I hope all of you had a good summer, even with so few really “summery” days this year (at least in Menlo Park, where I live). We on the PBK Board thank you for being a member of our Northern California Association. 

Our First Vice-President for Programs, O’Neil Dillon, and his committee, have planned the almost-monthly meet-ups that PBKNCA has offered throughout the years. If you want to attend one of these events, please check our website, https://www.pbknca.com/Events/, for information about them and directions for signing up. Payments for events can be made securely on the website, or by check with the coupon available there. 

Our “Young Professionals” section leaders, Joy Wang and Whitney Roeder, have arranged several exciting events for those 40 and under, including a gathering in San Francisco attended by more than 40 participants and two Zoom events sponsored with National on careers and networking. 

In May 2023, which seems a long time from now but which will be here before we know it, we’ll confer scholarships on worthy graduate students from some of our Association’s campus chapters. The hard work of Second Vice President for Scholarships, Joanne Sandstrom, and her committee (and your monetary contributions – THANK YOU!) makes this possible. My thanks to all members who have given generously to our scholarship program during the past year and before. Please keep it up!

We encourage nominations for our Teaching Excellence awards for faculty members at the universities in our Association area that have PBK chapters. If you were motivated, impressed, or enthralled by teachers at any of those schools, please nominate them for a Teaching Excellence award, using the form available at www.pbknca.org/teaching/. Teaching Excellence Chair Melissa Stevens awaits your input. Former recipients are often featured speakers at our Asilomar conference. 

Speaking of Asilomar, please consider attending our annual Presidents’ Weekend symposium, to be held this coming February 17-20, 2023 at Asilomar (Pacific Grove). We will enjoy hearing speakers on a variety of subject, from literature to science and everything in between, have fascinating conversations, and marvel at nature’s magnificence as we wander the retreat grounds. Asilomar Chair Deirdre Frontczak will be delighted to receive your reservation. All proceeds from the symposium go to our award programs. More information can be found on our website or within this Newsletter.

Currently, the Phi Beta Kappa Northern California Association requires proof of full vaccination against COVID-19 for attendance at any and all events.  This may change as the Covid situation changes. Watch the website https://pbknca.com and your email. Full vaccination is defined as completion of the two-dose regimen of Pfizer or Moderna vaccines or one dose of Johnson & Johnson vaccine, plus boosters, administered two weeks or more in advance of the event. A well-fitting N95, KF94 or KN95 mask for all indoor activities (except while eating) is also required. Cloth masks, bandanas, or neck gaiters are not acceptable. Face masks must completely cover the nose and mouth.  A well fitted mask has no gaps between the face and mask, such as above the nose or at the sides.   https://pbknca.com/Attendee-Safety

Full event information, and means of credit card payment or a form with which to send a check are available on our website https://pbknca.com/Events/.  If you want to register for an event but don’t have Internet access, please contact O’Neil at oneilsdillon@gmail.com.

If you won’t be able to make an event, contact O’Neil Dillon at oneilsdillon@gmail.com ASAP, or if it is the day of the event call him at 510-207-8761, as there may be others on the waiting list who will then be able to take your place.

No-shows do NOT receive a ref­­­und!

This will be a private, docent-led walking tour focusing on the cultural role and functions of Family associations, Tongs, and Gangs in the life of the San Francisco Chinese community.

Pulled and pushed from the far southeast part of China from 1849 onward, young Chinese men went to the gold fields only to find that discrimination forced them to either work as laborers or return to San Francisco, but not to look for gold. Settling in San Francisco's Chinatown many joined the Family Associations, Tongs, and Gangs that largely controlled the neighborhood. Walk along Chinatown’s streets and alleys and dive into the colorful and sometimes violent history of this period.

Note: Content may not be appropriate for children under 14 years of age.

Parking available at the Portsmouth Square Garage.  Meet across from the elevators in Portsmouth Square above the garage, which is between Washington, Kearney and Grant streets.

Tour Leader – O’Neil Dillon

The backstory of Chinatown - 

With whispered stories of seedy opium dens, dark alleys, and daggers, from the 1850s to the 1930s the Tong Wars seized the American imagination. One of the most notorious gang fights occurred in 1879, when 50 men from two tongs fought in the small alley of Waverly Place over ownership rights to a Chinese slave girl, leaving four men dead.

Tongs originated in Chinese immigrant communities in the United States in the early 1800s as associations that provided legal, monetary, and protective services to a wave of laborers excluded from mainstream American institutions.

