Nigerian-American writer, photographer to present lecture
Teju Cole, a Nigerian-American writer, art historian, photographer and cultural critic, will speak on “The Miracle of Our Shared Space,” Monday, April 18, at 7 p.m., in Ice Auditorium in Melrose Hall.
In addition to the lecture, he will also hold a conversation with students and faculty Tuesday, April 19, from 2 to 4 p.m. in 222 T.J. Day Hall.
Cole is the distinguished Writer-in-Residence at Bard College. His first book, a novella titled “Every Day is for the Thief,” was named a book of the year by The New York Times, The Globe and Mail, NPR and The Telegraph.
His second book, “Open City,” won the prestigious PEN/Hemingway award, the New York City Book Award for Fiction, the Rosenthal Award for the American Academy of Arts and Letters and was short listed for the National Book Critics Circle Award. Cole also regularly writes for The New Yorker, The New York Times, The Atlantic, Granta and many other prominent journals both within America and abroad.
Cole’s work is largely inspired by Africa. He was born in Michigan, raised in Nigeria and then returned to the United States as an adult. With one foot in African/Nigerian culture and the other foot in American culture, Cole works frequently bridging the gap and the divide between these two continents.
Cole’s next book is “Known and Strange Things,” a collection of essays on art, literature, photography and politics, which will be published this fall. He is also working on “Radio Lagos,” a non-fictional narrative of contemporary Lagos (Nigeria).
The lecture is sponsored by Francophone African Studies Program, Black Student Union, Department of Modern Languages, Department of Political Sciences, English Department, Academic Affairs, Nicholson Library, International Programs Office, Department of Sociology and Anthropology, and the Diversity Committee. For more information contact Marie Noussi, mnoussi@linfield.edu, 503-883-2231 or Nick Buccola, nbuccol@linfield.edu.
It is funded, in part, by a grant awarded by Linfield’s Diversity Committee to explore and support the intellectual and research interests of students, faculty and staff in areas of diversity and inclusion, promoting courageous conversations about diversity and lived experiences across our college and communities. For more information about those grants, contact Reshmi Dutt-Ballerstadt, rdutt-b@linfield.edu.
Linfield visiting professor to share insights about China
Lily Lin, a visiting professor at Linfield College, will present “China: More than Meets the Eye” on Wednesday, April 20, at noon in 201 Riley Hall.
Lin will share information about China including possible negative stereotypes that Chinese individuals face, world-class educational opportunities in China and traditional Chinese food.
The event is sponsored by the International Programs Office. For more information, call 503-883-2434 or email ipo@linfield.edu.
History, science and the politics of climate change topic of lecture
Joshua Howe, assistant professor of history and environmental studies at Reed College, will speak on “Telling Stories about CO2: History, Science and the Politics of Climate Change” Wednesday, April 20, at 4:30 p.m. in the Austin Reading Room in Nicholson Library.
In 1958, Charles David Keeling began measuring the concentration of carbon dioxide in the earth’s atmosphere at the Mauna Loa Observatory in Hawaii. His project kicked off a half century of research that has expanded the knowledge of climate change. Despite more than 50 years of research, our global society has yet to find real solutions to the problem of global warming. Why?
Howe will answer that question in his presentation when he explores the history of global warming from its roots as a scientific curiosity to its place at the center of international environmental politics. The nature of the problem itself, Howe explains, has privileged scientists as the primary spokespeople for the global climate. But while the “science first” forms of advocacy they developed to fight global warming produced more and better science, the primacy of science in global warming politics has failed to produce meaningful results. In fact, a focus on science has left advocates for change vulnerable to political opposition and has limited much of the discussion to debates about the science itself. In the meantime, the problem is not getting better – it’s getting worse.
Howe is the author of “Behind the Curve: Science and the Politics of Global Warming” as well as several other articles about the history of climate change science.
The lecture is sponsored by PLACE (Program for Liberal Arts and Community Engagement), exploring this year’s theme “Air, Water, Earth, and Fire: The Ancient Elements on a Changing Planet.” For more information, contact Lissa Wadewitz, 503-883-2719 or lwadewi@linfield.edu.
Poetry featured in two upcoming readings
Poet and translator Keith Ekiss will be featured in two upcoming readings at Linfield College.
Ekiss, along with Sonia Ticas, Linfield professor of Spanish and Latin American studies, will read poems by Costa Rica’s leading 20th Century poet Eunice Odio on Wednesday, April 20, at 7 p.m. in the Nicholson Library Reading Room at Linfield. Ekiss and Ticas will read a selection of translated poems from various phases of Odio’s work, soon to be published under the title “Territory of Dawn.” Odio is a groundbreaking poet who delves deeply into the creative power of language as exemplified in her epic poem, “Tránsito de fuego” (“The Fire’s Journey”).
Ekiss will also read from his own poetry, including the collection, “Pima Road Notebook,” on Thursday, April 21, at 11:45 a.m. in Jonasson Hall in Melrose Hall at Linfield.
Ekiss is a former Wallace Stegner fellow and Jones Lecturer in Poetry at Stanford University. He is also the past recipient of the Witter Bynner Translators Residency from the Santa Fe Art Institute for his work on Eunice Odio. His teaching interests include the craft of poetry, the intersections between poetry and film, and non-realist forms of prose writing.
Ticas has been collaborating with Ekiss since 2001 in translation of Odio’s poetry. She has also translated poems by Salvadoran writers residing in the United States for a bilingual anthology, “Teatro bajo mi piel” (“Theater Under my Skin”). Ticas’ area of research is in gender, women’s writing and women’s history in Central America.
