Widely recognized as one of the nation's leading political analysts and commentators, William Kristol, editor of The Weekly Standard, regularly appears on all the major television public affairs shows.

Within the bluegrass music community, Bill Evans is well-known not only as a musician, but also as a teacher, writer and scholar. "The Banjo in America: A Musical and Cultural History" brings together these interests in a unique presentation designed for the concert and lecture stage.

Spelman College President Beverly Daniel Tatum, a clinical psychologist who focuses her teaching and research on the psychology of racism, presents the Black History Month Convocation. She is the author of the groundbreaking book "Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria?"

"What's so funny about Washington?" is the question Norman Ornstein addresses. A member of USA Today's board of contributors, a resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute and a columnist for Roll Call, Ornstein not only comments on the political process but gets right down in the thick of it.

Benjamin Carson went from a frustrated, bad tempered inner-city youth to a world-renowned surgeon who revolutionized pediatric surgery and saved countless lives. The director of pediatric neurosurgery at Johns Hopkins University Hospital.

Speaker: Mary Frances Berry, Chairperson of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights and lifelong activist for education, gender, equity and civil rights.

Best known for his award-winning nonfiction book, "There Are No Children Here," Alex Kotlowitz has made writing about issues of poverty, race and children the focus of his literary career.

Nicholson Baker is the author of "Double Fold: Libraries and the Assault on Paper," in which he argues the case for saving newspapers and books so that they can continue to be read in their original forms.

President Stephen R. Lewis, Jr. and Dean of the College Elizabeth McKinsey presented Honors Convocation on Friday, May 31. Their talk was titled "...liberal and thorough..." The convocation recognized students who have earned various honors over the past year.

Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield, founders of Ben & Jerry's ice cream, present convocation. Their talk is titled "Ben & Jerry's: Enterpreneurial Spirit, Social Responsibility, and Radical Business Philosophy." They served their ice cream on the Bald Spot after the talk.

In the jigsaw world of human genetics, Mary-Claire King '67 found a crucial piece that helps solve the mystery of breast cancer. A pioneer in the field of genetics, she is an activist for the use of biology as a means of helping those who have been oppressed. Sponsored by the Frank and Jean Chesley Lectureship Fund.

Since the mid 1980s, Chiqui Cartagna has gained a prominent role in the creation of Spanish television and journalism. In addition to being producer of a variety of television news and talk shows, she has been a reporter for the Spanish-language version of the Miami Herald, El Nuevo Herald. She has held positions as the senior editor for People En Espanol and has developed a series of TV Guide products in Spanish. Sponsored by the Carleton Latino American Students Organization (LASO).

Carleton Associate Professor of History Jamie Monson discusses her current project, funded by the Carnegie Foundation. The project's focus is the history of a railway built by the Chinese in Tanzania in the 1970s. The project has a number of rich dimensions including environmental history, rural development, African-Chinese relations, and cultural change.

Internationally renowned Native American Indian activist Winona LaDuke spoke at Convocation. She founded and serves as campaign director for the White Earth Land Recovery Project, a reservation-based land acquisition, environmental advocacy and cultural organization. Sponsored by the Carleton American Native Peoples Organization (ANPO).

Bill Richardson, former secretary of energy and U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, gave a convocation address titled "New Challenges."