Provocative Lecture, November 9, 2005

San Jose State University, Department of Economics
DAVID S. SAURMAN PROVOCATIVE LECTURE SERIES
presents:

KEN FOSKETT
"Refusing to Court Favor: Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas"

Wednesday, November 9, 2005
5:15-6:45 P.M.
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Library
Room 225 (Second Floor)

STUDENTS, FACULTY, AND THE GENERAL PUBLIC ARE ALL WELCOME TO ATTEND.

Based on in-depth research and interviews, Ken Foskett, will describe
Justice Thomas's rigorous upbringing in segregated Georgia under the
tutelage of his grandfather, his schooling in the Catholic church and the
roots of his political philosophy. In the truest since of our Provocative
Lecture Series, Foskett will outline the origins of Justice Thomas'
opposition to affirmative action and offer some insights on his
confirmation to the Supreme Court in 1991. The talk concludes with a
description of Justice Thomas' life today and his role on the Supreme
Court.

Ken Foskett is an investigative reporter for the ATLANTA
JOURNAL-CONSTITUTION. He covered legal affairs and state politics before
serving as the newspaper's Washington correspondent from 1996 to 2001.
Prior to 1989, Foskett worked for three years in southern Africa for Save
the Children.

For his biography, JUDGING THOMAS: THE LIFE AND TIMES OF CLARENCE THOMAS,
Foskett interviewed more than 300 people from every phase of Thomas's
life. Thomas himself sat for interviews and is quoted in the book, along
with Justice Antonin Scalia and Ruth Bader Ginsburg, two of his closest
colleagues. A graduate of Yale and the Columbia Graduate School of
Journalism, Foskett was Cox Newspapers' Writer of the Year in 2002, and
the Georgia Writers' Association recently named him Writer of the Year for
his biography of Thomas.

ABOUT THE DAVID R. SAURMAN PROVOCATIVE LECTURE SERIES: The Department of
Economics invites students, faculty, and the general public to consider
intellectual arguments on controversial topics. Presenters in the
Provocative Lecture Series are noted for their outstanding scholarship and
public speaking ability. This lecture series fosters the tradition of
higher education to challenge ideas and develop critical thinking in an
environment of respect and intellectual discourse. Our goal is for you to
develop the critical thinking skills necessary to reach your own informed
position on controversial issues. We invite you to attend, to relax, to
ponder, and to enjoy the thought process.