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An internationally recognized scholar, Takaki has been a professor of Ethnic Studies at the University of California, Berkeley, for over thirty years, and his eleven books include some of the most significant titles in his discipline. Iron Cages: Race and Culture in 19th Century America has been critically acclaimed; the Pulitzer Prize nominated Strangers from a Different Shore: a History of Asian Americans was selected by the San Francisco Chronicle as one of the best 100 non-fiction books of the 20th century; A Different Mirror: A History of Multicultural America was chosen for an American Book Award and was hailed by Publishers Weekly as a "brilliant revisionist history of America that is likely to become a classic of multicultural studies." Takaki has sought to write a more inclusive, and hence more accurate, history of Asian Americans, Chicanos, and Native Americans as well as certain European immigrant groups like the Irish and Jews. As a scholar of America’s past, Takaki has been peering into our society’s future and notes that the 21st century will witness a tremendous expansion of our racial and ethnic diversity. But, Takaki asks, how and why did our nation come to be so ethnically and racially diverse? How can we incorporate the teaching of diversity into the curriculum for the coming century? In answering these questions, Takaki presents a lively and inspiring multicultural people’s history of America.

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Convocation Booksigning

Ronald Takaki will be the Convocation speaker on Friday, May 6 in the Skinner Memorial Chapel. He is Professor of Ethnic Studies at the University of California, Berkeley. His talk is titled "America in a Different Mirror: Re-Visioning Our History".

Among his many published works are Double Victory: A Multicultural History of America in World War II and A Different Mirror: A History of Multiculural America.

A booksigning will follow the presentation.

Reading Suggestions

The Minnesota Historical Society has just published the first book in their Minnesota Byways series. Barns of Minnesota is written by Will Weaver, illuminating the life af a barn from the inside out. Eighty-five stunning photographs by Doug Ohman reveal a way of life on the land that is strong and proud.

Lorna Landvik, the author of Angry Housewives Eating Bon Bons has written a new novel, Oh My Stars. Tall, slender Violet Mathers is growing up in the Great Depression . She experiences hardships, hope, and then more hardships until she meets two musicians who change her life. This is a story of bigotry and betrayal, love and hope, loss and discovery.

Off Main Street: Barnstormers, Prophets and Gatemouth’s Gator is the new collection of essays by Michael Perry, author of Population: 485. Filled with his unique brand of humor, this book ranges across subjects as diverse as lot lizards, Klan wizards, and small-town funerals. Perry’s writing balances earthiness with poetry, kinetics with contemplation.

New in paperback
Thomas Frank, What’s the Matter with Kansas?
Kevin Henkes, Olive’s Ocean (Newbery Honor Book)
General Tommy Franks, American Soldier

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Thursday, May 5―Reading, Writing and . . . Quantitative Inquiry: Involving First-Year Students in Research and Writing with Numbers
Neil Lutsky, Professor of Psychology
Annette Nierobisz, Assistant Professor of Sociology
Barbara Allen, Professor of Political Science
Noon to 1:30 p.m., Alumni Guest House Meeting Room, lunch provided for 40
Co-sponsored by the QUIRK (Quantitative Inquiry, Reasoning, and Knowledge) Program, and the FIPSE grant

May 5 through 7
Service Learning and Academic Civic Engagement Summit
The LTC particularly draws your attention to two events:

Thursday, May 5 "Engaging Campus and Community"
Mark Langseth, Executive Director, Minnesota Campus Compact
6:30 to 8:30 p.m., Dittman Center, St. Olaf College

Saturday, May 7―Developing an Engaged Curriculum
A "How-to" Workshop for Faculty Leaders
Presented by Mary Savina and Candace Lautt
10 a.m. to noon, Alumni Guest House Meeting Room

Registration for all scheduled events (including meals) is free, and is available through an online form through Monday, May 2. For registration information and a complete schedule, please visit the St. Olaf Servant Leadership Web site.

We ask all participants to register, including facilitators and speakers.
Please help us circulate this invitation to others who may be interested. For further information about these events, contact Mary Savina or Candace Lautt.

Tuesday, May 10―Posse at Carleton: The First Four Years
Deborah Appleman, Professor of Educational Studies
Nancy Cho, Associate Professor of English
Stephen Kennedy, Professor of Mathematics
Robert Tisdale, Marjorie Crabb Garbisch Professor of English and the Liberal Arts
and Carleton students
noon to 1:30 p.m., Gould Library Athenaeum, lunch provided for 40

Spring Term Book Group Forming: Gender and Academia
First meeting Monday, May 30, 4:30 to 6 p.m. Headley House

We'll begin with Jane Margolis and Allan Fisher, 2002, Unlocking the Clubhouse (MIT Press, 172 p.), a short and readable account of gender dynamics in the male-dominated field of computer science. Complimentary copies provided to faculty who sign up through the LTC (contact Jennifer Cox Johnson, jcoxjohn@carleton.edu or x4192) with funds from the Mellon Faculty Lifecycles Grant. Extra discount available to staff members who join the group. Books will be available soon. Note that this group continues into Fall Term 2005.

For more information check the LTC Web site.

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Tuesday, May 3
Glenn Switzer, Switzer's Nursery and Landscaping
The Switzer family has been beautifying the Northfield area since 1926, providing their customers with products throughout the year―from perennials and annuals in the spring to Christmas trees in December. Glenn is a self-motivated small business owner with an exuberant love of the landscape industry. His passion, combined with his experience, have allowed him to create many unique designs that have both thrilled and amazed his clients. Creating life-enhancing, outdoor living environments is his trademark, he also specializes in spacial organization and pedestrian flow and movement. His desire to share his knowledge of landscape design is unmatched. The topic of Glenn's talk is titled, "Space Arrangement in Our Own Backyards."