Lunchbox lectures feature UGA faculty and are held in Moore College. Attendance is limited to the first 25 students who RSVP through the Honors Network. Lunch is provided by the Honors Program through support from the Honors Program Annual Fund.

The Honors Program hosts faculty-led book discussions throughout the year. Discussions are held over dinner, usually in professors' homes or at Moore College, and all books are provided by the Honors Program through support from the Honors Program Annual Fund.

• Lunchbox Lectures 2014-2019
• Book Discussions 2014-2019

lunchbox lectures (spring 2019)

Reconstructing Landmarks: The Moral Dimension of Two Historic Sites with Dr. Wayde Brown, Associate Professor of Environment and Design

The Economics of Happiness with Dr. Susana Ferreira, Associate Professor of Agricultural and Applied Economics

Health Care Reform in the U.S.: What's Next? with Dr. Brenda Cude, Georgia Athletic Association Professor in Family and Consumer Sciences

Archaeology and the Science of Roman History in the 21st Century with Dr. Jordan Pickett, Assistant Professor of Classics

Ouvi Dizer [Heard Said]: Gossip and Rumor about Sex and Race in Early Twentieth-Century Brazil with Dr. Cassia Roth, Assistant Professor of History and Latin and Caribbean Studies

Why Is Global Politics So Angry? And What Should ‘We’ Do About It? with Dr. Celeste Condit, Distinguished Research Professor of Communications

Measuring Rights & Wrongs: The Importance of Data for Defending Human Rights with Dr. K. Chad Clay, Associate Professor of International Affairs

Staging Creolization: Women's Theater and Performance from the French Caribbean with Dr. Emily Sahakian, Associate Professor of French and Theatre

Activism Through Attire: Learning and Enacting Punk Through Clothing Merchandising with Dr. Monica Sklar, Assistant Professor of Fashion History and Merchandising

College Enrollment Patterns and the Gender Gapwith Dr. Chris Cornwell, Professor and Chair of Economics

Why Don’t People Believe Scientists? With Dr. Mark A. Farmer, Professor of Cellular Biology

lunchbox lectures (fall 2018)

Denied Justice: Why Survivors of Child Sexual Abuse are Barred Access to the Court System with Emma Hetherington, Professor of Law

Fifty Shades of Gray between Bias and Outright Fraud in Science with Dr. Mark Haidekker, Professor of Engineering

Evaluating Midterm Elections: What to Expect in 2018 with Dr. Jamie Carson, Professor of Political Science

Health Consequences of Labor Trafficking: Survivor Experiences in West Africa with Dr. Jody Clay-Warner, Professor of Sociology

The United States Supreme Court with Dan Coenen, Professor and Harmon W. Caldwell Chair in Constitutional Law

The Costs and Benefits of Cash with Dr. William Lastrapes, Professor of Economics and Bernard B. and Eugenia A. Chair of Private Enterprise

My Short Life as (the Face of) a Russian Disinformation Troll with Tim Samples, Assistant Professor of Legal Studies

The Uncertainties of Racism, Classicism, and Misogyny: How ‘What If’ Worlds Can Help Us Find Our Way with Dr. Stephanie Jones, Professor of Educational Theory and Practice

How a Grain-trading Millionaire Helped Start the Russian Revolution with Dr. Scott Nelson, Professor of History and Athletic Association Professor in the Humanities

Emerging Infectious Diseases in a Changing World with Dr. John Drake, Professor of Ecology

lunchbox lectures (spring 2018)

Sanctuaries in an Era of Mass Immigration Enforcement with Jason Cade, Associate Professor of Law

Exploring Early Black Print Culture: The Transatlantic Activists Ellen Craft and Rev. Peter Thomas Stanford with Dr. Barbara McCaskill, Professor of English

Mass Tort Deals: Backroom Bargaining in Multidistrict Litigation with Elizabeth Burch, Professor of Law

Thinking Outside of the Box: Finding the Fraud Needle in the Haystack with Dr. Tina Carpenter, Associate Professor of Accounting

Is Top 10 Better than Top 10%? How Different Ranking Formats Influence Preference with Dr. Julio Sevilla, Associate Professor of Marketing

How Do Natural Plant and Animal Communities Cope with Climate Change? with Dr. Jill T. Anderson, Associate Professor of Genetics

The Syrian Civil War: The Fight for Syria and the Future of the Syrian People with Dr. Leah Carmichael, Department of International Affairs

Zombies, Sports, and Cola: Implications for Communicating Weather and Climate in the 21st Century with Dr. Marshall Shepherd, Professor of Geography

