Bob Barcelona, associate professor and chair of the Department of Recreation Management Policy at the University of New Hampshire, will join the Department of Health, Exercise Science and Recreation Management (HESRM) at the University of Mississippi on Thursday, October 24 at 7 p.m. in Garland Annex 102 to share his lecture titled, “The Case for Public Space: Parks, Recreation and the Common Good.”

Ole Miss students, faculty, staff and the Oxford community are invited to learn more about Barcelona’s research related to parks and recreation management, with a focus on increasing access and reducing barriers to participation in active recreation, and investigating the individual and community benefits of recreation participation.

Barcelona's research is widely cited and often serves as the baseline for improving the park, recreation, tourism and sport industries.  His presentations are interdisciplinary in focus and inspiring for professionals working with and within communities at all levels.

Barcelona was recently selected as a Fellow in the American Academy for Park and Recreation Administration (AAPRA), an organization of distinguished practitioners and scholars committed to the advancement of the park and recreation field. Membership in the Academy is limited to just 125 active fellows.

Barcelona’s research is the centerpiece of the annual Kevser Ermin Memorial Lecture held each year in memory of Ermin, who was an avid racer and doctoral student in HESRM at Ole Miss at the time of her death in 2011.

For more information about the Kevser Ermin Memorial Lecture Series, contact Kim Beason at (662) 915-5555 or email hpbeason@olemiss.edu.