Oprah Winfrey has named poet and activist Nikki Giovanni a living legend. The press has described Giovanni, an internationally respected proponent of civil rights and equality, as the “Princess of Black Poetry.” Giovanni will bring her perspective to Arizona State University, Oct. 7, when she delivers this year’s Jonathan and Maxine Marshall Distinguished Lecture.

Titled “The Compassion, The Courage, The Challenge of Poetry,” the lecture will focus on the individual and the power that an individual has to make a difference in oneself and the lives of others. It will begin at 7 p.m., in Katzin Hall on ASU’s Tempe campus. The lecture, which is free and open to the public, is presented by ASU’s College of Liberal Arts and Sciences and co-sponsored by Project Humanities. Download Full Image

“Nikki Giovanni’s work remains an integral part of civil rights and black cultural studies,” said Neal A. Lester, dean of humanities at ASU. “The immediacy and accessibility of her poetry and her ability to mix the everyday and the political give her work broad social relevance.”

Giovanni was born in Knoxville, Tennessee, and grew up in Lincoln Heights, an all-black suburb of Cincinnati. She spent summers in Knoxville with her grandparents and graduated with honors and a bachelor’s degree in history from Fisk University, which was her grandfather’s alma mater. The same year of her graduation, 1968, Giovanni’s first book of poetry was published, titled “Black Feeling Black Talk.”

Since then, she has written or co-authored some 30 books, for both adults and children. She has accumulated numerous prestigious awards for her work including NAACP Image Awards for “Love Poems,” “Blues: For All the Changes,” “Quilting the Black-Eyed Pea,” “Acolytes,” and “Hip Hop Speaks to Children: A Celebration of Poetry with a Beat.” Giovanni’s autobiography, “Gemini,” was a finalist for the National Book Award in 1973.

In addition to her writing career, Giovanni is an accomplished speaker. She has released several recordings of her poetry, and in 2004, was nominated for a Grammy Award in the “Best Spoken Word Album” category for her “Nikki Giovanni Poetry Collection.”

Giovanni is a University Distinguished Professor of English at Virginia Tech. She previously taught at Rutgers University and Queens College. Through the course of her career, Giovanni has received 24 honorary doctorates from various institutions, including the University of Maryland, Smith College and Indiana University.

Additionally, Giovanni has been named Woman of the Year by Mademoiselle magazine, Ladies’ Home Journal, and Ebony magazine. She was inducted into the Ohio Women’s Hall of Fame and named an Outstanding Woman of Tennessee. Giovanni has also received Governor’s Awards from both Tennessee and Virginia. She was the first recipient of the Rosa L. Parks Woman of Courage Award and has received the Langston Hughes Medal.

The Jonathan and Maxine Marshall Distinguished Lecture Series was established in 1993 with support from Jonathan Marshall (deceased) and Maxine Marshall, retired publishers of the Scottsdale Daily Progress. This year’s lecture is a signature event for ASU’s Project Humanities, an ongoing, university-wide initiative with the expressed goal to show the interactions among humanities and other areas of scholarship and human endeavor.

Past Marshall Lectures have featured renowned journalists, producers, scientists, authors and historians, including Kerry Kennedy, Heather Rae, Calvin Trillin, Robin Wright, Jon Meacham, Seymour Hersh, Paul Krugman, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Martha Nussbaum, Baruch Blumberg, Martin Marty, Daniel Goldhagen, Arthur Caplan, Doris Kearns Goodwin, Lester Brown, Thomas Wicker and Arthur Schlesinger Jr.

More information is available at http://clas.asu.edu/MarshallLecture or 480-965-6397. Online parking maps for ASU’s Tempe campus are available at http://asu.edu/map.

Written by Evan Lewis.

MEDIA CONTACT
Carol Hughes, carol.hughes@asu.edu
480-965-6375
College of Liberal Arts and Sciences

Arizona State University has again placed high in the number of master’s and doctoral degrees awarded to minority students, according to figures just published in Diverse: Issues in Higher Education. The magazine’s annual rankings of “The Top 100 Graduate Degree Producers” were published in their July 2011 issue and are based on data from the National Center for Education Statistics.

