The Springfield Museums’ November tour and lecture schedule features a wide range of speakers and topics, most notably a special lecture on Sunday, November 8 by Maureen O’Rourke Murphy, the Joseph L. Dionne Professor of Teaching, Literacy, and Leadership at Hofstra University.

Murphy’s book, Compassionate Stranger: Asenath Nicholson and the Great Irish Famine, recounts the life of Asenath Nicholson, an American teacher, reformer and Irish famine relief worker. Nicholson walked alone throughout nearly every county in Ireland and reported on conditions on the eve of the Great Irish Famine. She later returned to Ireland to assist with the famine relief effort. The lecture takes place at 3 p.m. at the Michele and Donald D’Amour Museum of Fine Arts, and is free with museum admission.

 The popular Museums à la Carte lectures take place each Thursday at 12:15 p.m. in the D’Amour Museum of Fine Arts. Admission is $4 ($2 for members of the Springfield Museums); visitors are invited to bring a bag lunch (cookies and coffee are provided). For more information about Museums à la Carte, call 413.263.6800, ext. 488. This month’s lectures include:

• Nov. 5   – Springfield Art Museums in Perspective: New Museums and Galleries of Islamic Art. Walter Denny, Distinguished Professor of Art History at UMass-Amherst, looks at the beautiful newly-reinstalled gallery of Islamic art in the George Walter Vincent Smith Art Museum and similar exhibits at other major museums.
• Nov. 12- Music, Poetry, Artists and Fun (A Journey from Petula Clark to Beethoven, with a Stop at an Art Museum). Richard Mühlberger, former director of the Springfield Art Museums and distinguished author and educator, gives a wide-ranging talk on the critical role of art museums in contemporary society.
• Nov. 19 – Norway:  More than Vikings and Fjords. Amy S. Dane, global traveler, lecturer and photographer, explores the art, history, music, and natural beauty of Norway.

(No lecture on Nov. 26 due to Thanksgiving)

As part of the Museums’ members-only “Continuing Conversations” series, museum docent Diane Huot will also lead a guided gallery discussion at the D’Amour Museum of Fine Arts following the November 12 lecture.

Monthly Walking Tours are presented on second Saturdays in collaboration with the Armoury-Quadrangle Civic Association (AQCA). This year’s tours are revisiting Springfield street locations that were photographed by the WPA 75 years ago. On November 14, Wayne Phaneuf, Executive Editor of The Republican, will lead a tour of nearby State Street between Federal and Chestnut Streets. Walking tours are free for Springfield Museums and AQCA members, $5 nonmembers, and start at the Museums’ Welcome Center.