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Dr. Dennis Chester (left); Dr. Nicholas Baham (right)

• January 30, 2015

Two ÂãÁÄÖ±²¥ experts will discuss “James Baldwin – To Live As A Witness” on Feb. 10, from 9-10:30 a.m., in the Biella Room in the University Library.

Dennis Chester, interim associate dean of the College of Letters, Arts, and Social Sciences, and Nicholas L. Baham III, professor of ethnic studies, will present the fifth talk in the university’s Diversity Development Program.

“Baldwin’s life as an author and activist established lasting vantage points from which to engage in discussions of race and social justice,” according to Chester. “This presentation will look closely at some of Baldwin’s most prescient statements in order to identify relationships and trajectories from the Civil Rights era to the present day.”

Chester has been a faculty member at CSUEB since 1999. His academic focus has been on African American Literature, and he has published articles and presented papers on African American detective fiction, writers of the Harlem Renaissance, and African American cinema. He is currently collaborating with university faculty on a digital annotation of James Baldwin’s 1961 novel “Another Country.”

Chester earned a bachelor’s degree from Howard University in Washington, D.C., in 1992, a master’s degree from the University of Chicago in 1993, and a doctorate from the University of Washington, Seattle, in 2000.

Baham teaches courses on African American intellectual history, religion, jazz music, hip-hop, sexuality, and the history of European colonialism.

His academic research focuses on African American religious experience, sexuality, and artistic expression. He is author of the book “The Coltrane Church: Apostles of Sound, Agents of Social Justice,” to be published this year by McFarland Press. He has a growing body of published journal articles on the Coltrane Church, African American musical and religious expression, and James Baldwin.

Baham has presented his work nationally and internationally at the Université Paul-Valéry in Montpellier, France; Stanford University; the University of Pennsylvania, Tuskegee; and Suffolk University. He has appeared on BET, local KPOO and KPFA radio, Canada’s SexTV, and has been featured in ColorLines and Esquire magazines.

Baham has also initiated a blog of African American politics and culture called The Upper Room at: .

Baham earned a master’s degree from Stanford University and a doctorate in anthropology from Indiana University, Bloomington.

The Diversity Development Program features monthly talks by campus experts on topics related to diversity. The presentations are free and open to the public. Those interested in attending can register online at: .

The Diversity Development Program is co-sponsored by the Office of Faculty Development and the Leadership and Employment Enrichment Program.

Three additional presentations are scheduled as part of the 2014-15 Diversity Development Program series. All will be from 9-10:30 a.m. in the University Library’s Biella Room. Dates, topics and speakers are:

• March 3, “Latinas/os: People, Culture and Communication,” Diana Balgas, executive director, Student Outreach & Retention Services
• April 7, “LGBTQ: People, Culture and Communication,” Gretchen Keer, libriarian
• May 5, “Asian Americans: People, Culture and Communication,” Kim Geron, department chair, Political Science; My-Lan Huynh, advisor, Student Life & Leadership, and lecturer, Hospitality, Recreation & Tourism; and Arnab Mukherjea, assistant professor, Health Sciences