Noted author/activist to lecture at OCCC

Enhancing civic engagement with focus on students MIDDLETOWN — Noted author Paul Loeb, who has written an array of books on political and social activism, will present a pair of lectures at SUNY Orange’s Middletown campus on Friday, Feb. 2, addressing how faculty members can become more engaged in social and community issues, with a focus on how teachers and professors can foster increased engagement among their students. Loeb, whose visit is sponsored by the College’s Center for Teaching and Learning, will discuss social and community activism during a general lecture from noon to 1 p.m. in Harriman Hall, Room 111. Admission is free. Later that afternoon in the SUNY Orange Library, Loeb will present a faculty workshop highlighting methods professors can use to boost their students’ community involvement. “Paul’s lecture is a great opportunity for SUNY Orange students to learn a great deal about their chosen field of study,” said Dr. Jennifer Merriam, a SUNY Orange biology professor and coordinator of the Colleg’s Center for Teaching and Learning. “They also come to see that knowledge is power, and with greater understanding comes increased responsibility. As educated citizens, we begin to recognize the problems of our world. We also see that we have an obligation to work on solutions to those problems. “Paul Loeb is a speaker who tells us how we, as individuals and communities, can become more active in making the world a better place,” Merriam added. Loeb has spent more than 30 years researching and writing about citizen responsibility and empowerment, with emphasis on what makes some people choose lives of social commitment, while others abstain. He has written five books; lectured at colleges and universities around the country; and been a lead speaker at numerous educational and professional conferences. His talk in January 2002 to the annual provost’s conference of the American Association of State Colleges and Universities inspired the Association’s American Democracy project, now involving 200 campuses. Loeb’s first book, “Nuclear Culture,” explored the daily world of atomic weapons workers in Hanford, Washington. “Hope in Hard Times,” “Generation at the Crossroads: Apathy and action on the American campus” and “Soul of a Citizen: Living with conviction in a cynical time” similarly turn a critical lens on specific segments of American society. His new anthology on political hope, “The Impossible Will Take a Little While,” was named the third-best political book of 2004 by the History Channel and the American Book Association, winning the Nautilus Award for best social change book of the year. For more information, contact the SUNY Orange Center for Teaching and Learning at 845-341-4178.