Centenary sets three events with acclaimed journalist, alumna Elaine McArdle
SHREVEPORT, LA — Award-winning journalist Elaine McArdle ’79 returns to her alma mater for three events during Centenary’s 2018 Homecoming week, all connected to her recent book co-written with Barbara Lipska, The Neuroscientist Who Lost Her Mind: My Tale of Madness and Recovery.
On November 6, McArdle will participate in a lunchtime discussion on mental health geared toward students and give an evening reading from her book at the Meadows Museum. The next day, she will join a panel of Centenary alumni to explore the experience of “living a meaningful life,” echoing a guiding theme for the College during the 2018-2019 academic year. A full Homecoming week schedule for Friday, November 2 through Sunday, November 11, including times and locations for the McArdle events, is available at centenary.edu/homecoming.
McArdle graduated from Centenary in 1979 and earned a law degree from Vanderbilt University Law School before following her passion for writing and building an impressive career in journalism. She has written for the Boston Globe and Boston Globe Magazine, Harvard Law Bulletin, Harvard Ed. Magazine, Northeastern Law Magazine, and many other outlets. She is currently a senior editor at UU World magazine. The Neuroscientist Who Lost Her Mind (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2018) has been honored as a Publisher’s Weekly Top 10 Biography and Memoir and an Amazon.com “Best Book of the Month” selection. McArdle is also co-author of The Migraine Brain (Free Press, 2008).
The Neuroscientist Who Lost Her Mind traces the poignant journey of Dr. Barbara Lipska, a researcher in the neuroscience of mental illness and brain development at the National Institute of Mental Health. In spring 2015, Lipska suddenly developed symptoms of dementia and schizophrenia – similar to the conditions she studies in others – but discovered that her behaviors were related to nearly 20 cancerous tumors growing in her brain.
During the 6:00 p.m. event at the Meadows Museum on Tuesday, November 6, McArdle will read from the book and participate in a discussion with representatives from the Alzheimer’s Agency of Shreveport-Bossier and the Center for Brain Health. She will also sign books available for purchase. This event is generously underwritten by the Attaway Professorships in Civic Culture Program.
For more information about the McArdle events and the entire 2018 Homecoming schedule, visit centenary.edu/homecoming or contact Saige Solomon, director of alumni and family relations, at ssolomon@centenary.edu.