News release Public Information Office   SLU 10880   Hammond, LA 70402   phone: 985-549-2341   fax: 985-549-2061 publicinfo@selu.edu Summer  2005 news releases Public Information home News archive Contact: Christina Chapple Date: 10/28/05   Click on image for publication quality photo  JAZZ, AFRICAN-AMERICAN LITERATURE SCHOLAR TO PRESENT HONORS LECTURE AT SOUTHEASTERN        HAMMOND – The Southeastern Louisiana University Honors Program will host a free lecture by Robert O’Meally, eminent scholar of jazz and African-American literature, on Wednesday, Nov. 9.        Scheduled for 7:30 p.m. in the Cate Teacher Education Center Kiva, O’Meally’s lecture, “That Music Demanded Action: Reading Ralph Ellison’s ‘Invisible Man,’” will follow the annual Honors Program awards convocation, beginning at 6 p.m. The lecture and awards ceremony are open to members of the campus and community.        O’Meally will also meet earlier in the afternoon with Southeastern Honors Program students. His lecture is supported by Arts and Lectures Committee and Student Government Association grants to the Honors Program and Honors Club, co-sponsors of the evening’s events, said James Walter, director of the Southeastern Honors Program.        As director of the Center for Jazz Studies at Columbia University in New York City, O’Meally has authored and edited numerous books and articles and has lectured throughout the United States and Europe on the role of jazz in American culture. He has written documentaries on Billie Holiday and Duke Ellington and produced numerous CD’s, including the Grammy-nominated “The Jazz Singers.” He has also presented lectures at the Corcoran Art Gallery and is the author of a Smithsonian exhibition catalogue on jazz painting and literature.          The former director of the Honors Program at Howard University, he is the Zora Neale Hurston Professor of American Literature at Columbia University, where he has received many teaching and research awards.          At the annual Honors Program awards ceremony, also in the Kiva, certificates will be given to 10 students who have met the strenuous requirements for the Sophomore Honors Distinction Award. Additional awards will be given for service and teaching excellence.          Students receiving honors certificates are Shelisa Daniel, Ponchatoula; Haley Echlin, Clinton; Paul Fontenot, Denham Springs; Bridget Hester, Tickfaw; Emily Lambeth, Baton Rouge; Rachel Landry, Prairieville; Kimberly Pikes, Amite; Jeanne Northrop, Folsom; Erin Rode, Loranger, and Monideepa Talukdar, Delhi, India.