In mathematics and statistics, ASU ranks first in the nation for doctoral degrees awarded to Hispanics. In the same category last year, ASU was ranked first for master’s degrees to Hispanics in math, indicating that many progress to a doctoral degree. Download Full Image

ASU’s rankings reflect the number of degrees awarded to ethnic minorities in various disciplines compared to other universities across the nation. It is an indication of which programs and disciplines attract and retain the highest number of underrepresented students.

The graduate programs in which ASU ranks highest include mathematics and statistics, education, law, business, architecture, engineering, public administration, and visual and performing arts. ASU also excels in a category called “all disciplines combined,” which summarizes the total number of graduate degrees awarded to ethnic minorities.

Of all ASU’s rankings, 15 appeared in the top 10, and an additional 23 categories were in the top 25. Overall, more than 60 ASU rankings placed in the top 100.

ASU top rankings include:

• Doctorates awarded to Hispanics in mathematics and statistics No. 1
   
• Doctorates awarded to all ethnic minorities in mathematics and statistics No. 2
   
• For Native Americans, master’s degrees awarded for education and law degrees both rank No. 3
   
• Also for Native Americans in all disciplines, the number of master’s degrees awarded ranks No. 4, and No. 5 for doctorates.
   
• Visual and performing arts doctorates awarded to all ethnic minorities ranked at No. 5
   
• Hispanic doctoral degrees in psychology ranked No. 4. Hispanic doctoral degrees in education and all disciplines combined each ranked No.10.
   
• Master’s degrees awarded to African Americans in the liberal arts and sciences ranked No. 14. Engineering master’s degrees to African Americans ranked at No. 46.
   
• Doctoral degrees awarded to Asian Americans ranked at No. 14 in engineering and No. 18 in education. Master’s degrees for the same group in visual and performing arts ranked at No. 15.

Of the more than 13,800 graduate students enrolled at ASU, nearly 22 percent of master’s students  and over 16 percent of doctoral students are from underrepresented or minority ethnic groups.

“Ethnic minority students are pursuing advanced degrees in greater numbers, particularly in fields where they have been traditionally underrepresented,” says Maria T. Allison, Executive Vice Provost for Academic Affairs and Dean of the Graduate College.  “We are committed to creating an environment in which all students can thrive and benefit from a diversity of ideas, experiences and backgrounds.”

Diversity services and support for graduate students include SHADES, a peer-to-peer multicultural mentoring program; Diversity Across the Curriculum (DAC); and the Gates Millennium Scholars Organization (GMSO).

Other graduate diversity support and mentoring groups can be found at graduate.asu.edu/aig.

The first American Indian woman to argue before the U.S. Supreme Court will deliver this fall’s Simon Ortiz and Labriola Center Lecture on Indigenous Land, Culture, and Community. Arlinda Locklear challenged the State of South Dakota on a sovereignty issue in the 1984 U.S. Supreme Court case, Solem v. Bartlett. She will talk about “the development of fundamental principles as applied in tribal land claims and the dramatic changes we're facing,” in a lecture titled “Tribal Land Claims: A Generation of Federal Indian Law on the Edge” at 7 p.m. Oct. 6 at the Heard Museum, 2301 N. Central Ave. in Phoenix.

For 35 years, Locklear, now a Washington, D.C., attorney has represented tribes throughout the U.S., in federal and state courts, on treaty claims to water and land, taxation disputes with states and local authorities, reservation boundary issues, and federal recognition of tribes. Download Full Image

“We are accustomed to the notion that tribal communities are protected under federal law in the permanent and peaceable possession of their lands. While white contact left tribal communities with precious little, we were left with this invaluable barrier against the dominant society,” said Locklear. Now, we may be witnessing the unraveling of this federal protection – not from an act of Congress or the repudiation of treaties, but through judicial activism.”

Locklear, an enrolled member of the Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina, said the injustice she saw as a child inspired her to a career in law.

She earned her law degree from Duke University School of Law and began her legal career with the Native American Rights Fund in Boulder, and later transferred to the Washington, D.C., office. As directing attorney for seven years there, Locklear supervised significant litigation of Indian issues as well as the legislative work of the office.

In addition to the lecture, Locklear will be the guest of the Labriola National American Indian Data Center during a meet-and-greet at 10 a.m. Oct. 6. The Labriola Center is located on the second floor of Hayden Library on ASU’s Tempe campus. The Indian Legal Program in the Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law will hold a presentation and reception at 2 p.m. in the Faculty Center (Room 266) in Armstrong Hall.

