Yale Bulletin and Calendar

April 5-12, 1999

Volume 27, Number 27

Berkeley scholar to deliver Franz Rosenzweig Lectures

Robert Alter, the Class of 1937 Professor of Hebrew and Comparative Literature at the University of California, Berkeley, will deliver the 1999 Franz Rosenzweig Lectures, which are presented by the Program in Judaic Studies. The title of the three-part series is "Recasting the Canon: Modern Writing and the Authority of Scripture."

The lectures, which are free and open to the public, will take place on Monday, April 5 and 12, and Wednesday, April 14, at 8 p.m. in Rm. 208 of the Whitney Humanities Center, 35 Wall St. The first lecture will focus on Franz Kafka; the second will deal with the Hebrew poet H.N. Bialik; and the final lecture will center on James Joyce.

A literary critic as well as a translator, Alter is the author of more than 20 publications. Among his recent books are "Genesis: Translation and Commentary," "Hebrew and Modernity," "The World of Biblical Literature," "Necessary Angels: Tradition and Modernity in Kafka,"and "The Pleasures of Reading in an Ideological Age." He is coeditor with Frank Kermode of "Literary Guide to the Bible."

Federal judge will discuss courtroom dilemmas

The Honorable Kimba M. Wood, a judge for the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, will deliver the Law School's 1999 Robert P. Anderson Memorial Lecture on Tuesday, April 6. Her lecture, titled "Dilemmas In District Court Judging," will begin at 4:30 p.m. in Rm. 127 of the Law School, 127 Wall St. The event is free and open to the public.

Before she was named a federal judge, Wood worked for the New York City firm of LeBoeuf, Lamb, Leiby & MacRae 1971-88. At the time, she was one of a small number of women specializing in antitrust law. She received national attention in 1990 as the judge who sentenced junk-bonds trader Michael Milkin for violations of securities laws. Several years later, President Bill Clinton considered Wood for the post of U.S. Attorney General. Wood ultimately withdrew as a candidate amid accusations that she had not been forthcoming during her interview process about her hiring of an illegal alien as a domestic worker. (Her nomination came after it was disclosed that Clinton's first nominee had not paid taxes on a household worker who was an illegal immigrant; Wood had hired an illegal alien before it was unlawful to do so and had paid social security taxes.)

Wood began her career as an attorney working for the Washington, D.C. firm of Steptoe & Johnson. She became a federal judge in 1988 at the age of 44, making her the youngest among the judges of the Manhattan federal court.

Installation/performance artist to speak about technology

Perry Hoberman, an installation and performance artist who has been called one of the foremost media artists in the country for his work in the media of virtual reality, will speak on the topic "Unobstructed Obstacles and Inextricable Difficulties" on Tuesday, April 6. His talk is part of the series " ... With Technological Means: Artists, Theorists and Curators Working in New Media," sponsored by the Digital Media Center for the Arts.

Hoberman's talk will begin at 6:30 p.m. in Hastings Hall of the Art and Architecture Building, 180 York St. It is free and open to the public.

Hoberman's work has been exhibited widely throughout the United States and Europe. Last year, a retrospective survey of his work, titled "Unexpected Obstacles," was exhibited at the ZKM Mediamuseum in Karlsruhe, Germany, and at the Gallery Otso in Espoo, Finland. Two recent works, "Systems Maintenance" and "Lightpools or El Ball del Fanalet," premiered in Enland and Spain, respectively.

Hoberman served from 1992 to 1995 as art director of Telepresence Research, a company specializing in virtual reality applications. He has taught at the San Francisco Art Institute, the Cooper Union School of Art and the School of Visual Arts.

Advocate for Asian Americans will talk about social change

Karen K. Narasaki, executive director of the National Asian Pacific American Legal Consortium, will talk on the topic "Working for Change: A Look at Labor and Social Change" on Tuesday, April 6, at 8 p.m. in the Law School's Levinson Auditorium, 127 Wall St. Her talk is free and open to the public.

The National Asian Pacific American Legal Consortium is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization which works to advance the legal and civil rights of Asian Pacific Americans through litigation, public education and public policy. Based in Washington, D.C., its focus is on anti-Asian violence prevention and education, voting rights, immigration, naturalization, affirmative action, language rights and the census.

Narasaki, an alumna of Yale College, joined the Consortium after working as the Washington, D.C. representative for the Japanese American Citizens League, the nation's largest membership-based Asian American civil rights organization. She currently serves as the chairperson of the National Network Against Anti-Asian Violence. She was formerly a corporate attorney in Seattle, Washington.

Artist to lead printmaking classes at British Art Center

Painter and printmaker Nathan Margalit, a visiting artist at Trinity College in Hartford, will present a series of three classes at the Yale Center for British Art during the month of April. The series will examine the techniques, processes, tools and materials of the print medium, as well as the creative choices it offers artists. Each session will include a practical hands-on component. To illustrate the art and technique of printmaking, Margalit will use objects from the new exhibition "Graphic! British Prints Now" and the center's collection of prints and drawings.