How Organizational Culture Plays a Role in Small Business Innovation Even in the Absence of Entrepreneurial Orientation with Dr. Don Chambers, Associate Director of Entrepreneurship

The Nuts and Bolts of Modernity with Dr. Stephen Mihm, Associate Professor of History

Energy Harvesting: The Thermoelectric Niche with Dr. John Mativo, Associate Professor of Workforce Education

The Changing Face of Higher Education with Provost Pamela Whitten

lunchbox lectures (fall 2017)

Alfred Hitchcock: Master of Suspense as Master Art Historian with Dr. Janice Simon, Associate Professor of Art History

Oh, What an UnTangled Web We Weave: The Abnormal Structure of Illegal Digital Markets with Dr. John Hulland, Professor of Marketing

Why Plant-microbial Symbioses Matter in Our Changing World with Dr. Nina Wurzburger, Associate Professor of Ecology

The First Movies: How the Lumière Bros. Invented Cinema with Dr. Richard Neupert, Professor of Art

It's a Wormy World—One Person's Journey Down a Wormy Path from Basic Science into Global Health with Dr. Dan Colley, Professor of Microbiology and Cellular Biology

The Urge to Abstraction in Art and Dance: Toulouse-Lautrec’s Miss Loïe Fuller, 1893 with Dr. Nell Andrew, Associate Professor of Modern Art

Measuring Muscle Mitochondria and Endurance in Clinical Populations with Dr. Kevin McCully, Professor of Kinesiology

The Plastic Safety Net: Consumer Borrowing and Public Assistance with Dr. Mary Caplan, Assistant Professor of Social Work

Experiences as Science Advisor and Principal Cast Member of Chasing Coral with Dr. James Porter, Professor of Ecology and Marine Science

Animal Movement, Behavior and Habitat: Geospatial Analysis of Elephant-Human Conflict with Dr. Marguerite Madden, Professor of Geography

lunchbox lectures (spring 2017)

What Makes the Blood Clot? with Dr. Rodney Averett, Assistant Professor of Engineering

Critical take(s) on Systemic Functional Linguistics: Bilingual and Bidialectal Students and Social Equity with Dr. Ruth Harman, Associate Professor of Language and Literacy Education

Two Examples of Weird Evolution: Sterile Workers and Selfish Sex Chromosomes with Dr. Dave Hall, Associate Professor of Genetics

Application of Engineering Theories in Veterinary Medicine with Dr. Tim Foutz, Professor of Engineering

The Cultural Significance of Trees in Georgia with Dr. Timothy Smalley, Associate Professor of Horticulture

Palmetto Postmortem: Examining the Effects of the South Carolina Voter Identification Statute with Dr. Trey Hood, Professor of Political Science

Demonized No More: The Spiritual Journeys and Spaces of Black Gay and Bisexual Men with Dr. Darris Means, Assistant Professor of Counseling and Human Development Services

Investors Make Predictable Mistakes: How Financial Data Predicts Future Stock Returns with Dr. John Campbell, Associate Professor of Accounting

Istock's Paradox and the Conservation of Georgia's Rarest Frog with Dr. John Maerz, Professor of Vertebrate Ecology

Climate Change and the Origins of Agriculture with Dr. Suzanne Birch, Assistant Professor of Anthropology and Geography

Propaganda 2.0: Fake News and How to Deal with It with Dr. Audrey Haynes, Associate Professor of Political Science

Why Did Punks Hate Hippies? with Dr. Montgomery Wolf, Senior Lecturer of History

Dismantling Institutional Racism: The Path to Positive Interracial Communication with Dr. Tina Harris, Professor of Communication Studies

lunchbox lectures (fall 2016)

How the Brain Folds and Creases with Dr. Xianquao Wang, Assistant Professor of Engineering

The Governance of Olympic Legacy: From General Benefits to Long-Term Sustainability with Dr. Becca Loepkey, Assistant Professor of Kinesiology

Advertisers Using Branded Content to Connect with Consumers with Dr. Karen King, Professor of New Media and Advertising

Capitalism and the Election with Dr. Jeff Netter, Professor of Finance

Three Civil War Heroes You've Never Heard Of with Dr. Dan Rood, Assistant Professor of History

Prisoners as Historians of Pain with Dr. Steven Soper, Assistant Professor of History

Metacognition: How Students Self-regulate to Learn Biology with Dr. Julie Dangremond Stanton, Assistant Professor of Cellular Biology

Stumbling into Disease Ecology and Evolution in Seastars with Dr. John P. Wares, Associate Professor of Genetics and Ecology

lunchbox lectures (spring 2016)

