October 2009

Friday, October 9th

• Convocation: Arlene Davila
  • Arlene Davila is a cultural anthropologist interested in urban and ethnic studies, the political economy of culture and media and consumption studies. Her work focuses on Puerto Ricans in the eastern U.S., and Latinos nationwide. She is currently working on a collection of essays on the production and circulation of contemporary representations of Latinidad examining current debates about the so called "mainstreaming" and "republicanization" of U/S. Latinos. She is especially interested the politics of culture and representation as they play out in a variety of institutional settings as varied as museums and contemporary culture industries. As Professor of Anthropology and Social and Cultural Analysis at New York University, Davila teaches courses on comparative ethnic studies, race and nation in the Americas, Latino/a popular culture, global ethnography and consumption studies. The title of her presentation is "Latino Spin: Public Image and the Whitewashing of Race."
  • 10:50 am, Skinner Memorial Chapel

Friday, October 16th

• Convocation: Mark Bauerlein
  • Mark Bauerlein is Professor of English at Emory University where he has taught since 1989, with a two-and-a-half year break in 2003-05 to serve as the Director, Office of Research and Analysis, at the National Endowment for the Arts, where he oversaw studies about culture and American life. He earned his doctorate in English at UCLA in 1988. His publications include “Whitman and the American Idiom” (1991), “Literary Criticism: An Autopsy” (1997), “The Pragmatic Mind: Explorations in the Psychology of Belief” (1997), “Negrophobia: A Race Riot in Atlanta, 1906” (2001), “Civil Rights Chronicle: The African American Struggle for Freedom” (2003), and “A Handbook of Literary Terms” (2004). Apart from his scholarly work, he publishes in popular periodicals such as The Wall Street Journal, The Weekly Standard, The Washington Post, and the Chronicle of Higher Education. His latest book attracted national buzz even in advance of its publication. Bauerlein’s provocative, deeply researched book finds ignorance in abundance and the Internet an all too enticing web of social networking that further insulates youth from their intellectual development. He contends that the technology that was supposed to make young adults more astute, diversify their tastes, and improve their minds had the opposite effect. The title of the book, and the title of his presentation, is "The Dumbest Generation: How the Digital Age Stupefies Young Americans and Jeopardizes Our Future."
  • 10:50 am, Skinner Memorial Chapel

Friday, October 23rd

• Convocation: John Harris '85
  • John Harris (Carleton Class of 1985) stumbled into journalism during his freshman year at Carleton when a friend asked him to write a couple of articles for The Carletonian. He did, and the effect was instantaneous. Suddenly, he was certain what he wanted to do in life. For more than two decades, Harris worked for the Washington Post, serving as White House reporter. In an effort to break the traditional journalism mold, in 2006 he co-founded The Politico (print newspaper) and Politico.com where he now serves as editor-in-chief. The title of his presentation is "Barack Obama v. the Freak Show: Politics and Media on the Wild Frontier."
  • 10:50 am, Skinner Memorial Chapel

Friday, October 30th

• Convocation: Jonathan Morduch
  • Jonathan Morduch is Professor of Public Policy and Economics at New York University's Wagner Graduate School of Public Service. His research focuses on international development, poverty and financial access. He is the Managing Director of the Financial Access Initiative, a research consortium of leading development economists that aims to expand access to financial services for low-income individuals in developing countries. He has been chair of the United Nations Committee on Poverty Statistics and a member of the U.N. Advisors Group on Inclusive Financial Sectors. He has served as an advisor to the United Nations, World Economic Forum, Pro Mujer, and the Grameen Foundation. He is a member of the editorial boards of the World Bank Economic Review, Journal of Economic Perspectives, and Journal of Globalization and Development. Co-author of "The Economics of Microfinance" and "Portfolios of the Poor: How the World's Poor Live on $2 a Day", Morduch has taught on the Economics faculty at Harvard University, and has held fellowships or visiting positions at Stanford, Princeton, and the University of Tokyo. The title of his presentation is "How the World's Poor Live on $2 a Day."
  • 10:50 am, Skinner Memorial Chapel