The Archives and Special Collections unit of the Library is proud to host a series of “Author Talks” to give CSI authors an opportunity to discuss the research that went into their books. The next “Author Talks” event will take place on Thursday, Nov. 12 in the Library (Building 1L), Room 216 at 1:30pm.

Featured speakers include:

Grace M. Cho, Department of Sociology, Anthropology, and Social Work: Haunting the Korea Diaspora: Shame, Secrecy, and the Forgotten War, University of Minnesota Press, 2008. 

Since the Korean War-the forgotten war-more than a million Korean women have acted as sex workers for U.S. servicemen. More than 100,000 women married GIs and moved to the United States. Through intellectual vigor and personal recollection, Haunting the Korean Diaspora explores the repressed history of emotional and physical violence between the United States and Korea and the unexamined reverberations of sexual relationships between Korean women and American soldiers.

Elizabeth B. Greene, Office of Campus Planning: The Greenwood Encyclopedia of Homes through American History, Volume II, Greenwood Press, 2008. 

Beginning with the homes of the first European settlers to the North American colonies, and concluding with the latest trends in construction and design of houses and apartments in the United States, Homes through American History is a four-volume set intended for a general audience. From tenements to McMansions, from wattle-and-daub construction in early New England to sustainable materials for “green housing,” these books provide a rich historical tour through housing in the United States. Divided into ten historical periods, the series explores a variety of home types and issues within a social, historical, and political context.

Charles Liu Department of Engineering Science and Physics: The Handy Astronomy Answer Book, Visible Ink Press, 2008. 

From planetary movements and the exploration of our solar system to black holes and dark matter, this comprehensive reference  is an ideal companion for students, teachers, and amateur astronomers, answering more than 800 questions, such as Is the universe infinite? What would happen to you if you fell onto a black hole? What are the basic concepts of Einstein’s special theory of relativity? and Who was the first person in space?

Terry Rowden Department of English: The Songs of Blind Folk: African American Musicians and the Culture of Blindness, University of Michigan Press, 2009. 

The Songs of Blind Folk explores the ways that the lives and careers of blind and visually impaired African American musicians and singers have mirrored the changes in this country’s image of African Americans and the social positioning and possibilities of the entire Black community. The book offers a historically grounded consideration of African American performers and their audiences, and the ways that blindness, like Blackness, has affected the way the music has been produced and received.

This event is co-sponsored by the Office of the Provost/Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs.