EIU Media Relations

Barry D. Riccio Memorial Lecture Series Sponsors Annual Event

The Barry D. Riccio Memorial Lecture Series at Eastern Illinois University continues its tradition in 2007 with "History, Theory and the Metropolis," a presentation set for Thursday, March 1.

Admission to the presentation, beginning at 7 p.m. in Lumpkin Auditorium, Room 2030, is free and open to the public.

The talk, to be presented by Thomas Bender, University Professor of the Humanities and professor of history, New York University, will explore the dynamic factors -- both human and environmental -- that have shaped the modern city.

Bender is the author of "Toward an Urban Vision, Intellect and the Public Life," as well as numerous other books. He is also a leading expert on the evolution of the modern city and modern America.

EIU's Department of History is sponsoring this event, made possible through the Barry D. Riccio History Fund.

Riccio joined Eastern's history faculty in 1995. The author of "Walter Lippmann: Odyssey of a Liberal (1994)" and numerous articles, he was a devoted student of American ideas, politics and culture. At Eastern, he proved almost immediately himself an outstanding teacher and wonderful colleague.

Following Riccio's death from cancer in 2001 at the age of 46, his friends, family and colleagues established the Barry D. Riccio History Fund in his honor. In conjunction with the EIU Department of History, the fund sponsors a lecture series with an emphasis on the history of ideas. Beginning with the inaugural lecture in 2003, the generosity of fund donors has allowed the department to bring "many of the leading lights of American intellectual history" to Eastern's campus.