The session will take place on consecutive Wednesdays, April 7, 14 and 21, 11 a.m.-12:30 p.m. at the Yale Center for British Art, 1080 Chapel St. Enrollment is limited to 25. The cost of the series is $25 for members of the center, $35 for non-members. To register, call 432-2850.

For many years, Margalit was the head of foundation studies at the Michaelis School of Fine Art at the University of Cape Town in South Africa. Since coming to the United States in 1986, he has been a visiting artist at several colleges in New England, including Amherst and Mount Holyoke. He has conducted many workshops and presentations in the areas of printmaking and painting. Margalit's work has been featured in numerous solo exhibitions and group shows, and been included in museum and touring exhibitions in South Africa, Germany and the United States.

Salt marsh restoration is topic of scientist's talk

John Teal, a scientist emeritus at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute and president of the environmental consulting firm Teal Ltd., will present the next lecture in the series "The Restoration Agenda: Plants!" sponsored by the School of Forestry and Environmental Studies.

His talk, titled "Fish Use and Phragmites in Salt Marsh Restoration," will take place on Wednesday, April 7, 11:30 a.m.-2:20 p.m. in Bowers Auditorium of Sage Hall, 205 Prospect St. The event is open to the public, but there is an admission fee and registration is required. To register, call 432-3335 or e-mail aimlee.laderman@yale.edu.

In his talk, Teal will describe a successful program in Delaware Bay to restore previously diked salt hay farms. In addition, he will examine data on fish use of Spartina and Phragmites marshes to illustrate why restoration of these environments is desirable.

Teal joined the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in 1961 and has been scientist emeritus there since 1995. He specializes in research on coastal wetlands. He is the author of numerous articles and four books, "Life and Death of a Salt Marsh," "Pigeons and People," "Portrait of an Island" and "The Sargasso Sea." The President of the Society of Wetland Scintists, he is currently working on the use of constructed wetlands for wastewater treatment and on marsh restoration in fresh, brackish and salt wetlands.

Talk will explore future of Episcopal-Lutheran relations

The future of Episcopal-Lutheran relations will be the subject of a talk on Thursday, April 8, by William Rusch, director of the Faith and Order Commission of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the U.S.A. The lecture, which is free and open to the public, will begin at 4 p.m. at the Berkeley Center, 363 St. Ronan St. The lecture will be followed by a service of Evening Prayer, which will be followed by a reception.

Rusch will speak about developments since a proposal for full communion between the Episcopal Church and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) was narrowly defeated at the 1997 ELCA national assembly. Rusch was formerly the chief ecumenical officer of the ELCA. Since that vote, the ELCA has developed a revised proposal, "Called to Common Mission," that will be presented to the 1999 ELCA national assembly. (The electronic text of this proposal can be viewed at http://www.elca.org/ea/ccmintro.html). R. William Franklin, dean of the Berkeley Divinity School and a noted authority on Episcopal ecumenical relations, will respond to Rusch.

For more information, contact Paul F. Stuehrenberg at 432-5292.

Leading environmental designer to speak at forestry school

William McDonough, the dean and the Edward E. Elson Professor of Architecture at the University of Virginia, will deliver the final lecture in the 1999 spring lecture series "Corporate Redesign: Approaches to Sustainability," sponsored by the Yale Industrial Environmental Management Program at the School of Forestry and Environmental Studies. His lecture, titled "Corporate Sustainability by Design," will take place on Thursday, April 8, at 4:15 p.m. in Bowers Auditorium of Sage Hall, 205 Prospect St. The event, which is free and open to the public, will be followed by a reception in the Sage Hall lounge.

A graduate of the Yale School of Architecture, McDonough is a world-famous designer whose work ranges from products and buildings to cities and regions. He is the cofounder of McDonough Braungart Design Chemistry and is a principal of William McDonough & Partners Architects.

McDonough has initiated a new approach to ecologically considered design and manufacturing as a step toward what he calls "the next industrial revolution." He created a "Zero Emissions Concept" for the City of Chattanooga and articulated the "Solar City" concept for the City of Atlanta. For DesignTex, a subsidiary of Steelcase, McDonough recently designed a line of environmentally safe fabrics with biodegradable fibers. The fabrics won a Gold Medal at NeoCon 1995, the annual showcase of the contract furniture and fabric industry. In 1996, the designer became the nation's only individual to receive the Presidential Award for Sustainable Development from President Bill Clinton.

Bank president to speak about future of Latin America, Caribbean

Enrique V. Iglesias, president of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), will be the speaker for the 1999 Coca-Cola World Fund at Yale Lecture on Thursday, April 8. His talk, titled "Latin America and the Caribbean on the Threshold of the New Millennium," will be held at 4 p.m. in the auditorium of Luce Hall, 34 Hillhouse Ave. A reception will follow the talk, which is free and open to the public.

