Posted on Apr 3, 2007

Acclaimed American novelist Walter Mosley, most widely recognized for his crime fiction, comes to campus Wednesday, April 18, as part of the new, parent-sponsored Minerva Dessert and Discussion series.

He will meet with English department faculty and students and members of the Sorum Book Club before presenting a public lecture, “Bearing Witness,” at 7 p.m. in the Nott Memorial. A discussion and book signing will follow at 8.

“This is a special treat,” says Sorum House Representative Suzanne Benack, who is hosting the meetings and a dinner at Sorum. The book club is reading “The Man in My Basement,” a novel about race, power and identity that Mosley has described as “a meeting between evil and innocence.” The English Department will focus on Mosley's new book, “This Year You Will Write Your Novel.”

Mosley, who is black and Jewish, is the award-winning author of the best-selling mysteries featuring Easy Rawlins, a black private investigator and World War II veteran living in the Watts neighborhood of Los Angeles. He also has written non-mystery fiction, afrofuturist science fiction and non-fiction politics.

The new Minerva discussion series is designed to encourage creative thinking related to events of the day. Future guests will cover topics ranging from arts and athletics to physics, engineering and classical civilizations.

Posted on Apr 3, 2007

Barbara Weinstein, president of the American Historical Association and professor of modern Latin American history and Brazilian history at New York University, comes to campus Thursday, April 12, for a public lecture and meetings with faculty and students.

She will speak on “Slavery and Its Legacies: Race and Gender in Brazil,” 9-10:45 a.m. in the Breazzano House Common Room. A lunch with faculty members from the Department of History, Latin American and Caribbean Studies and Africana Studies is scheduled for 12:50-1:50 p.m. at Reamer Campus Center.

Weinstein will meet with students 4-5 p.m. in the Social Sciences Lounge to discuss, “‘So You Have B.A. in History?': What Students are Doing with Humanities and Social Science Degrees in the 21st Century Job Market.” Her visit will culminate with a 7p.m. lecture in the Reamer Campus Center Auditorium, titled “Being a Historian in the Age of National (In)Security.” The event is free and open to the public.

Weinstein holds an A.B. in History and Latin American Studies from Princeton and an M.A. and Ph.D. from Yale. She has taught at Vanderbilt University, the State University of New York at Stony Brook and the University of Maryland at College Park.

She has published two monographs on Brazilian social, economic and political history and written dozens of book chapters, essays and journal articles on industrial workers, slavery and regionalism. She has been awarded Guggenheim, National Endowment for the Humanities and Fulbright-Hays fellowships.

Posted on Apr 3, 2007

“Wandering the Souk: Marketplaces and Peoples of Israel and Turkey,” a show by senior Maureen Hsia, opens Tuesday, April 3 in the Wikoff Gallery in the Nott Memorial.

The show features 16 photos taken by Hsia, a History major from Shanghai who traveled to Turkey and Israel last winter, in part for her senior thesis research.

Her project, she says, “is part of a larger desire I have to explore and understand history and culture in the Middle East. My hope is that this project conveys more than just the beauty of places and people in Israel and Turkey; I also hope to share some insight on my perception of social and cultural realities in the Middle East.”

The show will be on view through May 2.