Belfast, the Troubles and the Necessity of Art with Dr. Nicholas Allen, Director of the Willson Center and Franklin Professor of English

Cultural Landscapes with Prof. Cari Goetcheus, Associate Professor in the College of Environment and Design

Bombs Away: Legal and Ethical Issues Concerning Chemical and Conventional Weapons-Testing on Vieques, Puerto Rico with Dr. James Porter, Professor of Ecology and Marine Sciences

Looking at the Civil War Through Literature with Dr. Cody Marrs, Assistant Professor of English

Water Stewardship: Good for Business, Good for Citizens with Dr. Maric Boudreau, Associate Professor of Management Information Systems

lunchbox lectures (fall 2015)

Francis, the Argentine Pope: Between Liberation Theology and Climate Change with Dr. Oscar Chamosa, Associate Professor of History

Castles in the Air: The Weather and Policy Contexts of Bounce House Accidents with Dr. John Knox, Associate Professor of Geography

Super PACs, Big Money, and the New Electoral Landscape with Dr. William Lee, Professor of Journalism

Insects - Their Impacts on Our Planet and Human Culture with Dr. Michael Strand, Professor of Entomology

The Real Energy Crises with Dr. John Schramski, Associate Professor of Engineering

Re-examining the Democratic Peace with Dr. Andy Owsiak, Assistant Professor of International Affairs

Water in the Time of Cholera with Dr. Erin Lipp, Professor of Environmental Health Science

Light at the End of the Tunnel: MSC Therapy for Childhood Bone Disease with Dr. Luke Mortensen, Assistant Professor of Regenerative Medicine and Engineering

Rebel Poetry: Artistic Dissidence and the Making of Modern Iraq with Dr. Kevin Jones, Assistant Professor of History

book discussions (spring 2019)

The Perfect Weapon; War, Sabotage, and Fear in the Cyber Age (David Sanger)
Discussion Leader: Dr. Andy Owsiak, Associate Professor of International Affairs

The Fifth Risk (Michael Lewis)
Discussion Leader: Dr. Michael Lynch, Associate Professor of Political Science

Dopesick: Dealers, Doctors, and the Drug Company that Addicted America (Beth Macy)
Discussion Leader: Dr. Maria Len-Ríos, Associate Dean for Academic Affairs and Professor of Public Relations

Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind (Yuval Noah Hariri)
Discussion Leader: Dr. David Williams, Associate Provost and Director of the Honors Program

Beyond the Kale: Urban Agriculture and Social Justice Activism in New York City (Nevin Cohen and Kristin Reynolds)
Discussion Leader: Dr. Jerry Shannon, Assistant Professor of Financial Planning, Housing, and Consumer Economics

Desert Solitaire (Edward Abbey)
Discussion Leader: Dr. Bynum Boley, Assistant Professor of Parks, Recreation, and Tourism Management

Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup (John Carreyrou)
Discussion Leader: Dr. Marisa Pagnattaro, Associate Dean for Research and Graduate Programs, and Professor of Business Ethics

Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis (J.D. Vance)

Discussion Leader: Dr. Andy Carswell, Associate Professor of Financial Planning, Housing & Consumer Economics

book discussions (fall 2018)

Law School Confidential: A Complete Guide to the Law School Experience by Students, for Students (Robert H. Miller)
Discussion Leader: Alex Reed, Associate Professor of Legal Studies

Rigor Mortis: How Sloppy Science Creates Worthless Cures, Crushes Hope, and Wastes Billions (Richard Harris)
Discussion Leader: Dr. Sylvia Hutchinson, Professor Emerita of Reading Education and Higher Education

When They Call You a Terrorist: A Black Lives Matter Memoir (Asha Bandele and Patrisse Khan-Cullors)
Discussion Leader: Dr. Dawn Bennett-Alexander, Associate Professor of Legal Studies

North Toward Home (Willie Morris)
Discussion Leader: Dr. Meg Amstutz, Associate Provost for Academic Programs

Opened Ground Selected Poems, 1966-1996 (Seamus Haeney)
Discussion Leader: Dr. Nicholas Allen, Director of Willson Center for Humanities and Arts

Technically Wrong (Sara Wachter-Boettcher)
Discussion Leader: Dr. Anne Gilbert, Assistant Professor of Entertainment & Media Studies

Lincoln’s Greatest Speech: The Second Inaugural (Ronald C. White, Jr.)
Discussion Leader: Dr. David Williams, Associate Provost and Director of Honors Program