These events are free, open to the public and sponsored by the Nicholson Library and the English and modern language departments at Linfield College. For more information contact Sonia Ticas at 503-883-2367 or sticas@linfield.edu.
Making a difference on Earth Day and every day, focus of lecture
Florence Reed, president and founder of the nonprofit organization Sustainable Harvest International, will speak on “Making a Real Difference on Earth Day and Every Day” Thursday, April 21, at 7:30 p.m. in Ice Auditorium.
Reed founded Sustainable Harvest International, a nonprofit organization dedicated to working with rural Central American communities to implement sustainable land-use practices, in 1997. Since its creation, Reed has expanded Sustainable Harvest International from working with only a dozen families to working with 2,543 families in three Central American countries. Reed has worked with these families to plant 2.8 million trees, convert 14,000 acres of degraded land to sustainable farms and save an estimated 70,000 acres of tropical forest from slash and burn destruction.
Prior to founding Sustainable Harvest International, Reed served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Panama from 1991 to 1993, focusing on agro-forestry and environmental conservation.
Reed has received many awards for her work, including two honorary doctorates from the University of New Hampshire and Southern New Hampshire University. Reed has also received awards such as the Yves Rocher Women of the Earth award, the Traditional Home Classic Woman award and the Harden Club of American Distinguished Service award. Reed was also included in artist Robert Shetterly’s renowned “Americans Who Tell the Truth” portrait series in 2009. Most recently, Reed has been named the Sargent Shriver Distinguished Humanitarian, the highest award given by the National Peace Corps Association.
Reed will be in residence at Linfield April 18-22, where she will attend classes and meet with students. Her visit is sponsored by the President’s Office, the Program for Liberal Arts and Civic Engagement (PLACE) and the Woodrow Wilson Visiting Fellows Program, a Council of Independent Colleges initiative that supports liberal arts colleges by bringing together people from diverse backgrounds and perspectives for the purpose of discussion and learning.
For more information, contact John McKeegan at 503-883-2202 or jmckeeg@linfield.edu.
International Club plans annual culture show
International music, costumes and food will be spotlighted during the annual Culture Show Friday, April 22, at 6:30 p.m. in the Richard and Lucille Ice Auditorium in Melrose Hall.
The program, organized by the Linfield International Club, is designed to promote cultural awareness and diversity. It will feature a variety of Linfield student clubs and individual students performing songs and dances from their native countries. A fashion show, with students wearing garments native to their homelands, will also be presented. A reception will follow in Jonasson Hall, lower level of Melrose, with food from around the world prepared by students and local restaurants.
For more information, contact Arun Bajracharya, abajrac@linfield.edu.
Linfield music department presents a cello extravaganza
The Linfield Cello Ensemble will present a recital on Sunday, April 24, at 4 p.m. in Delkin Recital Hall in the Vivian A. Bull Music Center.
The ensemble will perform arrangements of popular classical and non-classical works, as well as solo performances by music majors. The music selected for this recital will include Bach, Beethoven, Johann Strauss, Jr., Manuel de Falla and heavy metal band Apocalyptica.
Performers include juniors Aviella Lee-Petza, John Christensen and Mary Beth Jones; sophomores Anna Vanderschaegen and Sophia Reinhardt; freshman Keelan Wells; and Diane Chaplin, adjunct professor of music.
For more information, contact the Linfield Music Department, 503-883-2275.
Community News
Nancy Drickey, professor of education, served as the regional director on the Conference Committee for a conference of more than 1,600 math education leaders of the National Council of Supervisors of Mathematics in Oakland, Calif. In February and March, she traveled to Australia, New Zealand and Fiji to observe math classrooms and attend teacher professional development for sabbatical research. These activities were supported by a faculty development grant, Dean’s Travel Fund and the Education Department.
Campus calendar
MONDAY, APRIL 18
7 p.m.: Teju Cole, “The Miracle of Our Shared Space,” Ice Auditorium
TUESDAY, APRIL 19
4 p.m.: Men’s tennis at Portland State University
5:15 p.m.: Wildcat Workout, Maxwell Field
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 20
Noon: Lily Lin, “China: More than Meets the Eye,” 201 Riley Hall
4:30 p.m.: Joshua Howe, “Telling Stories about CO2: History, Science and the Politics of Climate Change,” Austin Reading Room in Nicholson Library
7 p.m.: Keith Ekiss and Sonia Ticas, poetry reading, Nicholson Library
THURSDAY, APRIL 21
11:45 a.m.: Keith Ekiss reading, Jonasson Hall
Noon: Wildcat Workout, Maxwell Field
7:30 p.m.: Florence Reed, “Making a Real Difference on Earth Day and Every Day,” Ice Auditorium
FRIDAY, APRIL 22
Today through Sunday: Baseball at NWC tournament
Today: Softball at NWC tournament
Today and tomorrow: Track and field at NWC championships, Portland
11 a.m.-2 p.m.: Study Abroad Photo Contest, Fred Meyer Lounge
11:30 a.m.: Blood Pressure Screening Clinic, Cook Hall lobby
6:30 p.m.: Culture Show, Ice Auditorium
SATURDAY, APRIL 23
Today and tomorrow: Men’s and women’s golf at NWC championships, Crosswater
Today and tomorrow: Men’s and women’s tennis at NWC tournament
Noon: Women’s lacrosse at Whitman
3 p.m.: Men’s tennis at Seattle
SUNDAY, APRIL 24
4 p.m.: Cello Extravaganza, Delkin Recital Hall, Vivian A. Bull Music Center
