Jonathan Kozol, veteran social activist and popular author, will speak about issues of education and race as a part of the "Conversations on Race" series this week.

His first convocation, "Savage Inequalities: Public Education and the Promise of Democracy," will be at 7 p.m. tonight in the Watson Forum of the Center for Contemporary Media. The event will be broadcast live on DePauw's CCM3 and Greencastle cable channel 2.

Andrew Williams, professor of sociology and anthropology, said Kozol is "perhaps one of the most important speakers in the series."

"I think he will address one of the more important issues we as a nation need to talk about, which is racial inequality," Williams said. "I believe ... education is a fundamental issue in terms of trying to equalize our opportunities."

The convocation is named after Kozol's book "Savage Inequalities: Children in America's Schools." Kozol visited rich and poor schools in more than 30 communities in 1989 and observed that the nation's public schools still remained separate and unequal despite the struggles of the '60s and the efforts of the courts.

This led him to write "Savage Inequalities," which was a finalist for the 1992 National Book Critics Circle Award and received the New England Book Award in nonfiction.

Kozol's second convocation, "Amazing Grace: Race, Resilience and Survival of the Spirit in the Inner Cities of America" will be at 10 a.m. tomorrow in Meharry Hall in East College.

Two years of conversations with children, priests and parents in the South Bronx of New York City, one of the most racially isolated and impoverished neighborhoods in the United States, led him to write "Amazing Grace: The Lives of Children and the Conscience of a Nation," which was published in October 1995. "Amazing Grace" became a national bestseller within three weeks of publication.

John Dittmer, professor of history, said he has read some of Kozol's books.

"I think he's a tremendously interesting and dedicated scholar who has a message that is very depressing and very accurate about what's going on in public schools today," he said.

Kozol's first book, "Death At An Early Age," came from his experience as a fourth-grade teacher in a poor black neighborhood in Boston. A description of his first year as a teacher, the book was published in 1967 and received the 1968 National Book Award in Science, Philosophy and Religion. Educators now consider it a classic.

Kozol also has written "Illiterate American" and "Rachel and Her Children." Additionally, he has received two Guggenheim fellowships and was twice a fellow of the Rockefeller Foundation. He lives in Byfield, Mass.