Rebecca Solnit will talk about the often-overlooked aspects of the human psyche fed by public life, the need for purpose and belonging, and the intense joy when they arise, looking at the extraordinary communities that arise in disaster, the huge wave of emotion during last year's election, and the larger questions about civil society and privatization that arise from these case studies.

UICG provides K-12 educators with a comprehensive resource to teach the unique history and culture of Utah's Ute, Navajo, Goshute, Southern Paiute, and Northwest Band of the Shoshone nations. A printed copy of the Guide, which focuses on fourth grade, seventh grade, and tenth/eleventh grade, has been sent to every public and private school in Utah.

If you have a child in the Utah education system and would like to see these materials taught in her or his classroom, we ask that you inform their social studies teacher about the UICG. By making each lesson plan grade-leveled, tied to NCSS Standards, Utah State Standards, and Accreditation Competencies, and by providing detailed objectives and procedures that include the optional use of KUED's five new documentaries about Utah's tribes, we have gone to considerable lengths to the Guide attractive to K-12 educators. I'm pleased to say that we have already received positive feedback from the teachers who have worked with the materials we have developed. We would also appreciate you mentioning to your children's teachers that in coordination with school districts and the USOE, the AWC is offering workshops on teaching Utah Indian history and culture throughout the fall. They can sign up for those workshops at www.utahindians.org.

For those of you that interested in Utah or American Indian history or culture, or that have students who might want to do research on these subjects, I encourage you to peruse the full range of resources available at www.utahindians.org. Besides a linked and downloadable version of the 269 page guide, the site contains six innovative digital maps that, like the Guide itself, present the history of the West from an indigenous perspective. The website also provides entry into the Utah American Indian Digital Archive (UAIDA), a research tool developed over the last two years by the American West Center and J. Willard Marriott Library Special Collections. UAIDA offers keyword-searchable access to thousands of maps, photographs, oral histories, books, articles, and government and tribal documents related to Utah's American Indian communities.

Award-winning photojournalist Zoriah will give a lecture and photo presentation titled "Against the Grain: Images from Conflict Zones" on Tuesday, Sept. 22 at 5:15 p.m. in the Carolyn Tanner Irish Humanities Building on the U of U campus. He will discuss his documentation of human crises around the world. An exhibit of Zoriah's images will accompany the lecture. Zoriah's photographs have been featured in The New York Times, BBC News, The Wall Street Journal and other media outlets. (www.zoriah.com)

Croatian-Swiss poet Dragica Rajčić, who has emerged as an innovative female voice in German transnational literature, will give a public reading in English, German and Croatian on Monday, October 19 at 5:30 p.m. in the Carolyn Tanner Irish Humanities Building on the U of U campus. The poet, a resident of Switzerland since fleeing war in Croatia in 1991, has received numerous awards for her poetry and has been praised for her sharp irony and cutting insight. "Home," she claims, "is in language, not a place defined by geographical boundaries." Her breakthrough style in poetic experimentation is epitomized by its "broken German". (http://www.edition8.ch/autoren/Rajcic.html)

The series concludes Monday, Nov. 16 at 7 p.m. in the Utah Museum of Fine Arts Marcia and John Price Museum Building Auditorium, with Adelina Anthony's one-woman performance, "La Angry Xicana." It addresses trauma, memory, gender, race/ ethnicity and migration. She believes access to a progressive education and transgressive art empowers individuals and communities. (www.adelinaanthony.com)

The "Border Crossings" series is organized by professors Karin Baumgartner, Angela Espinosa, Gema Guevara, and Eric Laursen of the Department of Languages and Literature and made possible by generous funding from the Dee Council. The Thomas D. Dee II Endowment provides funds for projects that improve teaching in the College of Fine Arts and the College of Humanities at the University of Utah. Other sponsors are the College of Humanities, the Tanner Humanities Center, the Middle East Center, the Office of Diversity, International Studies, Latin American Studies, Peace and Conflict Studies, and Gender Studies.

For more information on the series, visit www.languages.utah.edu.