A professor of geography at the University of Oregon will give the first Chauncy D. Harris Distinguished Lectureship Thursday, Nov. 20, at 11 a.m. in 250 Spencer W. Kimball Tower on the Brigham Young University campus.
Alexander Murphy, the James F. and Shirley K. Rippey Chair in Liberal Arts and Sciences at the University of Oregon, will give two lectures, both sponsored by the BYU Geography Department.
Thursday's lecture is titled "Coping With a Changing World" and will focus on the current relevance of political geography.
The second lecture will discuss transboundary issues in Europe and will be Friday, Nov. 21, at 9 a.m. in 250 Spencer W. Kimball Tower. The second lecture is co-sponsored by BYU's Center for the Study of Europe.
The lectureship was established by the BYU Geography Department through an endowment from Harris, his wife Edith, their daughter Margaret and her husband Phillip A. Strauss Jr.
The annual lectureship will be given by a distinguished geographer who will spend a few days on campus lecturing, teaching, advising and visiting with students and faculty in the department.
Harris graduated from BYU in 1933 at the age of 19. He was BYU's first Rhodes Scholar and was also valedictorian of his graduating class. He earned a second bachelor's degree in geography from Oxford and a doctorate degree in geography from the University of Chicago.
He has taught at Indiana University, the University of Nebraska, and the University of Chicago. His work on urban geography and the geography of Russia is highly regarded in the academic community.
Harris is the son of Franklin S. Harris, who served as president of BYU from 1921-45.
Murphy was a student of Harris at the University of Chicago and is now serving as president of the Association of American Geographers. He is widely noted for his work on Belgium, European integration, minority group aspirations and the evolving nature of the state.
For more information, contact Chad Emmett in the BYU Geography Department at (801) 422-7886.
Writer: Thomas Grover
