Invitations to the annual Holiday Open House for academic and professional faculty and the Awards Luncheon for classified staff, including Research Foundation grants recipients and University Police, will be sent via e-mail in the coming weeks. The Open House, hosted by President Steven Poskanzer and his wife, Jane, will be held at their home from 2 to 4 p.m. and 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 12. The 24th Annual Awards Luncheon, sponsored by Sodexo, will take place at noon on Friday, Dec. 11, in the Athletic and Wellness Center.

Marya Hornbacher, the Pulitzer Prize-nominated author of “Wasted: A Memoir of Anorexia and Bulimia” and “Madness: A Bipolar Life,” will speak to the campus community on Wednesday, Nov. 4, at 7:30 p.m. in Lecture Center, room 100.

The author and mental health advocate will discuss how culture – through media messages and social norms – frame the public’s understanding of eating disorders. Hornbacher will share her own experiences at the event, which is presented by the campus’s Psychological Counseling Center.

The event is free and open to the public. Admission tickets are available at the information desk located on the second floor of the Student Union. For more information, call x2920.

Hornbacher will also host a student writing workshop on Thursday, Nov. 5, from 9:30 to 11 a.m. in the Jacobson Faculty Tower, room 1010. Students interested in participating should contact the English Department at x2727.

The 22nd annual H. P. Lovecraft Forum will take place on Thursday, Nov. 5, at 7:30 p.m. in Jacobson Faculty Tower, room 1010.

Participants include Robert Waugh (English), John Langan (English), Jed Mayers (English) and Judith Johnson, professor emeritus of the University at Albany.

The event is free and open to the public. Any questions should be addressed to Robert Waugh (English) at x2754.

William Tucker, a psychology professor from Rutgers University – Camden in New Jersey and award-winning author, will present a lecture at 5 p.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 28, in the Coykendall Science Building Auditorium.

In his lecture, “Measuring Intelligence or Measuring Persons: The Politics of Assessment,” Tucker will discuss racial and eugenic controversies in research on intelligence testing.

The event is sponsored by the Provost’s Office and the Psychology, Black Studies and Sociology departments. For more information, contact Carol Vázquez (Psychology) at x3469 or vazquezc@newpaltz.edu.

The Women’s Studies Program has announced a series of events for its Fall 2009 Colloquium Series.

Anne Roschelle (Sociology) will present “Homeless Under the Golden Gate: Marriage and Mothering Among Christians” from 4:30 to 6 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 20, in Jacobson Faculty Tower, room 1010.

Salavatore Engel-Di Mauro (Geography) will give a lecture titled “Gendered Environmental Practices and Soil Quality” from 3:30 to 5 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 29, in the Honors Center.

Edith Kuiper (Economics, Women’s Studies) will deliver a lecture called “A History of Women’s Economic Writing” from 3:30 to 5 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 19, in the Honors Center.

The events are free and open to the public. For more information, call x2975.