Dr. Bill Roll and The Bill Roll Lecture
Tuesday, January 28, 2025
The Bill Roll Lecture Presents: "Near Death Experiences: Key Insights and Current Research"
Reception: 5:30 p.m. / Nursing Foyer
Lecture: 6:30 p.m. / Nursing 106
Speaker: Dr. Marieta Pehlivanova, Assistant Professor and Researcher at the Department of Psychiatry and Neurobehavioral Sciences at the University of Virginia School of Medicine
Near-death experiences (NDEs) are fascinating and transformative, occurring during medical crises or close to death. They frequently involve perceptions of reality beyond a person's physical conditions—being outside of one’s body, feelings of peace, and even encounters with mystical beings and deceased loves ones. Join Dr. Marieta Pehlivanova as she explores insights gleaned from decades of research to gain a deeper understanding of NDE implications for both science and spirituality.
About Dr. Bill Roll and the Event
In honor of the late Dr. Bill Roll and his contributions to parapsychological research, the UWG Psychology Program annually hosts the Bill Roll Lecture. Each year it is presented by a current researcher in the field of parapsychology.
Dr. William (Bill) G. Roll was a prominent researcher in psychical research and academic parapsychology. Dr. Roll was born in Bremen, Germany in 1926 and spent most of his childhood in Denmark (his mother’s home country). Dr. Roll’s interest in psychic phenomena began at 16 when he had an out-of-body experience.
Bill went to Oxford University to study with H.H. Price and wrote his Master of Letters thesis on "Theory and Experiment in Psychical Research.” He later completed his doctoral research at Lund University (Sweden) on "This World or That: An Examination of Parapsychological Findings Suggestive of the Survival of Human Personality after Death." He worked as part of J.B Rhine’s Duke Parapsychology Laboratory in Durham, N.C and later began and directed the Psychical Research Foundation (PRF).
He served as a professor at the University of West Georgia in the 1980s (initially funded by the PRF). He later taught as an adjunct professor in the Psychology department until his retirement in 2008. He is particularly well known for his work on the Seaford Poltergeist case and the Columbus Poltergeist case. He served as president of the Parapsychology Association, wrote four books, over one hundred scholarly articles, and edited eleven volumes of Research in Parapsychology. Dr. Roll passed away in 2012.
Since 2012, the UWG psychology department has hosted the annual Bill Roll Lecture to honor the memory of Dr. Roll. Each year, a key figure in academic parapsychology is invited to come to UWG and give a public lecture on an aspect of their work. In addition, UWG’s Ingram Library houses the Bill Roll archives within its special collections. Roll's papers focus on ESP and links to poltergeists, near-death experiences, and other psi phenomena.
Those individuals or entities wishing to sponsor parapsychological research at the University of West Georgia, in addition to contributing to the annual Bill Roll Lecture, should make checks payable to the University of West Georgia Foundation and include the Bill Roll Lecture Fund in the reference line. Donations can be sent to: University of West Georgia, Office of Development, 1601 Maple Street, Carrollton, GA 30118. Alternatively, you may contribute online by selecting "other" and typing in Bill Roll Lecture Fund.
Past Lectures
- 2023 (Fall) - Dr. Chris Roe: Watch on YouTube
- 2023 (Spring) - Dr. Helané Wahbeh: Watch on YouTube
- 2022 - Dr. Nancy Zingrone: Watch on YouTube
- 2019 - Dr. Julia Mossbridge
- 2018 - Dr. Sally Rhine Feather
- 2016 - Dr. Daryl Bem
- 2015 - Dr Ed. May and Joe McMoneagle
- 2014 - Dr. Stanley Krippner
- 2013 - Dr. Jim Carpenter
- 2012 - Dr. Christine Simmonds-Moore