Feb 05, 2013

COLUMBIA STATE WELCOMES GUEST LECTURER MTSU PROFESSOR LAVERY

Postmodern Myth Television

(COLUMBIA, Tenn. - Feb. 10, 2012) - - - What do Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Lost have in common? Professor David Lavery of Middle Tennessee State University's English department will untangle the allure of the new fantasy television programming in a pre-Valentine's Day presentation at 6 p.m. on Monday, Feb. 13 in Room 120 of the Waymon L. Hickman building on the Columbia campus. The lecture is free and open to the public.

Lavery, an expert in pop culture television programming trends, will take a look at the wide mixture of genres that appear in our daily dose of top TV hits, including the small screen programs Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Doctor Who, Supernatural and Lost.
"A generation ago, television programs tackled one genre at a time," Lavery said. "If you were watching a western like Gunsmoke, you could expect to see a show that just focused on the old west. Shows carefully targeted a single audience that liked the west or that wanted a family show, like The Brady Bunch.
Lavery explains that today's programs travel from magic to science fiction to myth to romance. Postmodern myth television shows play with time and incorporate real science, and they are changing our perception about what is fantastic and mythic, as well as challenge our expectations about what a good story should include.
The lecture was arranged by the Lyceum Committee, in conjunction with the Humanities and Social Sciences lecture series. For more information about the Lyceum Committee, visit www.columbiastate.edu/lyceum.
Columbia State is a two-year college, serving a nine-county area in southern Middle Tennessee with locations in Columbia, Franklin, Lawrenceburg, Lewisburg and Clifton. As Tennessee's first community college, Columbia State is committed to increasing access and enhancing diversity at all five campuses. Columbia State is a member of the Tennessee Board of Regents, the sixth largest higher education system in the nation. For more information, please visit www.columbiastate.edu.
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