UALR will host two lectures by Dr. Edward Gamarra, literary manager for the Gotham Group in Los Angeles, on Thursday, Sept. 25.

“What the Heck is a ‘Multi-Hyphenate’ and Why Do I Need to Be One?” will be at 12:15 p.m. in the Stella Boyle Smith Concert Hall in UALR’s Fine Arts Building.

Later that evening, Gamarra will present “Arrested Development: Film Comedy and the Psychodynamics of Humor,” at 7 p.m. in Stabler Hall Room 109. Both lectures are free and open to the public.

Gamarra, who earned a Ph.D. from Emory University studying film and psychoanalysis, has published articles and delivered presentations about films such as “Airplane,” “Nutty Professor II: The Klumps,” “The Shining,” and “Reality Bites.”

Pursing a career in Hollywood instead of academia, Gamarra is now a literary manager for The Gotham Group in Los Angeles, where he works with screenwriters, directors, illustrators and animators, specializing in family entertainment.

In his afternoon presentation, Gamarra will talk about how he went from a liberal arts professor to literary manager in the entertainment industry. He will share information about his career and how his knowledge and skills from his academic background matter in Hollywood.

Later in the evening, he will discuss how a psychoanalytic approach to child development yields to a new theory of humor by incorporating clips from classic and contemporary film comedies.

The Gamarra lectures are co-sponsored by the Department of Philosophy and Liberal Studies; School of Mass Communication; Psychology Club; Donaghey Scholars Program; and the College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences.

For more information, call 501.569.3312.