TWO TALKS SET FOR CONSTITUTION DAY

Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Jack Rakove will deliver two public talks on Monday, Sept. 8, in celebration of Constitution Day.

Rakove will present “A Politician Thinking: The Political Thought of James Madison” at 12:30 p.m. in 201 Riley Hall. Lunch will be served on a first-come, first-served basis. Later that evening, he will speak on “How Do We Know What the Constitution Means?” at 6:30 p.m. in Ice Auditorium.

Rakove is the William Robertson Coe Professor of History and American Studies and professor of political science and (by courtesy) law at Stanford, where he has taught since 1980. His principal areas of research include the origins of the American Revolution and Constitution, the political practice and theory of James Madison and the role of historical knowledge in constitutional litigation. He is the author of six books, including “Original Meanings: Politics and Ideas in the Making of the Constitution,” which won the Pulitzer Prize in History, and “Revolutionaries: A New History of the Invention of America,” which was a finalist for the George Washington Prize. He is the editor of seven other books, including “The Unfinished Election of 2000.” Rakove is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the American Philosophical Society and a past president of the Society for the History of the Early American Republic.

The event is sponsored by the Frederick Douglass Forum on Law, Rights, and Justice, PLACE and the Office of Academic Affairs. For more information, contact Nick Buccola at nbuccol@linfield.edu or ext. 2246.

TOUTONGHI KICKS OFF FALL READINGS

Fiction author Pauls Toutonghi will discuss his book, “Evel Knievel Days,” on Wednesday, Sept. 10, at 7:30 p.m. in the Austin Reading Room of the Jereld R. Nicholson Library. The event is part of the “Readings at the Nick” series.

“Evel Knievel Days” tells the story of Khosi Saqr, who has always felt a bit out of place in Butte, Mont., hometown of motorcycle daredevil Evel Knievel. Half-Egyptian, full of nervous habits, raised by a single mother, owner of a name that no one can pronounce – Khosi has never quite managed to fit in. But when a mysterious stranger arrives in town, Khosi takes his first daredevil-like risk and travels to Egypt to find his father and a connection to his heritage.

Toutonghi is a winner of the Pushcart Prize for his short story, “Regeneration,” which appeared in The Boston Review. In addition to “Evel Knievel Days,” Toutonghi is the author of “Red Weather.” His work has also appeared in The New York Times, Sports Illustrated, Granta, Zoetrope: All-Story, One Story, Five Chapters, Book Magazine and more. Toutonghi teaches fiction writing and English literature at Lewis and Clark College.

It is sponsored by Linfield Nicholson Library and the Linfield English Department. For more information, contact Susan Barnes Whyte, ext. 2517, swhyte@linfield.edu.

RAMSAY TO SPEAK ON GLOBAL LEARNING

Violeta Ramsay, Linfield College professor of Spanish, will present “Culture and the Global World: Educating the Citizen of the 21st Century” Wednesday, Sept. 17, at 7 p.m. in 201 Riley Hall at Linfield.

Ramsay will discuss her research on learning and teaching culture and global awareness. She will also describe how this research is important to the curriculum and quality of programs abroad, the preparation of students going abroad, the achievements of language majors, the cultural components of college courses and more.

“Global awareness has become a critical focus of academic programs and the mission of higher education institutions,” Ramsay said. “We know that the 21st Century world requires individuals with skills that enable them to deal with cultural difference.”

Ramsay’s research shows that the globalized world requires individuals who are able to not only work with people of different cultural backgrounds, but who can confront difference or diversity in any context to make ethical and informed decisions when cultural aspects are at stake. Recent research in the field of language acquisition connects to the acquisition of cultural proficiency.

“Research indicates that humans acquire the ability to deal with difference — ethnic or any other type — in developmental stages; each higher or more developed stage offers broader skills in dealing with difference,” Ramsay added. “Individuals react to difference according to the stage they have reached, and this has broad ramifications for the world of the 21st Century.”

Her lecture will describe the cultural aptitudes that each of those stages allow, as well as some of those ramifications.

A native of Mexico, Ramsay has been part of the Linfield faculty since 1990 and specializes in theoretical linguistics. Her main research interests include second language acquisition and the development of cultural competency. In addition, Ramsay has published research related to the evaluation of study abroad programs and the development of language acquisition stages. She is co-director of Linfield’s Language in Motion (LiM) program, which promotes language and culture in McMinnville schools. Ramsay also leads study abroad programs to Oaxaca, Mexico.

The lecture is free and open to the public. The Linfield College faculty lecture series offers one presentation each month by a member of the Linfield faculty. For more information, call 503-883-2409.

CAMPUS CALENDAR

MONDAY, SEPT. 8

12:30 p.m.: Jack Rakove, “A Politician Thinking: The Political Thought of James Madison,” 201 Riley

6:30 p.m.: Jack Rakove, “How Do We Know What the Constitution Means?” Ice Auditorium

WEDNESDAY, SEPT. 10

Noon: German language table, Dillin

7:30 p.m.: Pauls Toutonghi reading, Nicholson Library

FRIDAY, SEPT. 12

3 p.m. (CT): Volleyball at Trinity Fall Classic, Mary Hardin-Baylor

5 p.m. (CT): Volleyball at Trinity Fall Classic, Texas Lutheran

5:15 p.m.: Cross country at WOU Ash Creek Invitational

SATURDAY, SEPT. 13

Today and tomorrow: Women’s golf at Pacific Lutheran Invitational

12:15 p.m. (CT): Volleyball at Trinity Fall Classic, Trinity

5 p.m. (CT): Volleyball at Trinity Fall Classic, Southwestern

7 p.m.: Football at Chapman

7 p.m.: Women’s soccer at Pacific