On Saturday, April 14, 2012, 3 PM at the New York Estonian Culture Days at the New York Estonian House. THOMAS PALM, Ph.D.  Estonia: a personal historic overview: Why does a choir of 25,000 people sing about insects? The role of location in national history -- 700 years of occupation? The beginnings of Estonian identity and nationalism: the role of choral music, and more.    Thomas Palm is a retired professor of economics from Portland, Oregon, where he taught at Portland State University for over thirty years. He was born in Tallinn, Estonia, but spent much of World War II in Germany. After some years in refuge camps there, he and  his mother immigrated to the United States in l949, where he completed his education. He won an all expenses-paid scholarship to the University of Colorado, where he got his batchelor's degree in economics, and an NDEA fellowship to the University of Michigan, which is his alma mater for the master's and Ph. D. degrees, also in economics. Because he had  retained fluency in the Estonian language, and of his expertise in economics, he was a much sought after  lecturer and consultant for Estonian universities, businesses and government in the crucial late 80's and early 90's.  He has made over 20 professional visits to the country. He was consulting with the Estonian government during the restoration of independence.  The slides that we will be seeing  were mostly made by him during these visits. The talk is in English and illustrated by many unique historic photos.