Faculty Fellowship Lecture

Dé Bryant, professor of psychology and director of the Social Action Project, will present the Lundquist Faculty Fellowship Lecture at 7 p.m. Friday, March 30, in Room 1001, Wiekamp Hall, Indiana University South Bend.

Her topic is "Humanity at the Global Crossroads: Consciousness, Conscience and Choice." She said it is a look at the human spirit and the process of change.

The event is free and open to the public.

Bryant said there are people throughout the world who make things change but they work under the radar. They are dedicated yet unknown. She will speak of the ability to get things done, the passion of change and how to use it fully.

In addition to teaching and research, Bryant is director of the Social Action Project (SOCACT) at IU South Bend. SOCACT is a research project based in South Bend and Benton Harbor, Mich., with an outreach component in Durban, South Africa. The project uses social science research to understand and change real life problems.

SOCACT creates community development projects and the research teams examine problems faced by residents. The researchers study the role of culture in personal and community change. The results suggest that networks, not formal organizations, may be the most effective way to organize within certain types of communities.

Bryant received her bachelor's degree from University of Illinois, her master’s degree from Wilfrid Laurier University, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada; and doctorate from Michigan State University. She joined the IU South Bend faculty in 1990 and became a full professor in 2004.

She has received numerous awards including the Faculty Colloquium on Excellence in Teaching (FACET) award in 1999 and the Thomas Ehrlich Service Award in 1998 for service learning.

Locally she has been active with the South Bend Heritage Foundation, VSA arts of Indiana advisory team, American Association of University Women, South Bend Branch; and the Center for Women's Intercultural Leadership.

Bryant said she wanted to study psychology since she was a child. "I didn’t know what it was called." But she remembers negotiating, talking and listening as a child.

She explained that she grew up in a military family and moved every year. "We were the only black family for miles. I was always the new kid and the shortest kid on the playground. Someone always wanted to fight me. I learned to negotiate, to form coalitions and to develop skills."

The Lundquist Lecture was instituted in 1984 and named after Eldon Lundquist, one of Elkhart's best known natives. He wore many hats – public relations, advertising, hospital development director, sportscaster and legislator. He was a member of the Indiana General Assembly from 1961 to 1976, where he served as the Senate Education Committee chairman for more than a decade.

In 1976, he was appointed assistant to the president of Indiana University with an office at IU South Bend. He served in that role until his death in 1977.

His friends established an endowment in his name to sponsor public lectures. In 1984, the Faculty Fellowship Program was established to support IU South Bend faculty members who demonstrate outstanding accomplishments in teaching, scholarship and research.

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