USU Honors Last Lecture Presented by Jennifer Peeples on September 25

The Utah State University Honors Program presents the 44th Annual Last Lecture, “Picture Your Poison: An Environmental Story,” featuring Jennifer Peeples of the Department of Languages, Philosophy and Communication Studies. The event is in the Russell/Wanlass Performance Hall on USU’s Logan campus from 3:30-4:30 p.m., Wednesday, September 25.  

The lecture explores Peeples’s research on environmental rhetoric, analyzing in particular discussions about energy extraction and the visual representations of toxicity. Her latest book, Under Pressure: Coal Industry Rhetoric and Neoliberalism, earned Peeples and her co-editor a 2016 Environmental Communication Division Book of the Year Award. Peeples is the co-author of three books and has published numerous journal articles and book chapters. 

“As a student-run, student-driven celebration of outstanding teaching, the Honors Last Lecture is one of our signature events,” said Kristine Miller, director of USU Honors and professor of English. “Professor Peeples will challenge her audience to think deeply about how storytelling and media images shape public understanding of environmental toxins. In both her teaching and research, she embodies the curiosity and passion that define an Honors education at USU.”

Initiated in 1976, the annual USU Honors Program event showcases one Honors Outstanding Professor each year. Honors students nominate tenured faculty who have made an impact on them through teaching and mentorship. An Honors student-only committee then selects one truly exceptional professor to inspire students, faculty and community members with a talk imagined as that teacher’s “last lecture” at USU. 

The lecture is free and open to the public, with a reception to follow.