Princeton University

Nassau Notes

Paintings by junior Kelly McCormick (top left) and senior Lauren Chaparro (bottom) are part of an exhibition of student art work from the fall semester on display Feb. 7-24 in the galleries at 185 Nassau St. On Tuesday, Feb. 7, there will be screenings of video projects from 4:30 to 6 p.m. in the Stewart Film Theater and an opening reception for the show from 6 to 8 p.m. in the Lucas Gallery. Hours for the exhibition are 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. weekdays.

“Over and Over,” a photograph by artist Frances Heinrich (top right), is among the works on display through Friday, March 3, in the Program in the Study of Women and Gender lounge, 113 Dickinson Hall. The exhibition, titled “The Sensitive Observer,” features materials and techniques from traditional drawings and paintings to photo transfer to mixed media such as fabric, metal and glass. Hours for the exhibition are 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday.

‘Pro-poor’ development is topic for Feb. 7

Development economist Katharine McKee will deliver a talk titled “Business and Finance at the ‘Bottom of the Pyramid’: New Approaches in Pro-Poor Development” at 4:30 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 7, in 16 Robertson Hall.

McKee is director of the Office of Microenterprise Development at the U.S. Agency for International Development. The office provides technical leadership for $200 million in annual programs to generate economic growth in developing countries.

McKee earned an MPA in 1978 from the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, which is sponsoring the lecture with the Office of Graduate Career Services.

Writers to read from their work

Fiction writer Gary Shteyngart and poet Quincy Troupe will read from their work at 4:30 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 8, in the Stewart Film Theater, 185 Nassau St.

Chang-rae Lee and C.K. Williams, faculty members in the Council of the Humanities and Program in Creative Writing, will introduce the two.

Shteyngart’s debut novel, “The Russian Debutante’s Handbook,” was published in 2002 and was named to The New York Times list of notable books for that year. His second novel, “Absurdistan,’’ will be published this spring by Random House.

Troupe is the author of 14 books, including seven volumes of poetry. The recipient of two American Book Awards and a Peabody Award, he edited “James Baldwin: The Legacy” and co-wrote an autobiography of jazz musician Miles Davis. He also has produced two children’s books, “Take It To the Hoop, Magic Johnson” and “Little Stevie Wonder.”

The event is part of the Creative Writing Program’s Althea Ward Clark Reading Series.

Former religious freedom envoy to speak Feb. 8

Robert Seiple, who was the U.S. State Department’s first ambassador-at-large for international religious freedom, will speak on “The New Alliance: The Moral Imperative Meets Realpolitik” at 4:30 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 8, in 16 Robertson Hall.

Seiple, who has spent three decades in international humanitarian positions, is the founder and chair of the Institute for Global Engagement. From 1999 to 2001, he was U.S. ambassador-at-large, working to promote religious freedom worldwide and conflict resolution along religious lines.

Seiple previously served as president of World Vision Inc., the largest privately funded relief and development agency in the world, and has won numerous accolades for his international humanitarian efforts.

The lecture is part of the “Crossroads of Religion and Politics” series sponsored by the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs and the Center for the Study of Religion.

Search company founder to present technology entrepreneurship lecture

Princeton alumnus Steve Papa, founder and chief executive officer of Endeca, an information-technology search company, will speak at 5:30 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 9, at the Friend Center Auditorium. His talk is titled “Building a Pre-IPO Company in the Face of Recession, War and Google.”

The presentation is the second in a technology entrepreneurship lecture series that is free and open to the public. The lectures are sponsored by Princeton’s Center for Innovation in Engineering Education in collaboration with the Jumpstart New Jersey Angel Network. They are followed by a reception where students, faculty, entrepreneurs, venture capitalists and investors meet informally to discuss ideas and exchange knowledge and advice.

The Cambridge, Mass.,-based Endeca pioneered “Guided Navigation,” a search technology for businesses that gives employees better and more efficient access to their company’s own data.

Papa received his bachelor’s degree from Princeton in 1994 from what was then the Department of Civil Engineering and Operations Research. He earned an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School.

The Center for Innovation in Engineering Education, a recent academic initiative in the School of Engineering and Applied Science, strives to set a new standard for engineering education by emphasizing interdisciplinary collaboration, societal context and leadership.

East Asia is focus of panel discussion

A panel discussion on “Strategic Thinking in East Asia: Overview of 2005” is planned for 4:30 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 9, in 219 Burr Hall.

The event is the second in an annual series that analyzes a region that is increasingly attracting world attention.

Panelists will be Walter Andersen of Johns Hopkins University, David Denoon of New York University and Thomas Christensen, Gilbert Rozman and Kazuhiko Togo of Princeton. They will discuss several critical issues and the policy implications they present for the United States.

The event is sponsored by the Princeton Project on Strategic Asia, the Princeton Institute for International and Regional Studies and the Program in East Asian Studies.

Woodson to look ‘beyond victimization’

Social commentator Robert Woodson Sr. will deliver an address on “The Underground Railroad of Self-Determination: Beyond Victimization” at 4:30 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 9, in 104 Computer Science.

According to Woodson, the rich legacy of the civil rights movement has degenerated into race grievance and victimization. He calls for future actions to embrace the principles of self-determination.

Woodson is founder and president of the National Center for Neighborhood Enterprise, a nonprofit organization created in 1981 to support grassroots initiatives addressing societal problems such as family dissolution, youth violence and substance abuse as well as engendering social and economic revitalization in local communities. A strong proponent of strategies of self-help and empowerment, he frequently is featured in print and broadcast media.

The lecture is in recognition of Black History Month and is presented by the James Madison Program in American Ideals and Institutions.

Talk planned on education in Kenya

George Godia, Kenya’s education secretary, and Elias Noor, project education officer for UNICEF in Kenya, will discuss efforts to improve the country’s education system in a talk scheduled for 4:30 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 9, in 16 Robertson Hall.

The discussion is titled “Achieving Equality in Education and Eliminating Illiteracy in Kenya: Government and NGOs’ Collaborative Efforts.”

Godia was a professor of education at Moi University and senior lecturer at Kenyatta University prior to serving in the Kenyan government. Noor is a former teacher who has become well known for his efforts working through partnerships between donor agencies and other nongovernmental organizations.

The lecture is sponsored by the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs.

Sociologist explains sampling technique

Respondent Driven Sampling — A Method for Drawing a Representative Sample of Rare and Hard-To-Reach Populations” is the topic of a talk set for 2:30 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 9, in 300 Wallace Hall.

Douglas Heckathorn, professor of sociology at Cornell University, will discuss the method he developed almost 10 years ago to construct representative samples of rare or hard-to-reach populations — groups that are difficult to study, but often of great interest to social scientists and policymakers.

Respondent Driven Sampling combines “snowball sampling” (asking respondents to refer people they know to be interviewed, and then asking these individuals to refer additional people and so on) with a mathematical model that weights the sample to compensate for the fact that the sample was initially collected in a non-random way.

The lecture is sponsored by the Survey Research Center, the Industrial Relations Section and the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs.