Dawn Nowacki, the Elizabeth and Morris Glicksman Chair in Political Science and associate dean of faculty at Linfield College, will present the keynote address at opening convocation Friday, Aug. 26, at 9:30 a.m. in the Ted Wilson Gymnasium at Linfield College.
During her talk, “Only Connect,” Nowacki will reflect on various political and social consequences of digital connecting for college students.
“We speak a lot at Linfield about connecting; it’s in our motto — connecting life, learning and community,” said Nowacki, a political scientist interested in comparative government and global affairs. “It’s what we do in the first-year colloquium experience — connecting students with each other, with the faculty and staff, and with resources to help them be successful in their first year. Connecting has many positive ramifications.”
Nowacki will discuss the ways in which connecting through digital communication technologies offers both opportunities as well as unintended anti-democratic consequences, such as overly intrusive governments and commodified private information that is bought and sold by huge corporate entities without consent.
Nowacki, who came to Linfield in 1994, teaches political science, including comparative politics and international relations at Linfield. Her current work is centered on women’s political voice and representation across world regions, focusing most recently on Asia and the former Soviet states. Her work has been included in the book “Discipline and Punishment in Global Politics: Illusions of Control.” Her research has been supported by a Fulbright Scholar Award and the National Endowment for the Humanities. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Russian area studies and a master’s degree in communications from the University of Washington. She earned her Ph.D. in political science from Emory University.
The lecture is free and open to the public. Convocation is the traditional ceremony that celebrates the beginning of the new academic year. Faculty dress in academic regalia and new faculty members are introduced to the Linfield community. Classes at Linfield will begin Monday, Aug. 29.
For more information, call 503-883-2561.