The lecture and campus events are sponsored by Arizona State University’s American Indian Studies Program and Department of English in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, the American Indian Policy Institute; Indian Legal Program in the Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law; Labriola National American Indian Data Center; Faculty of History in the School of Historical, Philosophical, and Religious Studies; and Women and Gender Studies in the School of Social Transformation; with support from the Heard Museum.

More information is available at the series website: http://english.clas.asu.edu/indigenous or at 480-965-7611.

Written by Carrie Grant.

MEDIA CONTACT:
Kristen LaRue, Kristen.LaRue@asu.edu
480-965-7611
Department of English
College of Liberal Arts and Sciences

At E2 Camp, the orientation camp for freshmen in Arizona State University’s Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering, students are told to immediately begin thinking of themselves as full-fledged members of the engineering community.

“Traditionally, students have had to get through two or three years of classes before engineering schools started letting them feel like they might be good enough to be let into  the club,” said Paul Johnson, dean of the Fulton Schools, to students at an E2 Camp session last summer. Download Full Image

In breaking with that tradition, Johnson said: “We want you to think of yourselves as engineers from day one at ASU.”

As part of establishing that new tradition, ASU’s engineering schools recently presented its second annual Engineering Career Exploration Night for freshmen.

Such an event is typically geared for juniors and seniors, “but we want to create a sense of community among our first-year students, and help them develop an identity for themselves as future engineers,” said Robin Hammond, director of the Fulton Schools’ Engineering Career Center.

Generational bridge

Career Exploration Night is a pivotal part of the “reinvention of the first-year experience” under the direction of professor James Collofello, one of the Fulton Schools' associate deans and director of Academic and Student Affairs.

More than 1,100 freshmen attended the Sept. 8 event, where they had the opportunity to talk to almost 200 professional engineers and other representatives from more than 80 companies, government agencies and industry associations.

Intel, Microsoft, Boeing, IBM, Honeywell, Lockheed Martin, Black & Decker and Amazon.com were among major corporations who sent representatives to meet with ASU freshman engineering students.

American Express, Banner Health, Cleveland Electrical Laboratories, Arizona Public Service Co., Salt River Project, Southwest Gas, the Arizona Department of Transportation and the Central Intelligence Agency also were represented.

“These are all very busy people. So we’ve been thrilled about how many of them want to be a part of this event," said Joyce Donahue, a career advising coordinator for the Fulton Schools. "They really are interested in meeting and helping the next generation of engineers.”

Engineering fundamentals

“The emphasis is on giving students a look at all the cool things engineers get to do,” Hammond said. “They hear about engineers who are inventors, engineers who are entrepreneurs, engineers who are CEOs.”

And they heard all that and more directly from working engineers.

“Students need to understand that success will take more than technical skills, because many specific kinds of technical skills now become obsolete every several years,” said Max Nerheim, who gave the event’s opening address.

Nerheim is vice president of research and a technical fellow for Taser International, the self-defense and personal safety products and technology company. He earned a master’s degree and a doctorate degree in electrical engineering from ASU.

He told students that being capable of teaming with professionals in many other fields – both within and outside engineering – is essential in today’s fast-changing global economy.

“I tell them they have to be more than a good student getting good grades in classes,” Nerheim said. “A true engineer is a collaborator and a master at teamwork.”

Beyond technical expertise

Rene Bermudez, a project engineer for Phoenix-based Meadow Valley Contractors, had a similar message for young students.

“My advice is to get involved. Get involved in student engineering organizations, get internships that let you explore different aspects of the field of engineering you’re majoring in,” said Bermudez, who earned his degree in civil engineering from ASU in 2008.

He found his job through contacts he made while working with the ASU student chapter of the American Society of Civil Engineers.

“The technical education is only a foundation,” Bermudez said. “You have to learn to network, learn leadership skills. That is how you get ahead.”

Decisions about directions

Beyond career advice, engineers at the event talked to students about charting their path through their coming years at the university.

“I started in electrical engineering and then went into aerospace” before changing course again and zeroing in on earning a degree in civil engineering at ASU in 1993, recalled Jayme Chapin, who’s now a senior civil engineer for the city of Glendale.

“So I know how hard it can be at a young age to figure out what your thing is,” she said. “I think it’s really valuable for students to hear from experienced engineers about the work they do. That could be so important in helping them make good decisions about the direction they will go in.”