Iglesias has been president of the IDB since 1988. In the past year, the bank was involved in providing relief to countries that were damaged by Hurricane Mitch and other natural disasters. Iglesias has been committed to giving priority to social programs and developing new projects, such as those designed to strengthen civil society and improve governance. During his time in office, authorized capital at the IDB has grown from $23 billion to $100 billion, and its annual loan capacity has expanded from $1.5 billion to over $10 billion.

Iglesias previously was minister of external relations for Uruguay, and has also served as executive secretary of the United Nations' Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean. He has received several international honors.

The Coca-Cola World Fund at Yale was established in 1992 to support scholarly endeavors that enhance collaboration among specialists in the fields of international relations, international law and the management of international enterprises and organizations.

Pediatrician to talk about impact of home visitations by nurses

David Olds, professor of pediatrics, psychiatry and preventive medicine at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center in Denver, will give a talk titled "Randomized Trials of Prenatal and Infancy Home Visitation by Nurses" on Friday, April 9. His talk, sponsored by the Bush Center in Child Development and Social Policy, will begin at noon in Rm. 119 of the Hall of Graduate Studies, 320 York St. The event is free and open to the public.

Olds, who also directs the Prevention Research Center for Family and Child Health at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center, has devoted his career to investigating methods of preventing health and developmental problems in children and parents from low-income families. His original work, carried out in Elmira, New York, examined the effects of prenatal and postpartum nurse home visitation on the outcomes of pregnancy, infant caregiving, and maternal life-course development, and determined the impact of those services on government spending. He currently is doing a 19-year follow-up of the Elmira study and is carrying out urban replications in Memphis and in Denver. The Denver trial examines the contributions that paraprofessional and nurse home visitors can make toward improving the health of mothers and children from low-income families.

Olds has received numerous honors for his work, including awards from the National Mental Health Association and the National Institute of Mental Health.

Noted Harvard sociologist will deliver Storrs Lectures

Harvard sociologist Orlando Patterson, whose scholarly work has focused on the subjects of slavery and freedom, will deliver the Law School's 1999 Storrs Lectures Monday-Wednesday, April 12-14. The theme of the lectures, which are free and open to the public, will be "Freedom, Trust and Democracy in America: Historical and Contemporary Explorations."

Patterson's lectures will take place on consecutive days at 4:30 p.m. in Rm. 127 of the Law School, 127 Wall St. His individual lecture topics will be "The Western Chord: Trust and Democracy in the Culture of Freedom," "The Broken Chord: Liberty Against the Democratic State in the Emergence of America" and "The Struggle for Harmony: Trust and Democracy in Contemporary America," respectively. A reception will follow the first lecture in the Law School faculty lounge.

Patterson is the John Cowles Professor of Sociology at Harvard, where he has taught since 1970. He has written eight books, which, in addition to slavery and freedom, have explored such topics as the problems of race and ethnicity, the problems of race, immigration and multiculturalism, and the roots of racism and poverty in Jamaica, Patterson's native home. He wrote several book-length documents on urban poverty, prepared while he served as a special adviser to Prime Minister Michael Manley of Jamaica during the 1970s. Patterson's book "Freedom in the Making of Western Culture" -- the first of a two-volume historical sociology of freedom -- won a National Book Award for nonfiction in 1991. He has also written three novels, including "The Children of Sisyphus."

Newspaper editor to examine U.S.-European Union relations

Richard Lambert, editor-in-chief of the Financial Times, will examine relations between the United States and the European Union in a talk on Tuesday, April 13, at 4 p.m. in the Law School faculty lounge, 127 Wall St. His talk, titled "The U.S.-EU Relationship: Going Off the Rails?" is sponsored by the Law School Knight Journalism Fellows. It is free and open to the public.

Lambert has spent his entire career at the Financial Times since graduating from Balliol College, Oxford, in 1966. His various jobs at the newspaper have included serving as the financial editor and the New York bureau chief. He was appointed editor in 1991. In 1997, he relocated to the United States for a year to lead the paper's editorial expansion in North America. After handing over responsibility to the new U.S. managing editor, Lambert returned to London, where he remains the overall editor of the paper. He is chair of Visiting Arts, a government-supported body which helps bring international culture to the United Kingdom.

T H I SW E E K ' SS T O R I E S

'339 Yale homebuyers -- and counting!
A house becomes a home on Bristol Street
'Private Censorship and Perfect Choice'
Special events pay tribute to Native American culture
A Conversation With a Peace Maker
Improving health of minorities is top priority, Satcher says
The Surgeon General speaks out on some tough issues
Yale Opera to present Verdi's adaptation of Shakespearean comedy
Baltimore Mayor Kurt Schmoke to talk at Divinity School
Graphic! British Prints Now' celebrates state of the art of British printmaking
'Film Fest New Haven to pay tribute to Yale animator
Renowned artists to take part in panel and symposium at Yale Art Gallery
Scholars will share perspectives on issues in South Asia in series of events
Museum hosts recreation of 'Dances for a Building'
Visiting philosopher to present talk
Venclova is honored by the Lithuanian government