10/2/96 Contact: Ted Bernard or Jonathan Bernard, Ohio University, 614/593-1935
ATHENS, Ohio -- Educators Anne Matthews, Frank Popper and Deborah Epstein Popper will give a free, public lecture/slide presentation titled "The Buffalo Commons and its National Implications" at 7:30 p.m. Sunday (Oct. 6) in 194 Irvine Auditorium. A reception will follow.
The presentation is one element of the speakers' three-day visit to Ohio University's Athens campus as Kennedy Scholars and as part of the First Year Enrichment (FYE) program.
Anne Matthews, a professor of nonfiction writing at Princeton University, was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize for nonfiction for her book Where the Buffalo Roam in 1993. The book deals with the controversy created by an article written by the Poppers in 1987 called "The Great Plains: From Dust to Dust," and their proposal to create a 10-state national reserve for wildlife, especially buffalo, in the American Great Plains. The issue has stimulated national debate over the future of the Great Plains region.
Matthews and the Poppers will meet with FYE sophomore and junior peer mentors on Sunday before the presentation. On Monday (Oct. 7), they will visit classes in environmental studies and journalism, and will meet with Provost Sharon S. Brehm. They also will teach the FYE class from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. Monday in 194 Clippinger Hall. On Tuesday, Oct. 8, Matthews and the Poppers will visit classes before leaving Athens at 2 p.m.
Matthews received degrees from the University of Wisconsin in Madison and Princeton. She frequently covers cultural history for The New York Times Magazine and other national publications.
Frank Popper teaches in the Urban Studies Department at Rutgers University, where he also participates in the Urban Planning, Geography, and American Studies departments. Popper has served on the governing boards of the American Land Forum and the American Planning Association. He now serves on the boards of the Citizens Council on Land Use Research and Education, Ecocity Builders and Urban Ecology. Since the 1970s, he has been a consultant to numerous government agencies, corporations, nonprofit groups and film companies.
Deborah Popper teaches geography at the College of Staten Island/City University of New York. She received a bachelor's degree in history from Bryn Mawr College, a master's degree in library science from Rosary College and a master's and a doctorate in geography from Rutgers University. Her doctoral dissertation explored why some Great Plains counties have maintained stable populations while others have declined. With her husband, Frank, she has written articles on the Great Plains and the West for several publications, including The Boston Globe, The Washington Post, Amicus Journal and Earth Island Journal.
The First Year Enrichment Program is a summer reading program that extends into the freshman year, creating learning communities, fostering friendships and enhancing academic success. The program also is undergoing expansion into a project on leadership development, environmental literacy and service-learning that will track students throughout college. Approximately 200 FYE participants read Where the Buffalo Roam during the summer.
The visit is sponsored by University College, the First Year Enrichment Program (under an 1804 Grant), the Kennedy Lecture Committee, the Department of Geography and the Environmental Studies Program.
Editors and news directors: Anne Matthews, Frank Popper and Deborah Popper will be available for interviews on Sunday and Monday. Contact Ted Bernard or Jonathan Bernard at University College, 614/593-1935, to arrange interviews. Media coverage of their lecture, class visits, and teaching sessions is welcome.