Because of the Exclusion Acts, it was difficult to immigrate here, men were not allowed to bring their families, resulting in a “bachelor society,” which suddenly made a market for prostitution. There was also opium, so there were drugs as well. They needed the underworld because the activities were illegal.

Then, in the mid-60s when immigration was loosened, many youths came from Hong Kong and Macao, and these new immigrants enrolled in high schools like Galileo in San Francisco. Other teens teased, made fun of, and beat up the foreign-borns. The local teens didn’t realize that many of the new immigrants were gang members in China. So suddenly, the foreign-borns started banding together to defend themselves. Soon, it went beyond that.

Their type of retaliation wasn’t, “I remember when you beat me up, so I’m going to beat you up now.” They were much more violent and brutal. When they got their revenge, they didn’t just let it go with one beating, they did it again and again. And then the Tongs, who were looking for “soldiers” to control the activities in Chinatown started to recruit them.

The ’70s were full of much more brazen violence. There was an outright war going on between the Joe Boys and the other Tongs, with numerous gangs teaming up against the Joe Boys who had about 150 members and were probably a lot more violent than other gangs at the time. Basically, the Wah Ching, the Hop Sing Boys, and the Suey Sing Tong were going up against the Joe Boys.

References: Interview with Bill Lee, former gang member, https://www.foundsf.org/index.php?title=The_Tongs_of_Chinatown

https://www.inside-guide-to-san-francisco-tourism.com/chinatown-history.html 

Join us to network with experienced PBKNCA professionals! 

Calling all Young Professionals,

This year, Phi Beta Kappa National will hold the annual virtual Key Connections event in September to serve as a kick-off for many regional Key Connections events.

Following National's event, PBKNCA YP will host our annual virtual Key Connections event, "Let's Chat About Your Career Journey", on October 16th, 3 p.m. PDT. The theme of this event will be NETWORKING! 

The virtual event will be held over Zoom and the duration of the event will be 1 hour and 10 minutes. There will be two guest speakers, Ka-Tye Koo and Dr. Tina Etcheverry. 

They will speak for the first 40 minutes of the event to share their personal and professional stories, as well as their career advice. During the last 20 minutes of the event, each attendee will be assigned to a breakout room based on their specified professional interests.

Tour Leaders – Joy Wang and Whitney Roeder

Please arrive a few minutes early, and gather near the front desk in the lobby. Please identify yourself to PBK Tour leader – Rebecca Beach  

Il Fiorello is a family-owned company dedicated to growing and milling the finest quality artisan olive oil from certified organic groves.  

The tour of the farm starts at 10AM and is about one hour.  During the tour there is a discussion of the history of olive oil, the significance of the term extra virgin, and you will learn how the farm’s international award-winning olive oils are made. We will learn about the different olive varieties and how the trees are cared for.  The farm tour ends with a visit to the state-of-the-art Pieralisi Gold olive mill, capable of milling 3 tons of olives an hour.

The tasting starts at 11 AM and is a comparative tasting of Extra Virgin Olive Oils, Co-Milled Oils, and Balsamic vinegar Reductions. Led by experienced staff, you will learn how to appreciate olive oils and enjoy a chef-crafted food pairing to expand your palate. 

A farm restaurant is available after the tasting if you wish to continue with a light lunch. See a sample seasonal menu.

An updated menu will be sent to registrants closer to the event date; and pre-orders can be estimated for the restaurant to prepare. 

Covid Risk:  The tasting session will be set in an outdoor venue by our request. The farm tour is mostly outdoors. Tour leader:  O’Neil Dillon

“A faithful study of liberal arts humanizes character, and allows it not to be cruel.”  -- Ovid

If the news of the day is getting you down, take heart – it’s once again time to reserve your weekend of learning, inspiration and fellowship on the magnificent Monterey coast!

Past participants describe the weekend as “the best aspects of college, without the exams” and “the greatest high of the year – without drugs!”

If you have questions on this year’s program, please contact  dfrontczak@scu.edu. For registration or logistics matters, please contact Barry Haskell at bghaskell@comcast.net. Registration is $125, which goes mainly to scholarships. Cost will be similar to last year, about $550 per person, double occupancy, and includes all nine meals and parking. All registered participants will receive forms to reserve their Asilomar accommodations, including meals; please check your email. (Remember, to be part of the PBKNCA package, do not reserve directly with the facility.)

If you have questions on this year's plans, please contact dfrontczak@scu.edu. For logistics matters, please contact Barry Haskell at bghaskell@comcast.net. 

