves and their world,” Kinkead said. She related how Scout, in the novel “To Kill a Mockingbird,” was initially afraid of Boo Radley but over time learned that he was not a demon but a guardian angel.
Kinkead guided the audience through her lecture by quizzing them on famous first lines. The quiz included the first lines of great literary works such as “David Copperfield,” “To Kill a Mockingbird,” and “Pride and Prejudice and Zombies.”
“But stories are so much more than just first lines. They bring to mind the richer themes of character and conflict,” Kinkead said.
She said “To Kill A Mockingbird” is much more than its opening line. The story brings the reader into the past where people are convicted of crimes based on the color of their skin. Stories such as “To Kill A Mockingbird” get the reader to think critically about social issues such as civil rights.
Stories also help students think better in general, she said, and there is a need for liberal arts in higher education.
“In our own state we have heard about ‘degrees to nowhere’ and ‘do-nothing degrees.’ My own fear is about ‘know-nothing degrees,'” Kinkead said.
According to Kinkead, the book “Academically Adrift” notes students who study liberal arts gain more in areas such as critical thinking and complex reasoning than students who study other subjects.
Kinkead said listening to her father tell family history stories on her front porch as a child gave her an appreciation for stories. She said stories help us see from other people’s perspectives and “words truly have the power to change our world and our lives.”
Kinkead will be going on sabbatical this fall where she will be visiting Europe and writing.
– chris.w.lee@aggiemail.usu.edu