This year's Campus Community Book Project selection uses the lunchroom as a microcosm of race relations in the United States.

The book, Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria? And Other Conversations About Race, by Beverly Daniel Tatum, discusses how the people at our dining table relate to our racial identity.

But what about the food on our plates? A book project event set for next week takes on this question, by bringing together a pair of food activists and scholars for a conversation about how our ethnic, racial and cultural backgrounds inform the way we eat.

The participants:

• Alison Alkon, professor of sociology at the University of Pacific, has studied the intersaction of buyers and sellers at farmers markets in racially and economically distinct neighborhoods.

• A. Breeze Harper, Ph.D. candidate in geography at UC Davis, is interested in the effects of race on alternative nutrition philosophies, such as veganism.

"Talking Food, Talking Race: A Conversation About Racial Identity and Food Politics" is scheduled from 12:10 to 1:30 p.m. Friday, Nov. 5, in the Mee Room at the Memorial Union, with Kimberly Nettles, associate professor, women and gender studies, as the moderator.

Other book project programs:

PANEL DISCUSSION

• The Impact of Gender and Race Unconscious Bias on Diversity in Health Profession — With School of Medicine faculty members Darin Latimore and Andreea Seritan discussing how gender and racial bias may be very important factors in academic recruitment, retention, promotion and faculty development, possibly leading to higher attrition rates among women and underrepresented minority faculty. Latimore is an associate clinical professor and the director of Medical Student Diversity, while Seritan is an assistant clinical professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences. Participants in this book project event will explore their own unconscious biases, based on the Implicit Association Test. The program also will include discussion of strategies for detecting and surviving gender and racial bias. 12:10-1 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 2, 3228 Education Building, 4610 X St., Sacramento.

WORKSHOP

• Fitting All the Pieces Together: My Multicultural Timeline — By creating a multicultural timeline, you will have the opportunity to better understand your intersecting identities — and the experiences that have shaped who you are today. Hosted by the Multicultural Immersion Program, a unit of Counseling and Psychological Services. 4:10-5 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 4, Mee Room, MU.

EXHIBITIONS

• Who We Are: Selections from the Chicana/o Studies Poster Workshop — Nov. 1-Dec. 17, ArtLounge, second floor, Memorial Union.

This workshop, under the leadership of Carlos Jackson, assistant professor, sees the poster as a voice art form used by Chicanas/os and other people of color to point to the defects of social and political existence and the possibility of change, from the artists’ perspectives, according to the course description.

• The "I Am ..." Project — The deadline for submissions is Monday, Nov. 1. People are invited to share their identities, by giving life to the statement: "I am ... ." Everyone in the campus community is invited to participate. Submissions can consist of words alone, perhaps in poetic form, or drawings — or whatever represents who you are.

You will find collection boxes at the Women's Resources and Research Center; the Cross Cultural Center; the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender Resource Center; and the Student Recruitment and Retention Center.

Project organizers said they plan to prepare an exhibition of the submissions, as a way to celebrate our unity in diversity. Exhibition information is due to be posted online.

• Conversations About Race — Prepared by the General Library Committee on Diversity, this exhibition includes selections from the book project author's list of additional resources for further reading and books that reference her scholarship in the area of racial identity development. Through spring quarter, lobby, Shields Library. More information.

DISCUSSIONS

• Inter-Professional Brown Bag Lunch Book Club, based in the Betty Irene Moore School of Nursing and the School of Medicine — The club plans to continue its discussion of Tatum’s book (Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria? And Other Conversations About Race) at two more meetings, noon-1 p.m. Fridays, Nov. 5 and Dec. 3, in 1222 Education Building on the Sacramento campus. (The Dec. 3 date is correct; previous posts gave an incorrect date.)

• Davis Faith and Social Justice Group — Second and fourth Thursdays through fall. Potluck dinner at 6 p.m., followed by book discussion at 6:30. For more information, including the location, contact Jill Van Zanten, jillvz@sbcglobal.net.

• Anti-Racism Task Team and Adult Religious Exploration Committee, Unitarian Universalist Church of Davis — 1-3 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 5, 27074 Patwin Road. For more information, contact Leanne Friedman, ljfriedman@ucdavis.edu.

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The author is scheduled to visit the campus on Dec. 10, to participate in a free forum and to deliver a nighttime talk.

• Forum@MC — Identity Politics: Deconstructing Arizona's Immigration and Etnic Studies Laws, a panel discussion with Tatum; Kevin Johnson, dean of the law school; Miroslava Chavez-Garcia, associate professor, Chicana/o studies; and Kevin Williams, Davis High School. 4-5 p.m., Jackson Hall, Mondavi Center for the Performing Arts.

• Author's address — Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria? And Other Conversations About Race. 8 p.m., Jackson Hall.

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All events are open to the public, and all are free except for the author's nighttime talk. Tickets: (530) 754-2787 or (866) 754-2787, or mondaviarts.org.

More information, including the complete schedule.

Earlier coverage: “2010-11 theme examines racial identity, access to higher education” (Feb. 26, 2010)

Office of Campus Community Relations