Crónica de Una Muerta Anunciada (Gabriel García Márquez)
Discussion Leader: Dr. Maria Navarro, Associate Director of Honors Program & CURO

The Internationalists: How a Radical Plan to Outlaw War Remade the World (Oona A. Hathaway and Scott J. Shapiro)
Discussion Leader: Dr. Andy Owsiak, Associate Professor of International Affairs

Catch-22 (Joseph Heller)
Discussion Leader: Dr. Trey Hood, Professor of Political Science

book discussions (spring 2018)

Code of the Street: Decency, Violence and the Moral Life of the Inner City by Elijah Anderson
Discussion Leader: Dr. Amanda Abraham, Assistant Professor of Public Administration and Policy

The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness by Michelle Alexander
Discussion Leader: Dr. Rodney Averett, Assistant Professor of Engineering

The Death of Expertise by Tom Nichols
Discussion Leader: Dr. Andy Owsiak, Associate Professor of International Affairs

Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City by Matthew Desmond
Discussion Leader: Dr. Kimberly Skobba, Associate Professor of Financial Planning, Housing and Consumer Economics

Lincoln’s Greatest Speech: The Second Inaugural by Ronald C. White Jr.
Discussion Leader: Dr. David Williams, Associate Provost and Director of the Honors Program

Janesville: An American Story by Amy Goldstein
Discussion Leader: Dr. William Finlay, Professor of Sociology

The Nazi Doctors: Medical Killing and the Psychology of Genocide by Robert Jay Lifton
Discussion Leader: Dr. Edward Delgado-Romero, Professor of Counseling and Human Development Services

A Mercy by Toni Morrison
Discussion Leader: Dr. Carolyn Medine, Professor of Religion

Water 4.0: The Past, Present, and Future of the World’s Most Vital Resource by David Sedlak
Discussion Leader: Dr. Amy Rosemond, Professor of Ecology

book discussions (fall 2017)

The Morning They Came for Us: Dispatches from Syria (Janine di Giovanni)
Discussion Leader: Dr. Andy Owsiak, Associate Professor of International Affairs

Tell Me How It Ends: An Essay in Forty Questions (Valeria Luiselli)
Discussion Leader: Dr. Diana Graizbord, Assistant Professor of Sociology and Latin American Studies

The Door (Magda Szabo)
Discussion Leader: Dr. Naomi Norman, Associate Vice President for Instruction and Professor of Classics

Beren and Lúthien (J.R.R. Tolkien)
Discussion Leader: Dr. Jonathan Evans, Professor of English

The Dark Forest (Cixin Liu)
Discussion Leader: Dr. Bill Kretzschmar, Willson Professor of Humanities

This Is Why We Can’t Have Nice Things: Mapping the Relationship Between Online Trolling and Mainstream Culture (Whitney Phillips)
Discussion Leader: Dr. Shira Chess, Assistant Professor of Entertainment & Media Studies

The Passion of the Western Mind: Understanding the Ideas that Have Shaped Our World View (Richard Tarnas)
Discussion Leader: Dr. David Williams, Associate Provost and Director of the Honors Program

Lincoln in the Bardo (George Saunders)
Discussion Leader: Jessica Hunt, Assistant Director of Honors and Major Scholarships Coordinator

book discussions (spring 2017)

The Book of Joy (Dalai Lama, Desmond Tutu, and Douglas Abrams)
Discussion Leader: Dr. Nanette Spina, Assistant Professor of Religion

The Guy’s Guide to Feminism (Michael Kaufman and Michael Kimmel)
Discussion Leader: Dr. Maria Bermudez, Associate Professor of Marriage and Family Therapy and Human Development and Family Science

Missoula: Rape and the Justice System in a College Town (Jon Krakauer)
Discussion Leader: Dr. Katie Hein, Assistant Professor of Health Promotion and Behavior

Populism: A Very Short Introduction (Cas Mudde and Cristobal Rovira Kaltwasser)
Discussion Leader: Dr. Cas Mudde, Associate Professor of International Affairs

The Antidote: Happiness for People Who Can’t Stand Positive Thinking (Oliver Burkeman)
Discussion Leader: Dr. Jodi Barnes, Institute for Leadership Advancement

Between the World and Me (Ta-Nehisi Coates)
Discussion Leader: Dr. Michelle Cook, Associate Provost and Chief Diversity Officer

Reporting Disasters: Famine, Aid, Politics and the Media (Suzanne Franks)
Discussion Leader: Dr. Laura Zimmerman, Assistant Professor of Economics

The Log from the Sea of Cortez (John Steinbeck)
Discussion Leader: Dr. John Wares, Associate Professor of Genetics and Ecology

