Carleton College’s Ian G. Barbour Lecture Series continues with a presentation by Dr. Larry L. Rasmussen on Tuesday, May 1 at 7 p.m. in the Severance Great Hall. Entitled “The Denial of a Diminished Planet: The Challenge of Science and to Religion,” this event is free and open to the public.

Carleton College’s Black Students Alliance will host Step It Up II, a celebration of black expression through various forms of dance, on Sat., April 28 in the Weitz Center for Creativity. This event is free and open to the public.

Carleton College will host its first-ever Reproductive Justice Conference on Saturday, April 28, in the Weitz Center for Creativity. Entitled "Sex, Lies and Things Our Mothers Never Told Us: How Reproductive Justice Fits into Every Aspect of Our Society,” the all-day conference is designed for students, activists, and youth – everyone is welcome.

Indian-American author and community organizer Rinku Sen will deliver Carleton College’s convocation address on Friday, April 27 at 10:50 a.m. In her presentation, entitled “Building Bridges in a Divided World,” Sen will offer strategies to work towards social, racial, and gender equality. Following her presentation, Sen will sign copies of her books, which will be available for purchase at the event at a 15% discount. Convocation is held from 10:50-11:50 a.m. in the Skinner Memorial Chapel, and is free and open to the public.

Souleymane Bachir Diagne, a professor at Columbia University, will present “What is African Philosophy? The Discussion of Orality and Islamic Thought in Francophone Africa” at 7 p.m. on Thursday, April 26 in the Severance Great Hall at Carleton College. This event is free and open to the public.

Everyone is invited to participate in a live bird banding demonstration on Thursday, April 26 at 7 p.m. in the Carleton College Cowling Arboretum. Part of “Taking Count: Minnesota’s Great Bird Count,” the event offers the chance to join in the live banding of birds and learn how to participate in taking count of Minnesota’s birds through the citizen science project, the Minnesota Breeding Bird Atlas (BBA) with Bonnie Sample, Minnesota Audubon BBA Coordinator. Everyone is invited to participate: those with a new interest in birds are welcome, as well as experienced birders, who will be teamed with those new to birding for the breeding bird count.  This is a great family activity and a way to gain new friends while exploring Northfield’s natural areas!

Brother John, from the ecumenical Christian Taize community in France, will visit Carleton College and present a talk about the Taize community movement on Wed., April 25, at 7:30 p.m., in the Skinner Memorial Chapel sanctuary. Brother John will then give a reflection during the College's regular weekly Taize Vespers service at 8:30pm. All are welcome to his talk and to the vespers service of singing, prayer, scripture reading, and silence.

David Zeitlyn, a professor of social anthropology at Oxford University, will speak at 5 p.m. on Monday, April 23 in the Carleton College Gould Library Athenaeum. Zeitlyn’s presentation, entitled “Cameroonian Studio Photography: Why I Am Obsessed,” complements the Gould Library exhibition “Staging Selves: Cameroonian Portrait Photography,” on display through June 16, 2012. The lecture, as well as access to the exhibit, is free and open to the public.

Carleton College will observe Yom HaShoah, or Holocaust Remembrance Day, with a service and vigil on Sunday, April 22, beginning at 1 p.m. in Skinner Memorial Chapel. As part of the event, Holocaust survivor Dr. Sabina Zimering will speak about her experiences under Nazi rule, and Carleton associate chaplain Rabbi Shosh Dworsky will lead the service. This event is free and open to the public.

One of Northfield's favorite live bands, The Counterfactuals, just happens to be comprised of three Carleton professors, along with a faculty member from nearby St. Olaf College. The popular will band will perform Saturday, April 21 at 8 p.m. at J. Grundy's Rueb 'N' Stein in downtown Northfield. This is a 21+ older event, with no cover charge.

Carleton College will join hundreds of people in 5,000 cities and towns across the nation—from Key West, Florida to Kodiak, Alaska—to distribute free books to those in need as part of World Book Night on April 23. World Book Night is a nationwide effort to encourage reading by giving away half a million free books to those with limited access to books.

David Welna, Carleton Class of 1980 and a noted journalist and broadcaster who has been National Public Radio’s congressional correspondent for over ten years, will deliver Carleton College’s convocation address on Friday, April 20. Welna’s presentation, “From Carleton to Covering Congress…An Odyssey on Deadline,” will explore his career in radio journalism at the center of stories from South America to Capitol Hill. Convocation is held from 10:50-11:50 a.m. in the Skinner Memorial Chapel, and it is free and open to the public.