Ideas Have Consequences: The Radical Pedagogy of W.E.B. Du Bois

The UMass Amherst Libraries will host the 18th Annual Du Bois Lecture on February 23, 2012, at 4:30 p.m., at the Cape Cod Lounge, Student Union, UMass Amherst.  Keynote speaker Derrick P. Alridge will give a talk "Ideas Have Consequences: The Radical Pedagogy of W.E.B. Du Bois."  Refreshments will be served.  The event is free and open to the public.

Derrick P. Alridge, an educational and intellectual historian, is Professor in the Curry School of Education at the University of Virginia. Previously, he served as Professor of Education and African American Studies and Director of the Institute for African American Studies at the University of Georgia.

Alridge has published The Educational Thought of W.E.B. Du Bois: An Intellectual History; Message in the Music: Hip Hop, History, and Pedagogy (an edited volume with James B. Stewart and V.P. Franklin); and numerous articles in the fields of history, education, and African American Studies.  Alridge also serves as an associate editor for the Journal of African American History and is Distinguished Lecturer for the Association for the Study of African American Life and History.   Currently, he is writing The Hip Hop Mind: An Intellectual History of the Social Consciousness of a Generation and conducting research on the role of education and schooling in the civil rights movement.

Professional Tools to Improve Your Library Service

Librarians and Trustees–

Don’t forget that the Massachusetts Library System (MLS) maintains a collection of professional books and resources at its Whately Office. The materials are accessible in person or by request, searchable by author, title, subject and a variety of other search keys on MassCat: http://masslibsystem.masscat.org/. Professional materials will help you perform better and access new ideas and techniques. Many of these titles are expensive for smaller libraries, and larger libraries don’t always have the budget for them either. These materials on children’s services, readers advisory, budget, planning, surveys, and a host of other topics are available for the asking. Libraries can place their own requests to borrow items by following the instructions found on the MLS website: http://www.masslibsystem.org/mls-professional-collection/.

The six regions built this collection, and the MLS is continuing to support it. The Western MA Library Club’s Humphrey Fund also contributed for almost 20 years. The collection is a great resource, and it is housed in the Whately Office. Give it a try online and take a look at the holdings when you are in Whately. Contact either MLS office if you need assistance.