Group Project Online

Mountain View Elementary recognizes Lindsay Wohning, Amanda Jennison, Madeline Salesses, and Allie Rubino for the book drive this group ran in order to benefit the school's library. From the MVE main page, click on [Teacher/Resources], then [Library], then [With Thanks]. Scroll down to see a photo and description of this group's work. Bravo!

Looking Back, Looking Forward

Dear World Literature Folks,

Thank you for sharing your thoughts with each other and with me this semester. I have enjoyed being part of our learning community. You have all done great work: you've expanded your understandings of literature, the world, and your places in it, and you've demonstrated this through your critical writings and discussions. Bravo!

As I work my way through your final assignments this week and into next, I will make them available outside my office door. I will also be in my office during regular office hours and beyond on MWF this week. Please feel free to stop by to chat or pick up your work. If you can not pick up your work this week and would like it back, then please stop by my office hours next semester to pick it up.

Warm wishes for a safe, healthy, and happy break,
Dr. Brown

Furious Flower Poetry Center Spring Events

Furious Flower Poetry Center is pleased to announce events scheduled for the Spring 2010 semester.

Lineage: The Margaret Walker Song Cycle, February 27, Highlands Room, Festival, 4:00p.m.

Furious Flower Collegiate Poetry Summit, March 18-20, Location TBA

Crafting a Poetic Future: A Panel Discussion, March 18, 6:30p.m., Wilson Hall Auditorium

Poetry Reading by Claudia Emerson, March 18, 8:00p.m., Wilson Hall Auditorium

Poetry Readings by Jon Pineda and Quraysh Ali Lansana, March 20, 10:00a.m, Wilson Hall Auditorium

MadRush Student Conference Call for Papers

JMU is hosting an undergraduate conference in March, and actively seeks abstracts from students in the College of Arts and Sciences. Students must submit a 150-word abstract to Dr. Chris Arndt (arndtjc@jmu.edu) no later than January 22, 2010. Student presentations at the conference will be 10-15 minutes, of critical papers and creative writing. I encourage all of you to submit abstracts of your best papers or creative portfolios to Dr. Arndt. If you would like my help formulating an abstract, please feel free to visit me either this week or next semester during office hours.

The website for the MadRush is: urcjmu.wordpress.com/

Conversation between Lahiri and Nair

Mira Nair, who directed this course's assigned film Monsoon Wedding, also directed the film adaptation of Jhumpa Lahiri's award-winning novel The Namesake. We are reading the Hema and Kaushik trilogy in Lahiri's more recent collection, Unaccustomed Earth. Here is a filmed conversation between the two artists to enrich our discussion of the connections in their work.

Jhumpa Lahiri talks about Unaccustomed Earth

You can hear Lahiri's answers to the interviewer's questions here. Other interviews with the author are here.

How to Read, by an Author

Thanks to classmate Angela Lewis for the link to this presentation with Nigerian writer Chimamanda Adichie. Adichie states that our various lives and cultures are composed of many overlapping stories. The novelist warns that if we hear only a single story about another person or country, we risk a critical misunderstanding.

How does Adichie's statement track with what we've been learning this semester about responsible reading, cross-culturally?