Celebrated American Filmmaker Ken Burns to Present the 2018 Beall-Russell Lecture

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by Gabrielle White, student newswriter
WACO, Texas (Sept. 26, 2018) – The Waco and Baylor communities will have the opportunity to hear from Academy Award nominee and celebrated American filmmaker Ken Burns during this year’s Beall-Russell Lecture at 3:30 p.m. Monday, Oct. 1, in Waco Hall, 624 Speight Ave. Burns will speak on "Sharing the American Experience."

Tickets to Burns’ lecture are free, but less than 300 remain. Tickets are available at the Bill Daniel Student Center ticket office, and on the day of the event at Waco Hall, if there are still tickets available.

“A prolific filmmaker, Mr. Burns has introduced audiences to many aspects of the human experience, ranging from sports to literature to politics to war,” said Kimberly Kellison, Ph.D., co-chair of Beall-Russell Lectures in the Humanities and associate dean for humanities and social sciences in the Baylor University College of Arts and Sciences.

Burns is a cinematographer and documentary filmmaker. His feature documentary “Brooklyn Bridge” earned his first Academy Award nomination for Best Documentary in 1982, followed by an Academy Award nomination for “The Statue of Liberty” in 1986, two Grammy Awards for the soundtrack of “Civil War” in 1992, an Emmy Award for Outstanding Informational Series for “Baseball” in 1995, and an Emmy Award for Outstanding Non-fiction series for “The National Parks: America’s Best Idea” in 2010.

“He [Burns] joins a distinguished and illustrious group of scholars who have contributed to the Beall-Russell Lecture Series,” Kellison said. “Each speaker brings a different element to the table, but Burns is best distinguished by the myriad number of films that he has created, all of which contribute significantly and substantially to our understanding of the humanities.”

The Beall-Russell Lectures in the Humanities was established in 1982 by Virginia B. Ball of Muncie, Indiana, to provide an opportunity for Baylor students and faculty to meet and hear lecturers renowned in the humanities.

“The purpose of the Beall-Russell Lecture Series is to provide an opportunity for Baylor students, faculty, staff and the larger Waco community to hear and meet leading intellectuals who have made profound and thoughtful contributions to the study of the humanities,” Kellison said.

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Baylor University is a private Christian University and a nationally ranked research institution. The University provides a vibrant campus community for more than 17,000 students by blending interdisciplinary research with an international reputation for educational excellence and a faculty commitment to teaching and scholarship. Chartered in 1845 by the Republic of Texas through the efforts of Baptist pioneers, Baylor is the oldest continually operating University in Texas. Located in Waco, Baylor welcomes students from all 50 states and more than 80 countries to study a broad range of degrees among its 12 nationally recognized academic divisions.