Globe columnist Continued from Page 7
He’s also passionate about public health and environmental causes. Jackson is the coauthor of two books covering Project Puffin, a project to restore the seabirds to the coast of Maine. In May, his book The Puffin Plan, published by Tumblehome Books, received the first-place Gold Award for Teen Nonfiction in the Independent Book Publishers Association’s Benjamin Franklin Awards. Unconventional life Jackson knows he’s led a remarkable life. He’s traveled, met extraordinary people, and enjoyed a national pulpit for most of his career. He likes birding with his wife and has followed the Puffin Project closely for years. He is a respected journalist who has used his position to be an advocate for others. He currently writes for organizations like the Union of Concerned Scientists, Grist.org, and The Undefeated. He also serves as a diversity consultant, and his work is lauded and referenced by others. Jackson doesn’t take it for granted – but he hopes that America soon will. “I’ve been able to get out of the books and do writing in ways and other pursuits that people are surprised to see a Black man doing,” he said. “I just hope that this country can become a place where, if you want to fight the traditional fights, that’s fine; and if you want to be out of the box, that’s fine too. No one should be surprised.” By Sarah Vickery, College of Letters & Science
8 • IN FOCUS • October, 2021
New director, new directio In 1995, her new PhD in hand, Anne Basting took the elevator to the ninth floor of Curtin Hall to begin her first-ever job in academia as a fellow in UWM’s Center for 21st Century Studies. She was concentrating on Age Studies as she developed her dissertation into a book. In 2021, she took that same elevator ride up to the C21 offices on the ninth floor. Everything was just as she remembered it – the same stunning view of Lake Michigan, the same office spaces, the same sense of purpose she felt when she first walked in all of those years ago. But this time, Basting isn’t a fellow; she’s the C21 director. “It really is full-circle,” she said with a smile. Basting, a professor in the Department of English, took over the position this year after English Professor Richard Grusin stepped down as the Center’s director. Grusin left large shoes to fill, Basting said, and to add to the challenge, C21 is also without an assistant director at this time. But in those challenges lie opportunities, and Basting plans to make the most of them as she beings her leadership. Focusing on the mission UWM’s Center for 21st Century Studies was founded as the Center for 20th Century Studies in 1968 (the name changed as the date did) as a place to engage collaborative groups of scholars across those fields to address the most pressing contemporary issues. “Before I (became a candidate for director), I did a lot of research on where humanities centers are nationally and what’s happening. In general, there’s a powerful turn towards public engagement, which is what I do,” Basting noted.
In particular, Basting works with public engagement around issues with aging and disability. She is the founder of the nonprofit TimeSlips, which works to help people form meaningful connections and engage with seniors all the way to the end of life. TimeSlips was actually developed during her second fellowship in C21, sponsored by the Brookdale Foundation. To begin her mission of fostering public engagement with C21 itself, Basting went right to the source: The actual public. “My process I call ‘spiraling conversations.’ I start with a conversation, and that conversation leads me to another one and another one and another one. It’s a deep learning process and the conversations all build off of each other,” Basting explained. “I started that with key players, former fellows, advisory folks, heads of departments and key community people associated with the center.” She also sent out a survey that faculty and community members could answer anonymously. Basting asked: What research are you doing? What research do you wish you were doing? What issues are at the top of your heart and mind right now? “We’re building our plan from that survey. We’re identifying different interest clusters and themes of the research people are doing, different methodologies people are interested in using. Then we’ll use those interest clusters to bring people together and offer programming for the center,” she said. Changes in C21 One of Basting’s first acts as director was to bring on a lead faculty advisor for C21. Art history professor Jennifer Johung is partnering
