WATERVILLE — Colby College announces the following October events. All events are open to the public and are free unless otherwise noted.

* Chemicals, Obesity and Diabetes: How Science Leads Us to Action will take place from 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. today in the Diamond Building.

Obesity contributes to a host of health problems. It is predicted that by 2020, 20 percent of healthcare spending will be for obesity-related illnesses and that more than 20 percent of U.S. deaths will be attributed to obesity. This event is about action in response to science.

The Goldfarb Center for Public Affairs and Civic Engagement and the Environmental Health Strategy Center will bring together national and state scientific and public health scholars, practitioners, and advocates as well as national and state policy makers, faculty, and students, to explore the environmental links to obesity. Experts will include keynote speaker Bruce Blumberg of UC Irvine’s department of developmental and cell biology.

Registration cost $50, which includes lunch and reception. For more information and online registration, call 859-5353 or email [email protected].

* American Panorama: The Aardvark Jazz Orchestra will perform at 7:30 tonight in Lorimer Chapel.

For more information, email [email protected], or call 859-5671.

* Making Faces: A community mask-making workshop will begin at 11 a.m. Saturday at Barrels Community Market, 74 Main St.

People of all ages are invited to join local artists to make their own papier-maché masks in conjunction with Freshwater Arts and Waterville’s Harvest Fest. This workshop is free, but registration is required. To register, email [email protected] or call 859-5613.

* The 2011 Elijah Parish Lovejoy Convocation honoring NPR’s Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson will begin at 5:30 p.m. Sunday in Lorimer Chapel (with preceding panel discussion in Ostrove Auditorium, Diamond Building).

The woman who opened NPR’s Kabul bureau in Afghanistan five years ago, who covered the Arab Spring from Cairo, and who recently reported from Benghazi, in eastern Libya, as rebel forces surged into Tripoli and toppled Muammar Gaddafi, will receive Colby College’s 2011 Lovejoy Award for courageous journalism. The award has been given annually since 1952 to recognize courage in journalism. It honors the memory of Elijah Parish Lovejoy, Colby’s valedictorian in 1826 and an abolitionist publisher who was killed in Alton, Ill., in 1837 for condemning slavery. He is considered America’s first martyr to freedom of the press.

For more information, email [email protected], or call 859-4352

* Lovejoy Convocation Panel Discussion: Reflections on the Arab Spring is set for 4 p.m Sunday in Ostrove Auditorium, Diamond Building.

In the fall of 2010 Mubarak of Egypt, Ben Ali of Tunisia, and Gaddafi of Libya looked to be permanent fixtures in the Middle East. Within a few short months they were on their way out and several others whose regimes seemed unshakeable are under siege. John Turner, assistant professor of history at Colby and an expert on the history of Islam; J. Jason Thompson, visiting associate professor of history at Bates and an expert on Egypt; and Shelley Deane, assistant professor of government at Bowdoin and an expert on Middle East politics, will reflect on and provide context for the ongoing transition in the Middle East. This event

precedes the 2011 Lovejoy Convocation honoring Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson from NPR. The convocation will take place at 5:30 p.m. in Lorimer Chapel.

For more information, email [email protected], or call 859-5319.

* “Unraveling Whiteness: One Man’s Journey” will be the topic at 6:30 p.m. Monday at the Pugh Center, Cotter Union.

Terrance MacCullan is a professor of philosophy and honors at Eastern Washington University. He is the author of “Habits of Whiteness: A Pragmatist Reconstruction.”The first 10 audience members will receive a free copy of his book.

For more information, email [email protected], or call 859-4256.

* A talk, “Personalizing the Classroom in an Era of Standardization,” is set for 7 p.m. Tuesday in Room 122, Diamond Building,

Kevin Grover and Shelly Moody earned the prestigious honor of Maine Teacher of the Year in 2010 and 2011, respectively. They have implemented distinctive teaching methods, allowing them to personalize their classrooms. Moody, a graduate of Waterville High School and University of Maine at Farmington, is now a fourth-grade teacher at Williams Elementary School in Oakland.She believes each student is unique, and she customizes instruction accordingly. Grover, also a graduate of UMaine Farmington, teaches second grade in Falmouth and demonstrates innovation in the ways he incorporates parents in the learning process. In this talk, the teachers will describe their methods of teaching and give suggestions for implementation.

For more information, email [email protected], or call 859-5319.