The University Scholar Series is co-sponsored by the Office of the Provost, the University Library, and the Spartan Bookstore. This series provides a unique opportunity for showcasing the important research and scholarly activities of SJSU faculty members.

All students, faculty, and staff members are invited to attend these events. Members of the public are welcome as well! Please visit the University Scholar Series website or the University Scholar Series Facebook Page for more information.

Spring 2013 Presenters

	Sally Ashton Wednesday, February 27, 2013, from noon to 1:00pm in MLK 225/229 Current Santa Clara County Poet Laureate Sally Ashton is a lecturer in the English and Creative Writing Departments at SJSU and Editor-in-Chief of DMQ Review, an online journal featuring poetry and art. As Poet Laureate, and as a poet and teacher, she has spent the past several years familiarizing people with poetry and making a case for its place in their lives. Ashton will talk about these experiences and discuss “how a poem means,” her own writing, and how someone might come to enjoy contemporary poetry.
	Natalie Boero Wednesday, March 20, 2013, from noon to 1:00pm in MLK 225/229 Natalie Boero is an associate professor in the Sociology Department. Her book, Killer Fat: Media, Medicine, and  Morals in the American “Obesity Epidemic,” examines how and why obesity has emerged as a public health concern  and national obsession in recent years.  The book enters the world of bariatric surgeries and diet programs to show how common expectations of what bodies should look like help determine what interventions and policies are considered urgent in containing this epidemic.  This book offers an alternate framing of obesity based on the insights of the “Health at Every Size” movement.
	Joel Franks Wednesday, April 24, 2013, from noon to 1:00pm in MLK 225/229 Dr. Joel Franks teaches Asian American Studies and American Studies. He has done extensive research and  writing in the area of Asian Pacific American sports. His most recent work, The Barnstorming Hawaiian Travelers: A Multiethnic Baseball Team Tours the Mainland, 1912-1916, tells the story of a multi-ethnic, multi-racial team of  Hawaiian ballplayers who played across the continental U.S. from 1912 through 1916. This book sheds light on a little known tale of baseball, race, and colonization in the United States during the early decades of the twentieth century.