Dave Chapin, also a 1993 ASU civil engineering graduate, now working for Tpac, a division of Kiewit, a major building contractor, said many students need help “simply understanding what they are getting into” by majoring in engineering.

“Some know exactly what they want to do and some have only a general idea,” he said. “But they all need to know more about what they should focus on” in their studies and extracurricular pursuits to emerge as viable job candidates.

Jump-start for career plans

“I love this kind of event for freshman,” said Patrick O’Leske, a civil engineering major. “I found it useful for information about my future career. Most of the people I spoke to were friendly and provided as much information as they could, though it was so busy you had to wait five to ten minutes for them to be available.”

Engineering management major Justin Hennis said the event was valuable for “giving you a good heads-up about what is coming in the future” for engineering students, “and what to expect when it’s time to look for a job.”

Hennis said the event could have been managed more effectively by having industry representatives talk to groups of several students at arranged times, “rather than everyone scrambling all around. But I think this is great program and it should continue.”

Career Center director Hammond said her office already is at work on ways to enhance the experience at next year’s freshmen Career Exploration Night.

“Students are hearing first-hand from people who are doing the kinds of work they will be doing after they graduate,” she said. “This can be an extremely valuable first step in career planning.”

For more information, see http://new.engineering.asu.edu/asu101/career-exploration.

Diverse American music selections, including gospel, rock and barbershop, will be performed by local musicians and singers from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m., Sept. 17, at ASU’s Tempe campus. Project Humanities at ASU will present this special series of performances and conversations, titled “Lift Every Voice and Sing,” in the Old Main Carson Ballroom. The event is free and open to the public.

“The sheer range of musical talent on tap for Saturday's celebration of American music forms is quite stunning, and it's all local talent,” said Neal Lester coordinator of Project Humanities and dean of humanities in ASU’s College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. “Too often, we imagine the best talent being somewhere else, and we are fortunate to have international champion barbershop groups right here in the Valley sharing their music and helping us tease out what makes American music ’American,’” he said. Download Full Image

The artists include the Scottsdale Chorus; the barbershop quartet Audacity; two gospel groups, Redeemed and The McHenry Singers; and Terry Hummer and Billy Cioffi combining rock and poetry as AmeriCamera.

Lester noted that the diversity of the performers involved is an important element of the event. “Indeed, the afternoon intends to get at that very point – to bring diverse audiences together who wouldn't ordinarily be in the same space to witness the aspects of human expression through music that connects and affects us often in very profound and unexplainable ways,” he said. ”The hope as well is to interrogate how region, gender, race, economics, and even sexuality play out in American music forms.”

Parking to this event is free in the ASU Fulton Center parking structure at the northeast corner of College Avenue and University Drive, across the street from Old Main. Saturday afternoon’s performance concludes a week of events to kick off the fall schedule for Project Humanities at ASU. Information about future events on all four ASU campuses and at neighborhood venues is online at http://humanities.asu.edu.

Below is information about Saturday’s performers.

The Scottsdale Chorus takes familiar melodies, blends in three parts of close harmony, and adds innovative choreography and glittering costumes to deliver barbershop-style arrangements. More than 100 women from cities across Arizona bring their musical passion and energy to the stage under the direction of Lori Lyford. The chorus earned its fourth gold medal at the Sweet Adelines International Chorus Competition in October 2010 and has ranked third place or higher in each of the 15 international competitions in which it has competed since 1975.

Audacity is a Phoenix area barbershop quartet whose easy musical style and warm, full sound helped win the 2009 international seniors quartet championship. Formed in 2007, the group consists of tenor John Fynmore of Phoenix, lead singer Byron Bennett of Mesa, baritone Fraser Brown of Phoenix, and bass Greg Dodge of Tempe, all long-time members of the Greater Phoenix Chapter of the Barbershop Harmony Society.

Redeemed is a quintet of female gospel singers that was formed in 2004. Since then, members of the vocalist group have opened for various performances in the Phoenix area. The group specializes in Christian ministry through the use of contemporary gospel music.

The family group, The McHenry Singers, was officially formed in Phoenix in 2009. Albert and Annette McHenry, their daughters Joan Sherwood and Janet Parker, and Marc Parker sing traditional gospel and spiritual songs with piano accompaniment from Mary Francis Clay. In November 2010, the group released its first album, “Of Thee I Sing.”