A Testament of Hope (Martin Luther King, Jr.)
Discussion Leader: Dr. David Williams, Associate Provost and Director of the Honors Program

The Three Body Problem (Cixin Liu)
Discussion Leader: Dr. Bill Kretzschmar, Willson Professor in Humanities

book discussions (fall 2016)

The Rise and Fall of Nations: Forces of Change in the Post-Crisis World (Ruchir Sharma)
Discussion Leader: Dr. Tim Samples, Assistant Professor of Legal Studies

The Victory Lab: The Secret Science of Winning Campaigns (Sasha Issenberg)
Discussion Leader: Dr. Michael Lynch, Associate Professor of Political Science

Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance (Angela Duckworth)
Discussion Leader: Dr. Andrew Carswell, Associate Professor of Financial Planning, Housing, and Consumer Economics

This Changes Everything: Capitalism vs the Climate (Naomi Klein)
Discussion Leader: Dr. Quint Newcomer, Department of Ecology

The Children of Húrin (J.R.R. Tolkien)
Discussion Leader: Dr. Jonathan Evans, Associate Professor of English and Director of the Medieval Studies Program

The Golden Ass by Apuleius (translated by Sarah Ruden)
Discussion Leader: Dr. Peter O’Connell, Assistant Professor of Classics and Communication Studies

Excerpts from Dr. Sara Kutchesfahani’s forthcoming textbook on the global nuclear order
Discussion Leader: Dr. Sara Kutchesfahani, Executive Director of the Center for International Trade and Security and Director of the Master of International Policy Program

A Sacred Union of Citizens: Georgia Washington’s Farewell Address and the American Character (Matthew Spalding)
Discussion Leader: Dr. David Williams, Associate Provost and Director of the Honors Program

When Breath Becomes Air (Paul Kalanithi)
Discussion Leader: Dr. Sylvia Hutchinson, Director of Academic Partnerships and Initiatives and Professor Emerita of Higher Education and Reading Education

book discussions (spring 2016)

Righteous Transgressions: Women’s Activism on the Israeli and Palestinian Religious Right (Lihi Ben Shitrit)
Discussion Leader: Dr. Lihi Ben Shitrit, Assistant Professor of International Affairs

Working: People Talk About What They Do All Day and How They Feel About What They Do (Studs Terkel)
Discussion Leader: Dr. Meg Amstutz, Associate Provost for Academic Programs

Dubliners (James Joyce)
Discussion Leader: Dr. David Williams, Associate Provost and Director of the Honors Program

Between the World and Me (Ta-Nehisi Coates)
Discussion Leader: Dr. Marisa Pagnattaro, Professor of Legal Studies

Why Evolution is True (Jerry Coyne)
Discussion Leader: Dr. Rhett Jackson, Professor of Hydrology

Dreamland: The True Tale of America’s Opiate Epidemic (Sam Quinones)
Discussion Leader: Dr. John Maurer, Professor of Avian Medicine

Moonwalking with Einstein (Joshua Foer)
Discussion Leader: Dr. Jamie Kreiner, Assistant Professor of History

Los Angeles: The Architecture of Four Ecologies (Reyner Banham)
Discussion Leader: Dr. Stephen Ramos, Assistant Professor of Environment and Design

book discussions (fall 2015)

Ready Player One (Ernest Cline)
Dr. Christopher Pizzino, Assistant Professor of English

A Visit from the Goon Squad (Jennifer Egan)
Discussion Leader: Jessica Hunt, Assistant Director of the Honors Program

All the Light We Cannot See (Anthony Doerr)
Discussion Leader: Dr. Meg Amstutz, Associate Provost for Academic Programs

Brain Rules: 12 Principals for Surviving and Thriving at Work, Home, and School (John Medina)
Discussion Leader: Dr. David Williams, Associate Provost and Director of the Honors Program

Murder in Amsterdam: Liberal Europe, Islam, and the Limits of Islam (Ian Buruma)
Discussion Leader: Dr. Cass Mudde, Associate Professor of International Affairs

Still Alice (Lisa Genova)
Discussion Leader: Dr. Tiffany Washington, Assistant Professor of Social Work

Life Animated (Ron Suskind)
Discussion Leader: Dr. Peter Smagorinsky, Professor of English Education

Go Set a Watchman (Harper Lee)
Discussion Leader: Dr. Hugh Ruppersburg, Senior Associate Dean of Franklin College of Arts and Sciences and University Professor of English

Ragtime (E.L. Doctorow)
Discussion Leader: Dr. John Inscoe, University Professor of History