Coming to Campus

- February 13, 2006

Coming to Campus is a section announcing visiting speakers of note.

Those who wish to submit items for this section should send a brief description (maximum 300 words) of the event, including the date, time, and place, and giving the name, title, outstanding accomplishments and, if available, a color photo of the speaker to: Visiting Speaker, Advance, 1266 Storrs Road, Storrs, CT 06269-4144 or by e-mail: advance@uconn.edu, with Visiting Speaker in the subject line.

The information must be received by 4 p.m. on Monday, a minimum of two weeks prior to the event.

Publication will depend on space available, and preference will be given to events of interest to a cross-section of the University community.

Two authors will be discussing their books at the UConn Co-op this week.

On Feb. 15, Ron Soodalter will discuss The Hanging of Captain Gordon: The Life and Death of an American Slave Trader. Dennis Watlington will talk about his book Chasing America on Feb. 16. Both events will take place at the UConn Co-op at 4 p.m.

Soodalter, drawing on research, including state archives, court records, and contemporary newspaper accounts, reveals how an American slave trader paid the price for getting caught in the turning tides of America. “Gordon’s story is a very small part of the story of the American slave trade of the 19th century,” Soodalter notes, “and of our government’s stunning and continuous failure to stop it.”

Watlington, an African-American born in 1952, grew up poor in Harlem. His memoir, Chasing America, paints a portrait of his life.

At the age of 14, after bouncing in and out of various schools, he became addicted to heroin. But instead of being another “one trick pony of victimization,” he kicked the habit and received a scholarship to the Hotchkiss School where he was elected president of his class.

Watlington, who went to New York University, is an Emmy Award-winning documentary film maker, television writer, screenwriter, and playwright.

He lives in the Berkshires with his wife and two children.