The group AmeriCamera is comprised of Terry Hummer, an ASU English professor and musician, and Billy Cioffi, a musician and writer. The AmeriCamera Project deals with multiple arts including poetry, prose, music and photography. Hummer, a poet and saxophonist, combines his creative talents with Cioffi, a musician, composer and stage director who is pursuing a master’s degree in English literature. For “Lift Every Voice and Sing,” AmeriCamera will present a combination of poetry and rock.

Saturday’s multi-faceted concert and conversation will be moderated by two ASU faculty members: Matthew Whitaker, a history professor and founding director of the Center for the Study of Race and Democracy, and Richard Mook, an assistant professor in the School of Music in ASU’s Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts.

Written by Evan Lewis.

MEDIA CONTACT
Carol Hughes, carol.hughes@asu.edu
480-965-6375
College of Liberal Arts and Sciences

Luis Valdez’s riveting play with music and dance portrays the life of a young man who is falsely accused of murder after the infamous 1943 Los Angeles Zoot Suit riots. As the play unfolds, the spirit of the indigenous Pachuco guides him towards self-understanding.

“This vibrant work from one of our premiere playwrights speaks to the rest of our season," says Jacob Pinholster, director of the School of Theatre and Film. "We are embracing new ideas, new energy and new directions. Come out and see what we have to offer!” Download Full Image

The Zoot Suit Riots were a series of upheavals that erupted during WWII between military personnel stationed in LA and civilian Latino youths, who were recognizable by the flamboyant and romantic “zoot suits” they favored. The riots triggered similar attacks against Latinos across the nation.

Andrés Alcala, the play’s director, characterizes the events as racial profiling, and notes the relevance of the material today.

“The fantastic circumstances and characters unfold in a time when some 300 ‘Zoot Suiters’ were placed behind bars in hopes of finding answers to a murder.” Alcala says. “They were arrested simply because of the way they were dressed. The press distorted the facts and created an image of what was to be feared … and many Mexican-Americans were attacked simply because of what they wore.”

Where
Lyceum Theatre, 901. S. Forest Mall, ASU Tempe campus

When
7:30 p.m., Oct. 7-8, 14-15 and 21-22; 2 p.m., Oct. 16

Cost
$8–$16; Seniors, ASU faculty, staff and students receive special rates. Special discounts for groups available.

Following Zoot Suit, the MainStage Centennial Season will present:

The AZ Centennial Plays
Directed by Dan Schay
Oct. 21-30, 2011
Nelson Fine Arts Center Room 133, ASU Tempe campus
We asked playwrights across the country to reflect on their views of Arizona in its 100th year of statehood — and to write their impressions down in short plays. The results will surprise you, offend you, and/or delight you. This collection of one-act plays features something for everyone. Part of the Arizona Centennial Project New Works Series. This show contains mature language and themes and may not be appropriate for younger audiences.

The Misanthrope, adapted from Moliere’s classic comedy, by Lauren Marshall
Directed by William Partlan
Nov. 12 - Dec. 4, 2011
Paul V. Galvin Playhouse, ASU Tempe campus
Moliere meets Metallica in this delightful heavy-metal adaptation of the classic comedy, in which a young rocker becomes a misanthrope when he can’t withstand the hypocritical rules and games of the music scene. It’s Moliere, it’s rock ‘n roll and we like it. This show contains mature language and themes and may not be appropriate for younger audiences.

Untold Stories / Unsung Heroes by Jeremiah Neal
Directed by Pam Sterling
Feb. 10-19, 2012
Lyceum Theatre, ASU Tempe campus
The untold history and imagined future of Arizona as a state — and a state of mind — is featured in this dramatic exploration that uses old-fashioned storytelling and music combined with cutting-edge digital images and spoken-word performances. Part of the Arizona Centennial Project New Works Series.

American Victory by Jose Zarate, adapted from the book American Victory by Henry Cejudo with Bill Plaschke
Directed by Guillermo Reyes
March 2-11, 2012
Nelson Fine Arts Center Room 133, ASU Tempe campus
Raised in a family of immigrants in Phoenix, Henry Cejudo wrestles his way to local and national championships, and goes all the way to the Beijing Olympics in 2008. A true story about a local young man’s struggle for American identity and the quest for Olympic gold. Part of the Arizona Centennial Project New Works Series.

