Author to Discuss Changing Diversity in Northwest Arkansas in Talk at University of Arkansas

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Marjorie Rosen, a writer and journalism professor from New York, will talk about her book, Boom Town: How Wal-Mart Transformed an All-American Town into an International Community, at 3:30 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 4, in the Multicultural Center of the Arkansas Union at the University of Arkansas.

Her visit is being coordinated through the Walter J. Lemke department of journalism and the program in Latin American and Latino studies, both in the J. William Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences. Her talk is also supported by the Multicultural Center and the office of the vice-provost for cultural diversity at the university. Two public events have been scheduled in addition to her visits to university classes.

Rosen will also speak at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 3, in the Fayetteville Public Library. Both events are free and open to the public.

Boom Town is Rosen’s account of how, since Wal-Mart founder Sam Walton arrived in Bentonville in 1950, the region has changed from an area of mostly white Christians to include African-Americans, Jews, Muslims, Hindus, Marshall Islanders and the fastest-growing Latino population in the country.

Rosen explores the social, political and cultural character of the United States through the microcosm of northwest Arkansas and the personal stories of its people.

In one review, Doris Kearns Goodwin, Pulitzer Prize-winning author, writes, "In this important work, Rosen's elegant writing style, reportorial skills, and storytelling ability combine to transform the story of one small town — fascinating tale in its own right — into a profound commentary on the recent multicultural trends that are shaping America's future."

Rosen, a journalist, critic and screenwriter, is the author of four books, including Popcorn Venus: Women, Movies, & the American Dream, which was the first to explore the relationship between women’s identities onscreen and off.

She was a writer on the style desk at the New York Times Magazine from 1998 to 2001 and a senior writer for People from 1990 to 1996. She has freelanced for publications as varied as Ms., The New York Times “Arts & Leisure,” The Los Angeles Times, Playboy, Penthouse, Saturday Review, Good Housekeeping, Glamour, and Film Comment.

As a screenwriter, Rosen won a Writers Guild of America East Foundation Award for her screenplay, The Sorrow of Leo Frank. She wrote After-School and Schoolbreak specials for children, including “First the Egg,” “The Alfred G. Graebner Memorial High School Handbook of Rules and Regulations,” and “Read Between the Lines.” She has been a three-time MacDowell Colony Fellow and a Marsh Fellow and lecturer at the University of Michigan.

Rosen lives in New York City where she is a tenured professor of journalism and film at Lehman College-CUNY. She is currently a fellow at the CUNY Graduate Center's Center for Place, Culture and Politics.