Four individuals—including Dave Curtis (left)—told us how the September 11 attacks reshaped their scholarly paths.

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View images from the book Hard Ground, with photographs of homeless people by Michael O'Brien and poems by Tom Waits.

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Jolene Koester, who leads California State University at Northridge, admits she doesn't know enough about technology. But she believes IT is a key to her institution's future.

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Brooke Smith, a rodeo star at Garden City Community College, in Kansas, demonstrates goat-tying—an event that she says is "90 percent mental."

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Our weekly slide show features striking and revealing images connected to academe, chosen by Rose Engelland and Erica Lusk, The Chronicle's photography editors.