Dr. William Ayers, a distinguished professor of education and senior university scholar at the University of Illinois, Chicago, will lecture to students at California State University, Fresno at 2 p.m. Friday, April 23, as part of the Cineculture film series.

The venue has changed to the Satellite Student Union (just south of Maple and San Ramon avenues) to be able to accommodate a larger audience.

Ayers’ topic is “Pay Attention and Be Astonished: Ethical Action and the Creation of the Public Square.” After the lecture, he will talk with students and sign copies of his books.

The campus Cineculture program will screen the film “Central Station” (1998) and Ayers will lead a discussion of it in McLane Hall Room 121 from 4:30 to 7 p.m. The screening also will be held in a bigger-than-originally-scheduled space.

His appearance is presented by Cineculture, the College of Arts and Humanities and the Kremen School of Education and Human Development.

All the events are free and open to the public. Parking on campus is $3.

Ayers is a founder of the Small Schools Workshop and the Center for Youth and Society. He teaches courses in interpretive and qualitative research, urban school change, and teaching and the modern predicament. He is vice-president of the curriculum division of the American Educational Research Association and a member of the executive committee of the University of Illinois, Chicago Faculty Senate.

Ayers has written extensively about social justice, democracy and education, the cultural contexts of schooling, and teaching as an essentially intellectual, ethical and political enterprise.

He also is known for 1960s activism as a leader in the Weather Underground movement that opposed U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War.

His articles have appeared in the Harvard Educational Review, the Journal of Teacher Education, Teachers College Record, Rethinking Schools, Nation, Educational Leadership, New York Times and Cambridge Journal of Education. Among his books is “To Teach: The Journey of a Teacher,” named Book of the Year in 1993 by Kappa Delta Pi. He won the Witten Award for Distinguished Work in Biography and Autobiography in 1995.

The movie “Central Station” is presented in Portuguese with English subtitles. Director Walter Salles’ film received numerous awards and two Academy Award nominations.

Cineculture is a student organization established in 2005 to promote cultural awareness and address diversity issues through a film series open to the campus and general community. The film series is offered as a three-unit academic course in the Department of Mass Communication and Journalism.

Cineculture is funded through Instructionally Related Activities Fees, which students pay for activities and organizations on campus that enhance the academic mission.

For more information, visit http://cineculture.csufresno.edu/.