The WSU Department of Comparative Ethnic Studies will welcome two guest speakers March 29 and 31 to discuss issues ranging from colonization to the future of interdisciplinary studies.
Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o, Distinguished Professor of English and Comparative Literature at the University of California, Irvine, will speak at 5 p.m. Tuesday, March 29, in the Fine Arts Auditorium room 5062. A well-known African novelist, theorist and activist, Thiong’o will speak on the role of scholar in the postcolonial world and how to connect local issues to a larger global focus.
A catered reception will follow Thiong’o’s talk.
Gary Okihiro, Director of the Center for the Study of Ethnicity and Race, and a Professor of International and Public Affairs at Columbia University, will give a talk at 4:15 p.m. Thursday, March 31, in the Smith Center for Undergraduate Education (CUE) room 202.
Okihiro, recipient of the lifetime achievement award from the American Studies Association and past President for the Association for Asian American Studies, is a specialist in Asian-American Studies and Southern Africa. He will discuss current and future thought on American and ethnic studies.