The House of the Spirits by Caridad Svich, based on the international best-selling novel by Isabel Allende
Directed by Rachel Bowditch
April 5-15, 2012
Paul V. Galvin Playhouse, ASU Tempe campus
The haunting novel by Isabel Allende comes to the stage in this fascinating adaptation, showing the struggles of a landed, privileged family in a South American nation, as three generations of women face up to a powerful patriarch and dictatorship in the 20th Century.

The 7th Annual Student Film Festival
Directed by F. Miguel Valenti
April, 23-24, 2012
Valley Art Theatre, 509 S. Mill Ave., Tempe, Ariz.
This traditionally sold-out event showcases the work of dozens of filmmakers eager to see their work on the big screen. The festival highlights the best emerging talent in Film & Media Production in the ASU School of Theatre and Film, the first in the nation to offer an ethical approach to filmmaking. Audience members can pick their favorite in the 10-minute film competition. This event is co-sponsored by the ASU Student Film Association.

The School of Theatre and Film in the Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts at Arizona State University provides a comprehensive range of courses in performance and directing; design and production; new work development; theatre and performance studies; film; and theatre for youth. Its Theatre for Youth program is nationally ranked in the top three and the dramatic writing/playwriting program is ranked 15th among public institutions by U.S.News & World Report. To learn more about the School of Theatre and Film, visit theatrefilm.asu.edu.

Public Contact
Herberger Institute box office, 480.965.6447
School of Theatre and Film. 480.965.5337
http://mainstage.asu.edu

Media Contact:
Laurie A. Trotta Valenti, laurie.trotta@asu.edu
ASU Herberger Institute
School of Theatre and Film
480.965.3381

Letisha Yazzie says supervisors at the power plant where she did a 10-week internship this past summer told her she did a good job mastering the technical skills required to do her job, “but they said I was too quiet and I need to work on being more vocal.”

The Arizona State University chemical engineering student is taking on that challenge as she begins her junior year in ASU’s Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering. Download Full Image

Yazzie, a member of the Navajo Nation, may not alter her soft-spoken demeanor but she’s still intent on making herself heard.

Yazzie is the new president of the ASU student chapter of the American Indian Science and Engineering Society (AISES), and she has plans to ramp up the group’s activities and amplify its voice as an advocate for its members.

She’ll represent ASU and members of the university’s AISES chapter at the AISES national conference in Minneapolis in November. Under her leadership, the ASU chapter will host a regional conference in April that will gather AISES members from throughout Colorado, Utah, New Mexico and Arizona.

She’s working with ASU’s Engineering Career Center and American Indian Student Support Services (AISSS) to establish a mentorship program designed to meet needs of American Indian students.

“The mentoring project can have a really positive impact on these students,” says career center director Robin Hammond. “Letisha’s leadership style may be understated, but she has the resolve and the passion to help make it successful.”

Yazzie’s plans also include efforts to expand the chapter’s connections to industry, specifically companies that are potential employers for engineering students after graduation.

The AISES chapter – with a current membership of about 25  -- “is still a fledgling group, but I know [Yazzie] wants to it to be much more active,” says AISSS director Michael Begaye.

Though her studies in coming semesters will include some of the more rigorous courses in the engineering program,  Yazzie says she’s taking on the extra duties outside the classroom “to build my leadership skills, because after I graduate I want go back and be a leader” for the Navajo Nation.

Yazzie has already been preparing for that role. In addition to pursuing an engineering degree, she’s working to earn a minor in American Indian Studies.

She recalls being cautioned about the burden of additional studies, but is determined to press on.  “I am just really committed,” she says, to gaining skills that will prepare her to aid her community.

She says her strong motivation arose from becoming aware of how American Indians have often been stereotyped as less than capable of making meaningful contributions to society, particularly in areas of science, engineering and technology.

Yazzie’s training in those areas got a boost during her summer internship at the Four Corners Power Plant, located on Navajo land in northwestern New Mexico.

Operated by Arizona Public Service Co, it’s one of the largest coal-fired power generating stations in the United States and provides electricity to about 300,000 households in four states.

Yazzie’s assignment was to help monitor the chemical processes designed to reduce potentially polluting emissions resulting from plant operations.

