TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – Where do the Mother Teresas and Nelson Mandelas of the world come from, and how can we promote more leaders like them? That will be the focus of the 2004 James P. Curtis Distinguished Lecture, to be presented by Dr. Joseph Renzulli, director of the National Research Center on the Gifted and Talented, on Monday, April 5 at 7 p.m. in the Rast Room of the Bryant Conference Center on The University of Alabama campus.

Renzulli’s lecture, “Expanding the Conception of Giftedness To Include Co-Cognitive Traits and To Promote Social Capital” will look at what causes some people to mobilize their interpersonal, political, environmental, ethical, and moral realms of being in such ways that they place human concerns and the common good above material gain, ego enhancement, and self-indulgence.

Renzulli, also a professor of educational psychology at the University of Connecticut, focuses his research on the identification and development of creativity and giftedness in young people, and on organizational models and curricular strategies for differentiated learning environments and total school improvement. His most recent books include the second edition of “The Schoolwide Enrichment Model,” “The Multiple Menu Model for Developing Differentiated Curriculum,” and “Enriching Curriculum for All Students.”

He was a consultant to the White House Task Force on Education of the Gifted and Talented, is a Fellow of the American Psychological Association, a former president of the Association for the Gifted, and he has served on the editorial boards of Learning Magazine, the Journal of Law and Education, and Exceptionality.

This presentation is sponsored by the College of Education, in conjunction with its alumni association, the Capstone College of Education Society. Admission is free, and the general public is invited to attend.

For more information, contact at Rebecca M. Ballard, Capstone College of Education Society director, at 205/348-7936.