Please join us once again for the annual Asilomar Conference, where we gather to learn, engage in discussions, and to listen to one another in new ways.

Deirdre Frontczak, Asilomar Chair

A preview of the 2022 event: 

Friday night – Speaker, TBD 

Saturday morning – Kerry Driscoll, Ph.D., Associate Editor of the Mark Twain Papers and Project, U.C. Berkeley: “Mr. Clemens and the Saturday Morning Club of Hartford.”

Saturday afternoon – Nico Orlandi, Ph.D., Professor of Philosophy, U.C. Santa Cruz. “Concepts and Conceptual Engineering: The Concept of a Woman” 

Everyone has an idea of what a woman is. But what is occurring in our heads when we think of a woman -- or a man, or a white man, or any other social concept? Philosophers and psychologists hold ideas as concepts; in this standard view, having the concept or idea of a woman consists of having a general description of what "being a woman" really means.   

This talk explores a view that many of our ideas are simple labels in thought. Our labels act as a sort of headline, an umbrella under which a variety of information about that idea is catalogued  -- for example, the notion that women are adult human females, or that they play a particular role in human reproduction. I suggest that the ideas we associate with the label do not, in fact, constitute that thing;  i.e., that it is not a conceptual truth that “women” are adult human females.  This insight has direct implications for current public debates on trans inclusion – or on other womanly roles -- since the concept of “woman” does not imply a certain reproductive role by nature. This position also allows us to make sense of “conceptual engineering” – an idea we will explore in this talk.   

Nico Orlandi is a philosopher of mind and cognitive science, whose work draws on research in cognitive psychology, neuroscience, and computer science. A central theme is understanding what kind of capacity perception is, and what kind of relationship it affords with the environment.  Their* current projects concern predictive coding models of perception; and the significance of fMRI research for understanding cognition. They are also affiliated with the Feminist Studies department at UCSC.  A first-generation student, Dr. Orlandi completed undergraduate studies in Florence, a doctorate at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill ,and has taught at both Rice University and Stanford.  

(*Note:  Orlandi's pronouns are "they / them." It was not a syntactical error.)

Saturday night – Tom Greene, Ph.D. Astrophysics, NASA Ames Laboratory: 

“Mysteries of the Webb:” 

Sunday morning – R. Jay Wallace, Ph.D., Professor of Philosophy, U.C. Berkeley, and PBK Visiting Scholar, 2022

 “Why Is Everyone So Angry?” 

My topic is the dominance of anger in our political culture and discourse, a phenomenon that I think Nietzsche's Genealogy of Morals sheds some light on. Nietzsche thought that large parts of aristocratic societies were consumed with “resentment,” a hostile attitude on the part of the dispossessed toward those who are structurally privileged. This negative emotional orientation eventually gives rise to a new scheme of moral values, which are adopted precisely because they enable the masses to make sense of their prior hostility and animus. So you have an original attitude of antagonism, and then a specific set of moral views become prevalent because of the way they render this hostile orientation intelligible to those who are subject to it. 

Something similar may be occurring in contemporary social processes. These are characterized by a tendency to forming negative group identities, whereby we come to understand who we are by defining ourselves in opposition to other groups. This leaves us with a hostile orientation toward the Other that doesn't really make sense, morally or intellectually. Under these circumstances, we tend to accept narratives of grievance, which attribute to The Other moral infractions that justify and render intelligible our opposition to them, and thereby satisfy an emotional need. But the process of accepting such narratives turns our antagonism into chronic anger, which is characteristically an attitude of emotional opposition to moral wrongs.

Sunday afternoon – Forest Rohwer, Ph.D., Microbial ecologist and Professor of Biology at San Diego State University.    PBK Visiting Scholar, 2022

 “Coral Reefs and Piggybacking Viruses” 

Coral reefs have dominated tropical near-shore, marine environment for hundreds of millions of years, so their rapid decline in recent times is distressing. The main coral stressors are overfishing and warm water events associated with climate change. I will talk about how these stressors change virus-microbe-coral symbioses and cause coral disease and reef decline. Then then I will discuss tools to remediate both the overfishing and climate change problems with the goal of restoring coral reefs. 

