Last chance to vote in TVO's 2010 Big Ideas Best Lecturer Competition

    
    -   Students, alumni, and viewers province-wide may support their
        favourite school or professor and vote Tuesday April 6 through
        Sunday April 11
    

TORONTO, April 5 /CNW/ - Now is the last chance for Ontario to vote in TVO's 2010 Big Ideas Best Lecturer Competition. Sponsored by TD Insurance Meloche Monnex, the competition, now in its fifth year, has come down to five men and five women vying for the title of "Best Lecturer."

Viewers can vote for any or all of the finalists starting Tuesday April 6 at 8 am. Voting ends Sunday April 11 at 8 pm.

To help viewers determine their top picks, TVO presents two ways to watch the Top 10 lectures:

    
    -   In their entirety: All the lectures will be available at
        tvo.org/bigideas as of Tuesday April 6 at 8 am for viewers to screen
        at their leisure.

    -   In a compilation program: TVO presents a special edition featuring
        five-minute excerpts from each of the Top 10 lectures, airing on TVO
        Saturday April 10 and Sunday April 11 at 5 pm.

    There are two ways to vote for Ontario's Best Lecturer:

    -   Online at tvo.org/big ideas
    -   Toll free phone at 1-877-792-VOTE (8683)
    

Viewers who vote online at tvo.org/big ideas will be entered to win a $5000 grand prize pack sponsored by TD Insurance Meloche Monnex (a laptop, HD camcorder, digital SLR still camera, an iPod touch, and an iTunes gift card).

The voting period closes on Sunday April 11. The winner will be announced on Saturday April 17 at 5 pm on TVO's Big Ideas.

Big Ideas is TVO's popular television program offering lectures on a variety of thought-provoking topics that range across politics, culture, economics, art history and science. Now in its fifth year, the Best Lecturer Competition was created to recognize the best and brightest lecturers at Ontario's colleges and universities. It invites students and alumni to nominate professors whose love of learning has helped to stimulate imaginations, open eyes and push boundaries in institutions of higher learning across the province.

A complete list of the top 10 lectures follows. For more information, including bios, videoclips of lectures, student quotes and full contest details, please visit tvo.org/bigideas.

    
    Laurentian University at Georgian College
    Bruce Meyer
    Department of English
    TITLE: The Four Phases of Yeats

    Queen's University
    Eleanor MacDonald
    Department of Political Studies
    TITLE: Are We Postmodern?

    Virginia Walker
    Department of Biology
    TITLE: HIV, Parasites and the Exhausted Immune System

    Ryerson University
    Sohail Rashid
    Department of Psychology
    TITLE: Birth Order and Personality

    University of Toronto
    Monika Havelka
    Department of Biology, Mississauga Campus
    TITLE: Why Sex? The Evolution of a Paradox

    University of Toronto
    Steve Joordens
    Department of Psychology, Scarborough Campus
    TITLE: You Can Lead Students to Knowledge, But How Do You Make
           Them Think?

    University of Ontario Institute of Technology
    Rupinder Brar
    Faculty of Physics
    TITLE: Exoplanets: The Search for Other Earths

    University of Ottawa
    David Gray
    Department of Economics
    TITLE: Open Economy Macroeconomics: Foreign Trade, the Current Account,
           and Exchange Rates

    York University
    Nadia Habib
    Humanities, Faculty of Liberal Arts and Professional Studies
    TITLE: Reflections on Gender & Sexuality

    Karolyn Smardz Frost
    School of Arts and Letters, Atkinson College
    TITLE: Fugitive Sources: Uncovering Toronto's Underground Railroad
           Connections
    

About TD Insurance Meloche Monnex

TD Insurance Meloche Monnex, the group insurance brand of TD Insurance, works with over 700 professional, alumni and employer groups across the country to provide home and auto insurance programs. In business for over 60 years, more than 600,000 clients trust TD Insurance Meloche Monnex with their insurance needs.

TD Insurance, through its TD Insurance Meloche Monnex and TD Insurance Home and Auto sub-brands, is the largest direct-response insurance group in Canada. For more information on professional and alumni group programs visit melochemonnex.com; for information on employer group programs visit group.tdinsurance.com.

About TVO

TVO is Ontario's public educational media organization and a trusted source of interactive educational content that informs, inspires and stimulates curiosity and thought. TVO's vision is to empower people to be engaged citizens of Ontario through educational media. For more information, visit tvo.org.

Where to find TVO

Cable channel 2 (channel may vary in some areas), Bell TV channel 265, Shaw Direct channel 353.

For further information: Media contact: Lesley Horlick, TVO, Marketing and Communications, [phone] x 2281, [email protected]