She learned not only about roles engineers play in power plant operations, but got a feel for the challenges of managing a large business and the impact of large utility providers on surrounding communities.

“I learned a lot of vital information about what kind of work my degree could lead to,” Yazzie says. “It got me even more interested in chemistry and engineering, and gave me encouragement that I can achieve something.”

The Seeking Justice in Arizona lecture series kicks off on Sept. 15, when Phoenix attorney David C. Tierney will address "Mississippi Civil Rights in the Mid-Sixties: Lessons for Today," at 4 p.m., in the Farmer Education Building, room 320, on ASU's Tempe campus.

The annual lecture series is sponsored by Justice and Social Inquiry in the School of Social Transformation, an academic unit of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. The series brings the campus and community together to explore justice issues of national concern that have special importance to Arizona.  Download Full Image

Tierney, a partner in the firm of Sachs Tierney since 1974, practices primarily in commercial construction law and as a mediator/arbitrator. A former Peace Corps volunteer, he chairs the Restorative Justice Resources Council, is past chairman of the Alternative Dispute Resolution Section of the State Bar, and president of the Arizona Coalition for Tomorrow. Tierney's community involvement has earned him numerous awards, including an Arizona Hon Kachina Volunteer Award in 1998 and the Judge Learned Hand Award from the American Jewish Committee in 2011.

October's lecture will feature Robin Reineke, a doctoral candidate and NSF Foundation Fellow in cultural anthropology at the University of Arizona. Reineke, who researches transnational migration, forensic human identification, and "race" and human variation, is working on a project with the Office of the Pima County Medical Examiner to identify the remains of 600 deceased individuals found in southern Arizona over the last decade. Her lecture, titled "When Just Practices Are Optional: The Decentralization of Identifying Migrant Remains," will be held at 4 p.m., Oct. 26, in the Education Lecture Hall (EDC) room 117. 

On Nov. 16, the series concludes with a lecture by Rebecca Tsosie (Yaqui), professor and Willard H. Pedrick Distinguished Research Scholar in ASU's Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law, on "The Politics of Inclusion: Indigenous Peoples and American Citizenship." It will be held at 4 p.m., in EDC 117. Tsosie has served as executive director of ASU's renowned Indian Legal Program since 1996 and has published widely on issues related to tribal sovereignty, environmental policy, and cultural rights – most recently about Native rights to genetic resources.

All lectures are free and open to the public and include time following the formal remarks to interact with the speakers. For more information contact Jennifer.Brown@asu.edu in the School of Social Transformation, 480-727-8714.

American music and the way in which it helps define human dimensions will take center stage during the fall kickoff of Project Humanities at Arizona State University. A weeklong celebration of jazz, blues, rock, gospel and more begins Sept. 13. Special performances and discussions are also planned. Local talent, including blues icon Bob Corritore, and leading scholars such as Mississippi blues expert William R. Ferris, will be featured in the universitywide initiative.

“In a world that is often too complicated for us to know the answers to all of the questions, the humanities give us the tools to make sense of who we are, where we are, why we are here,” said Neal A. Lester, coordinator of Project Humanities and dean of humanities in ASU’s College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. Download Full Image

“ASU launched Project Humanities last semester with a goal to engage students, faculty, staff and the community in conversations about the impact of everyday humanities in action,” said Lester. “To kick off the fall activities we are celebrating music to reinforce the Project Humanities effort to explore the multitude of ways in which human experiences are shared. There is a clear sense that music – with or without words – connects us and defines our human experience in ways that other forms of creative expression do not.”

Among the first of the events is a multimedia concert performance by the Langston Hughes Project at 7:30 p.m. Sept. 13 in Old Main Carson Ballroom on ASU’s Tempe campus. This performance of the Langston Hughes kaleidoscopic jazz poem suite “Ask Your Mama” is an homage in verse and music to the struggle for artistic and social freedom at home and abroad in the early 1960s. The performance features the Ron McCurdy Quartet and acclaimed Valley storyteller Fatimah Halim.

“When I saw a version of this program at ASU some years ago, I was blown away by the impact the performance had on the audience. Folks smiled, laughed, and were sometimes in tears,” said Lester. “It is a performance that teaches as it entertains and delivers a punch that folks will remember for a long time.”