Forest Rohwer is a Fellow of the American Academy for Advancement of Science and the American Academy of Microbiology, as well as a member of Phi Beta Kappa. He led the development of viromics, which involves isolating and sequencing the RNA/DNA from all of the viruses in a sample. From this data, it is possible to determine what types of viruses are present and what functions they are encoding. Dr. Rohwer uses viromics to study ecosystems ranging from the human body to coral reefs and has shown that most genomic diversity on the planet is viral. Dr. Rohwer has published more than 200 peer-reviewed articles, has won numerous national and international awards, and is listed as one of the World's Most Influential Scientific Minds. He has also published two books: Coral Reefs in the Microbial Seas and Life in Our Phage World.

Sunday night – Claire Waters, Ph.D., Professor of English at U.C. Davis.

*Mothers of Invention”. 

This talk will explore the apocryphal medieval narratives that feature mothers who undertake travel that helps to establish the Christian church in various ways; We will frame the project as a whole and then discuss specific narratives, for example, concerning the finding ("invention") of the cross by St. Helena, the mother of the Emperor Constantine.

Medieval Christian culture produced a surprising number of stories about powerful mothers who ventured forth to discover or uncover foundational elements of the faith: the Holy Cross, the feast days of the Virgin Mary, the rosary. These stories tend to have a strong apocryphal element -- both in the original sense of referring to things secret or hidden, and in its modern sense, indicating narratives of dubious authenticity. This talk focuses on two examples: the “finding” of the Holy Cross by St. Helena, the mother of the emperor Constantine, and the “finding” of the Virgin Mary’s psalter (a precursor to the rosary) performed jointly by Mary herself and one of her devotees. Such stories made women, particularly in their maternal role, central to the establishment and growth of the church in ways that both reflected on and extended historical practices.

Claire Waters’ work focuses on medieval religious literature and culture in English, French, and Latin, from saints’ lives and preaching to doctrinal handbooks and miracles of the Virgin Mary. She has a particular interest in the relationship between the audiences of sermons and religious writings, and the creators of those works. Her first book, Angels and Earthly Creatures: Preaching, Performance, and Gender in the Later Middle Ages, explores how ideas about women and femininity helped to shape male preachers' view of their role. Her second book, Translating Clergie: Status, Education, and Salvation in Thirteenth-Century Vernacular Texts, looks at how French works that transmit “basic” religious teaching, often in verse, represent the dialogue between teacher and learner -- making the role of student newly available to laymen and laywomen alike. She has also published two editions with translations: one of a set of Middle English saints’ lives, and one of the Lais (short verse romances) of Marie de France. 

Pending:

– Jerome Cranston: Dean of Education, University of Regina:  Dismantling Systemic Racism in and through Education

In this lecture, Dr. Cranston will address how the current period of racial reckoning calls those involved in educating children and youth – from K-12 through university studies -- to confront and ways that our education systems support and reify the systemic racism in our social institutions. 

Using a transdisciplinary approach, Dr. Cranston peels back the overt and covert ways that colonial ideologies, structures, and institutions have created and maintained racial injustice in education and beyond. Through race-conscious approaches, he explores educational inequities as well as solutions that lead to greater justice for those to whom it has been denied. 

Jerome Cranston's maternal grandparents came from tribal communities in what are now Nepal and Burma/Myanmar and they were anglicized and evangelized as part of the imperialist, colonial contagion. His paternal grandfather, who was of Scottish descent, was a travelling bookkeeper with the East Indian Rail Company and was killed in 1941 during a Japanese bombing of Chittagong railway station in what is now Bangladesh. His paternal grandmother thus became a widow with five children. In 1942 she would die of malnutrition; an outcome of the British manufactured famine in West Bengal. Dr. Cranston accepts a distant yet unvarying connection to the trauma that echoes through their and his colonized histories.

Dr. Cranston holds a Ph.D. (University of Manitoba), M.Ed. (University of Lethbridge), B.Ed. After-Degree and B.Sc. (University of Alberta). His career began with 16 years in the K-12 education system as a teacher, principal and superintendent of schools in Canada’s prairie provinces.  He spent ten years as a member of the Faculty of Education at the University of Manitoba, during which he served on the Advisory Committee for Centre for Human Rights Research. Currently, he is a Professor and Dean of the Faculty of Education at the University of Regina, which is located on Treaty 4 territory and on the traditional homeland of the Métis. He serves on the University of Regina’s Equity, Diversity & Inclusion Advisory Committee, and Santa Clara University’s (California) Global Advisory Committee focused climate crisis awareness and action.

There is an ongoing virtual book club open to interested members.

Contact Program VP O'Neil Dillon at oneilsdillon@gmail.com