Harry Potter’s World Exhibit – A few weeks ago I received an email from Abby Moore, the Education Librarian at the J. Murrey Atkins Library. She informed me that a traveling exhibit titled “Harry Potter’s World: Renaissance Science, Magic and Medicine” is making a stop at the Atkins Library from the end of November through January 6, 2017, and she wanted to meet with me to brainstorm programming ideas related to this exhibit. We met for an hour and kicked around lots of ideas for Harry Potter talks, events, and projects; Abby and her colleagues decided to implement many of them, the details of which will be announced soon. In the meantime, however, the opening ceremony is already scheduled. It will take place on Wednesday, November 30th from 4:30 to 6:30 in the Halton Reading Room of Atkins Library. For more information about this exhibit, please click on the following link: http://library.uncc.edu/HarryPottersWorldExhibit
This traveling exhibit was organized by the National Library of Medicine. By exploring the connections between the medical sciences and and J. K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series, the National Library of Medicine underscores the fact the medical sciences and the humanities overlap in significant ways. This overlap can also be seen in the research of several of our faculty members. Paula Eckard, for example, is currently working a new book that is tentatively titled The Medical Narratives of Thomas Wolfe. At its core, this project relates to the new field of narrative medicine. Similarly, Boyd Davis is working on several funded research projects in which she examines the importance of storytelling when working with patients with dementia or Alzheimer’s. A third example is the research that Jen Munroe is doing on the history of medicine as it is reflected in the writings of early modern women from Great Britain. As this examples demonstrate our English Department is very much a player in the world of medical science.
Kudos — As you know, I like to use my Monday Missives to share news about recent accomplishments by members of our department. Here is the latest news:
Amand Loeffert, one of our graduate students, recently published a co-authored article titled “Fifteen Years of Harry Potter Movie Magic” in the Fall/Winter 2016 issue of RISE: A Children’s Literacy Journal. Her co-author is Julia Morris, who graduated from our MA program in 2015.
Paula Martinac recently learned that she has been awarded a 2017 Regional Artist Project Grant to support her work on a novel that is tentatively titled Clio.
Upcoming Events and Deadlines— Here is information about two upcoming events:
December 2 — The English Department meeting will take place on Friday, December 2, from 11:00 to 12:30 in the English Department Conference Room. Gray’s Bookstore will be providing a faculty/staff appreciation luncheon in the lounge (Fretwell 248C) immediately following the meeting.
December 8 – The Department Holiday Party will take place from 11:30-1:30 in the faculty/staff lounge on December 8. A sign-up sheet for donated goodies is on the front reception desk.
Quirky Quiz Question — In the Harry Potter series, the students at Hogwarts study science, but the J. K. Rowling often substitutes her own terms when referring to these subjects. For example, she uses the term herbology when referring to botany. What is the name of the professor at Hogwarts who teaches herbology?
Last week’s answer: Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
When I went to the event that the students in Sarah Minslow’s class organized, I was very impressed with their efforts to communicate the difficulties facing refugee children. I came away thinking that nobody should live the life of a refugee, and that reminded me of the following line from a song: “You don’t have to live like a refugee.” Who recorded this song?