Pay Attention and Be Astonished: Ethical Action and the Creation of the Public Square

Please note venue change for this presentation
The College of Arts and Humanities and the Kremen School of Education and Human Development present

Dr. William Ayers, Distinguished Professor of Education and Senior University Scholar at University of Illinois at Chicago

Pay Attention and Be Astonished: Ethical Action and the Creation of the Public Square

Date: Friday, April 23, 2010
Time: 2-3:30 PM
Place: Satellite Students’ Union

Open and free to the public

3:30-4:30 Reception and Book signing
Dean's Gallery
Old Music Building

4:30-7:00 PM Film Screening Central Station (1998) and Discussion by Dr. Ayers, McLane 121

Central Station (1998). Director Walter Salles tells a profoundly moving tale of the human spirit. Inside Rio de Janeiro’s bustling Central Station, two very unlikely souls are about to become inextricably linked. When a young boy witnesses his mother’s accidental death, a lonely retired schoolteacher reluctantly takes the child under her wing. Although initially distrustful of each other, the two form an uncommon bond as they venture from the bustling city to Brazil’s barren and remote northeast region in search of the boy’s father. Together, the two embark on a journey of the heart that restores the woman’s spirit and teaches the child precious life lessons. This highly acclaimed film received numerous awards, including a Golden Globe and two Academy Award nominations. In Portuguese with English subtitles. 113 min.

Dr. William Ayers is founder of both the Small Schools Workshop and the Center for Youth and Society, teaches courses in interpretive and qualitative research, urban school change, and teaching and the modern predicament. A graduate of the University of Michigan, the Bank Street College of Education, Bennington College, and Teachers College, Columbia University, Ayers has written extensively about social justice, democracy and education, the cultural contexts of schooling, and teaching as an essentially intellectual, ethical, and political enterprise. He is currently the vice-president of the curriculum division of the American Educational Research Association, and a member of the executive committee of the UIC Faculty Senate.

Ayers' articles have appeared in many journals including the Harvard Educational Review, the Journal of Teacher Education, Teachers College Record, Rethinking Schools, The Nation, Educational Leadership, the New York Times and the Cambridge Journal of Education. His has authored and co-authored several books including To Teach: The Journey of a Teacher (Teachers College Press, 1993), which was named Book of the Year in 1993 by Kappa Delta Pi and won the Witten Award for Distinguished Work in Biography and Autobiography in 1995.

College of Arts and Humanities
California State University Fresno

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