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David Novack Presents Urquhart Term Professorship Inaugural Lecture

David R. Novack, professor of sociology and department chair at Washington and Lee University, will give the Abigail Grigsby Urquhart ’11 Term Professorship Inaugural Lecture on Thursday, Oct. 18, at 8 p.m. in Northen Auditorium in Leyburn Library.

The title of Novack’s lecture is “Can W&L Women Have it All: Conflicted Selves.” It is free and open to the public.

“Women at W&L typically believe they, as well as men, can have it all: marriage, children and careers,” said Novack. “This lecture draws on survey data collected from W&L students and examines the importance of gender prescriptions and proscriptions in conjunction with the impact of cultural lenses of gender in creating potential internal conflicts. A key element of these conflicts is the role of a cultural lag manifested through traditional cultural messages that stand in opposition to new messages and opportunities.”

Novack joined W&L’s faculty in 1976 having previously taught at New York University, Brooklyn College and Bowdoin College. He has received John M. Glenn Research Grants at W&L and has done research on ethnicity and class in South Boston, Mass.

He has written five publications and a book review in various journals, including the American Journal of Sociology, Human Organization and the Journal of Urban Affairs. He has a book and seven articles forthcoming. Novack has been a manuscript reviewer for the Journal of Urban Affairs since 1987 and Human Organization since 1997.

Novack received his B.A. from the University of Massachusetts and his M.A. and Ph.D. from New York University.

The Abigail Grigsby Urquhart ’11 Term Professorship, established in 2007-2008 by her parents A. William and Mary Urquhart, is a permanently endowed fund at Washington and Lee University providing support for a University faculty member who is judged to be excellent in teaching and in professional contributions. The award recognizes a different professor every three to five years. Novack is the first Urquhart Professor of Sociology.

News Contact:
Julie Cline
News Writer
jcline@wlu.edu
540-458-8954

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