The 35th annual Dr. Kenneth R. Holder Memorial Lecture will be presented by Dr. Anne Curzan, the Geneva Smitherman Collegiate Professor of English, Linguistics, and Education at the University of Michigan.
Dr. Curzan’s most recent book is Says Who? A Kinder, Funner Usage Guide for Everyone Who Cares about Words (2024). The title of her talk is “Between You and I: A Linguist’s Look at Language peeves.
Free and open to the public, the Holder Lecture is scheduled for 4 p.m. April 23, in Nebraska Wesleyan University’s Callen Conference Center in the lower level of Smith-Curtis Classroom/Administration building.
Dr. Curzan is an expert on English usage and the history of the English language, including changes in the language people see and hear all around them. She particularly enjoys sharing linguistic insights beyond the academic context, including on the weekly show “That's What They Say” on her local NPR affiliate Michigan Public. Her TED talk “What makes a word ‘real’?” has more than 2 million views on the national TED talk site.
The Holder Lecture honors the life and legacy of Dr. Kenneth R. Holder, who joined the NWU English faculty in 1972 and served as University Provost from 1987 until his death 1991. His area of expertise and his passion as a teacher were in language theory and the teaching of English.
With support from the Holder family, the English Department established the Holder Lecture to bring to campus a scholar in linguistics, rhetoric, composition, or English pedagogy. This year’s lecture is also sponsored by the Wolf Fund for Diversity Education.