“This, you see, is how it is in the culture at large now: the drool of a baby who has been on TV is more compelling than a writer of smutty thrillers,” said novelist Jane Hamilton in her humorous and thought-provoking convocation address, titled “Slouching Toward Television: A Novelist's Foray into the Realm of TV.” In reflecting on her early inspiration for writing novels, Hamilton says she overheard a professor say she would write a novel one day. Although she had only written two short stories for the professor's class, overhearing the conversation gave her a measure of confidence. Her first novel, The Book of Ruth, won the PEN/Ernest Hemingway Foundation Award for best first novel and was a selection of the Oprah Book Club. Her second novel, A Map of the World, was an international bestseller, adapted for film, and was also an Oprah's Book Club selection. Her third novel, The Short History of a Prince, received the Publishers Weekly Best Book award. Hamilton lives, works, and writes in an orchard farmhouse in Wisconsin.

The New York Times has dubbed Irshad Manji "Osama Bin Laden's worst nightmare." She takes that as a compliment. Manji is the best-selling author of "The Trouble with Islam Today: A Muslim’s Call for Reform in Her Faith," which has been published internationally, including in Pakistan, Turkey, India and Lebanon. She also travels the globe to lecture about the liberal reformation of Islam. Currently, Manji is a Senior Fellow with the European Foundation for Democracy. She writes columns that are distributed worldwide by the New York Times Syndicate and is also making a feature film about Islam that will showcase ideas such as "ijtihad," Islam's lost tradition of independent thinking. The title of her convocation address was "The Future of Islam: A Muslim's Call for Reform in Her Faith."

At the request of the presenter, this convocation presentation is not available. For more information about Irshad Manji's presentations and projects, see her website www.irshadmanji.com.

Edith Widder is a biologist, deep-sea explorer, and specialist in bioluminescence (the light chemically produced by many ocean organisms). Her convocation address on “New Technologies to Discover Our World,” combined her expertise in deep-sea research and technological innovation with her commitment to reversing the worldwide trend of degradation to the world's marine environments. In 2005, Widder co-founded the Ocean Research Conservation Association (ORCA), which strives to develop high-tech sensory equipment to evaluate the health and preservation of marine ecosystems. “We are destroying the oceans faster than we can discover what’s in them,” she warns. “A lot of people are totally unaware of what’s going on in our oceans. We need to educate them to avert a crisis, and I’d like to be part of the solution.”

Staff photographer with The Roanoke Times, Josh Meltzer ’95 is an award-winning photojournalist who in 2006 won the National Press Photographers Association Photojournalist of the Year award. His photographs are intimate, compassionate portraits that tell the stories of the people they feature. Covering a wide array of subjects, his work captures raw emotion and real human expression, helping viewers to understand complicated issues. Meltzer is passionate about the potential for great community journalism and credits his liberal arts education at Carleton with giving him an edge. "You learn how to learn, to study, to research, to write. And you get a good background in religion, politics, culture. You need to learn about the people you’re photographing and figure out how to tell a story with a camera." The title of his presentation was "Visual Storytelling."

J. Drake Hamilton, a leader in climate change policymaking and education, present a convocation address titled “Global Warming Solutions and Economic Opportunities.” Hamilton serves as the Science Policy Director for Fresh Energy, a St. Paul-based non-profit organization working to establish energy independence. She is known for her ability to communicate global warming solutions, and for bringing integrity, environmental stewardship, and a courageous passion for progress to her work. Fresh Energy's efforts focus on clean energy, energy efficiency, transportation policy, global warming solutions and energy justice. In an effort to promote a modern, innovative energy system for the 21st century, the organization provides research, advocacy and innovative policy models while engaging citizens to take action on the energy issues.