The Diversity Initiative

• SEMINAR ON MEXICAN HISTORY AND SOCIETY – Professors Emeriti Helen Delpar (History) and Eric Baklanoff (Economics) will offer an interdisciplinary Latin American Studies Program seminar on Mexico during the spring semester. Titled “Mexico: Cordial Partner or Alien Neighbor,” the course aims to provide insight into current issues by offering a multidisciplinary survey of Mexican history and society. The course, which does not appear in the current course catalog, will be offered Tuesdays and Thursdays at 3:30 p.m. in 111 AIME. For more information contact Dr. Lawrence Clayton at 348-1857.

• DOMESTIC VIOLENCE AWARENESS MONTH – The Women’s Resource Center will host a series of events and programs to recognize Domestic Violence Awareness Month throughout October. Members of the campus community are invited to participate in the Purple Ribbon Campaign. The purple ribbon is a symbol used to honor victims and survivors of domestic violence. All interested UA faculty and staff members are encouraged to hang purple ribbons on their office doors, or display a personal ribbon throughout the month. Requests for campus delivery of these ribbons can be made by calling the Women’s Resource Center at 348-5040.

• EVERYWOMAN BOOK CLUB TO DISCUSS VEIL OF ROSES – The Everywoman Book Club, sponsored by the Women’s Resource Center will meet to discuss Veil of Roses by Laura Fitzgerald Thursday, Oct. 25 at noon at the Globe Restaurant in downtown Northport. Veil of Roses follows the journey of a spirited Iranian woman, Tamilia Soroush, who on her 25^th birthday is gifted a one-way ticket to America by her parents. The book’s tension mounts as Tamilia must find an Iranian-born husband before her visa expires. She faces a double-whammy, having fallen in love with her friend Ike, a young American man. The event is open to the community and campus. For more information, please contact the Women’s Resource Center at 348-5040.

WALL STREET JOURNAL EDITOR TO TALK ABOUT BREAKING THE COLOR BARRIER -
Stephanie Capparell, the marketplace editor of the Wall Street Journal
will speak on her book, “The Real Pepsi Challenge: The Inspirational
Story of Breaking the Color Barrier in American Business” at 2:30 p.m.,
Tuesday, October 23 in 205 Gorgas. The talk is co-sponsored by the
department of history, the African-American studies program and the
Colleges of Arts and Science and the Culverhouse College of Commerce and
Business Administration.

The UA Department of Theatre and Dance will present James Baldwin’s powerful play, Amen Corner, about the double-edged sword of righteousness as transformed into a rousing, emotional musical of faith and redemption, with a spine-tingling contemporary gospel score.

Performances will be Oct. 23-27 at 7:30 p.m. and Oct. 27 and 28 at 2 p.m. in the Allen Bales Theatre. Tickets are $6. Although the show is sold out, the department of theatre and dance will sell standby tickets one hour prior to each performance. Standby ticket patrons will be seated if the original ticket holders do not claim their seats by curtain. Those who purchased standby tickets that cannot be seated will be refunded. Following the Saturday matinee is UA’s Talk Back event in which audience members can ask questions of the cast and crew and learn more about the production process. For more information call 348-3400.

Capstone International Center will host coffee hour Friday, Sept. 28 from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. in 121 B.B. Comer Hall.

The event is open to all faculty, staff and students. This week’s coffee hour is sponsored by Graduate Student Services. For more information, contact Sheila Malone at 348-5402.

A public symposium featuring “Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Religion and Conflict”

will be held on Friday, Sept. 28 in 205 Gorgas Library. The symposium brings together experts from different academic disciplines including history, religious studies and English, as well as experts on regions covering Europe, Asia and America, and historical periods. The experts will analyze historical relations between religions and social/political conflict and theories. Recent world events will be tied in with discussions on how religious beliefs and social/political beliefs are connected. This event is free and open to the public. The symposium is sponsored by the departments of history and religious studies with support from the College of Arts and Sciences office of the dean. For more information, contact Dr. Steven Ramey at 348-4218.

The department of history in the College of Arts and Sciences continues its 2007 Chinese Film and Lecture Series: “China Across the Straights.” The next film presentation will be In the Mood for Love (Hong Kong, 2000, by Wong Kar-

wai) on Oct. 3 at 7 p.m. in 205 Gorgas Library. Dr. Anthony Clark, assistant professor of Chinese history, will lecture. The film is about a Hong Kong man and women (new neighbors) who form a tense relationship as they suspect their spouses of infidelity. The film is in Chinese language with English subtitles. For more information contact Clark at 348-1858.

The Moundville Native American Festival, to be held Oct. 3-6 at UA’s Moundville Archaeological Park, celebrates the heritage and culture of Southeastern Indians. This year’s festival musical headliner is Martha Redbone, a blues artist of Choctaw/Shawnee/Cherokee heritage. Redbone, who has played with such artists as Bonnie Raitt, George Clinton and Floyd Westerman, will perform on the festival’s Native American Stage Saturday, Oct. 6 from 11:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. and 2-3 p.m. The four-day festival showcases living history enactments, and interpreters are on hand to explain the site’s prehistoric and archaeological aspects.

School groups are welcome and group rates are available. For more information, phone 205/371-2234 or 205/371-2572.