Closing out the Project Humanities kickoff week is a special Saturday musical performance and conversation titled “Lift Every Voice and Sing.” It features local talent including the Scottsdale Chorus, and groups Audacity and Redeemed, as well as the McHenry Singers. Terry Hummer and Billy Cioffi as AmeriCamera will blend poetry and rock during the 3-5 p.m. event on ASU’s Tempe campus in Old Main Carson Ballroom.

“The Saturday lineup is very diverse and we hope that the audience will be equally diverse. We hope that folks will enjoy the music, the singing, and the conversation that punctuate these diverse performances with historical context and social context,” said Lester.

Other events are scheduled for the ASU Downtown Phoenix campus and the ASU Kerr Cultural Center in Scottsdale. Most of the events are free and all are open to the public. The schedule for the fall kickoff is below. Additional information about these and other activities scheduled throughout the fall semester are online at http://humanities.asu.edu.

Native American Music and Dance
6-7:30 p.m., Sept. 13, Civic Park, ASU Downtown Phoenix campus.
Estun Bah with flutist and world champion hoop dancer Tony Duncan will be performing.

The Langston Hughes Project “Ask Your Mama”
7:30-9 p.m., Sept. 13, Old Main Carson Ballroom, ASU Tempe campus.
Multimedia concert performance of the Langston Hughes kaleidoscopic jazz poem suite – “Ask Your Mama.” An homage in verse and music to the struggle for artistic and social freedom at home and abroad in the early 1960s. Featuring acclaimed Valley storyteller Fatimah Halim.

BLUES @ the MU
11:30 a.m.-1 p.m., Sept. 14, Memorial Union North Plaza Stage, ASU Tempe campus.
Performance by the Blues Review Band, featuring Mike (Bluesman) Anderson.

The Jazz Singer (1927)
6-7:30 p.m., Sept. 14, CRONKITE-128, ASU Downtown Phoenix campus.
Film and discussion.

Memory and Sense of Place in the Blues
3-4:30 p.m., Sept. 15, West Hall 135, ASU Tempe campus.
Lecture by Mississippi blues expert William R. Ferris, leading scholar in Southern Studies and African American music and folklore; senior associate director of the Center for the Study of the American South, and professor at UNC Chapel Hill.

Mexican American Music and Masks
6-7:30 p.m., Sept. 15, Civic Park, ASU Downtown Phoenix campus.
Zarco Guerrero Family Chicano Musical Group, with Mexican mask maker, Zarco.

Memory and the Blues
7:30-9 p.m., Sept. 15, ASU Kerr Cultural Center 6110 N. Scottsdale Road, Scottsdale.
Musical performance and conversation followed by Q&A with Dave Riley, renowned Mississippi blues musician; Bob Corritore, the Valley's own local blues icon and best blues harmonica player and owner of the famous Phoenix Blues and Roots concert club, the Rhythm Room; moderated by William R. Ferris, Mississippi blues expert, professor at UNC Chapel Hill.
$10 General admission, $7 Students
ASU Kerr Cultural Center Box Office: 480-596-2660, http://www.asukerr.com.

Celebrating American Music, "Lift Every Voice and Sing"
3-5 p.m., Sept. 17, Old Main Carson Ballroom, ASU Tempe campus.
Conversation and performances of barbershop, traditional and contemporary gospel, and rock – featuring the Scottsdale Chorus, Audacity, Redeemed, the McHenry Singers, and Terry Hummer and Billy Cioffi as AmeriCamera, blending of poetry and rock. Moderated by Matthew Whitaker, ASU professor of history, and Richard Mook, ASU professor of music.
Free parking for this event. Free and open to the public.

Written by Meghan Fern.

MEDIA CONTACT
Carol Hughes, carol.hughes@asu.edu
480-965-6375

On Sept. 1, professor Mary Romero was the featured guest on "Think," a daily topic-driven interview program on KERA, North Texas Public Radio.

Download the podcast of this compelling conversation between interviewer Krys Boyd and Romero as they discuss Romero's newly released book "The Maid's Daughter: Living Inside and Outside the American Dream."

The author reveals the many struggles for identity that "Olivia" experienced as the Mexican-American child of an immigrant live-in domestic worker in an Anglo family in Los Angeles – from her experiences as a young child and into adulthood. She also discusses the strain on the mother-daughter relationship when the parent is, essentially, always on duty and helping care for the employers' children.