AUTHOR TO VISIT IOWA LAKES COMMUNITY COLLEGE
 

A famous author will visit Iowa Lakes Community College early next month to talk about his book which discusses diversity in the small northeast Iowa town of Postville. Stephen Bloom will speak at three locations on Thursday, Feb. 5.  Bloom's book, "Postville: A Clash of Cultures in Heartland America," is this year's 'Core Book' at Iowa Lakes.  (See accompanying stories for a description of the 'Core Book' and for a biography of Bloom.) Bloom will appear at the Emmetsburg campus in the morning, meeting with students and giving an address in the gymnasium at 10 a.m.  He will then present at the Estherville gym at 1 p.m. and meet with students and staff after that.  Area high school and middle school students have been invited to the convocations at the college. Both campuses will celebrate an International Food Faire from 11:30 - 1 p.m. in their respective cafeterias.  International foods will be featured in a Student Senate sponsored meal which will cost $2.50.  At the Estherville Campus, the college is working in conjunction with the ELC STAR program and High School Community Education Coordinator, Ann Hansen.  The STAR program will encourage groups to register and bring samples of an ethnic food dish.  The public is invited to attend the Estherville Campus Food Faire. In the evening, Bloom will be featured at a forum and book signing at the Estherville Lincoln Central High School Little Theater at 7 p.m.  Bloom will be joined by four residents of Postville who will talk about diversity issues in Postville.  Those on the panel include the Postville School Superintendent, David Strudthoff; City Council Member Ron Taylor; Diversity Committee Chair Nina Taylor; and Elementary Guidance Counselor and Housing Director Ron Wahls.  They will address how Postville, as a community, has dealt with diversity issues. Following the panel discussion, there will be refreshments and a book signing in the ELC Library.  Area public libraries have been notified of the event, and the public is invited to attend and meet the author.	Stephen G. Bloom is the author of "Postville: A Clash of Cultures in Heartland America," published in 2000 by Harcourt. A Selection of The Book of the Month Club and Quality Paperback Books Club, "Postville" was named a Best Book of the Year by MS-NBC, Chicago Sun-Times, Denver Rocky Mountain News, Chicago Tribune, and St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Bloom has lectured widely about issues of diversity, the nature of community, cultural identity and the social sense of belonging.  He also is the author of a collection of his nonfiction stories entitled, "Writing Narrative Journalism: Inside the Writer's Mind," published in 2002 by Iowa State Press.  He is currently involved in two writing projects: a memoir of America as seen from the eyes of an expatriate, to be entitled, "All the Way to Capricorn;" and a biography of Jane Elliott, the Iowa schoolteacher who originated the famous brown-eyes, blue-eyes experiment, in which third-graders were conditioned to become racists. Bloom has worked as a staff writer for The Los Angeles Times, Dallas Morning News, Sacramento Bee and San Jose Mercury News.  His freelance articles have appeared in hundreds of Internet sites, journals, magazines and newspapers, ranging from 'Salon' and 'The Journal of Health Communication' to 'DoubleTake' and 'The New York Times Magazine.' For the last 10 years, he has taught at The University of Iowa, where he specializes in narrative journalism.  Bloom is a graduate of the University of California at Berkeley with a degree in English.  He lives with his wife and 13-year-old son in Iowa City.
Each year, the college selects a 'Core Book' which is used as part of a cross-curriculum effort in several classes. An example of this would be that a composition class might ask students to write their impressions of the book; a sociology class might discuss social issues presented in the book; while an art class might have students sketch what they think is a composite drawing of the diversity of the book. The purpose of the core book is to establish cross-discipline dialogue about a common issue or theme; to stimulate critical thinking about a topic; to promote reading and conversation about important issues; and to provide multi-cultural awareness. "Postville" was selected for the 2003-2004 college year.  This is the first year that the author of the core book has been able to meet with students at the college. This is the fourth year for a core book at Iowa Lakes.  Past books have included "Two Old Women," "A Lesson Before Dying," and "Tuesdays with Morrie."