Monday Missive – March 5, 2018

March 05, 2018 by Mark West
Categories: Monday Missive
Movie Dates — Movie viewing figures in the development of many relationships, and the relationship between the English Department and the Charlotte Mecklenburg Library is no exception.  Our English Department has collaborated with the public library on a variety of individual projects over the years, but we have never collaborated on anything as ambitious as the upcoming film series tied to our joint project on “The Child in Southern Literature and Film.”  Supported by a major grant from the North Carolina Humanities Council, this film series is being organized by Sam Shapiro, who serves as a Library Coordinator/Supervisor with the Charlotte Mecklenburg Library and who also teaches films courses in the English Department as a part-time faculty member.  The film series kicks off with a showing of Beasts of the Southern Wild on Saturday, March 10, at 2:00 p.m. in the Main Library’s Francis Auditorium.

Beasts of the Southern Wild made its debut in 2012 and went on to be nominated for four Academy Awards.  Set in an isolated community deep in the Louisiana bayou, this film deals with the impact of global warming through the experiences of a six-year-old girl named Hushpuppy.  The film has a dreamlike quality, but the central character is very true to life.  At its core, this film depicts a resilient child attempting to carve out a future in a world beset by problems that are not of her own making.

The film series will run through the middle of May. The next film in the series is To Kill a Mockingbird, which will be shown on March 24.  The third film, Sounder, will be shown on April 7, followed by The Reivers on April 14 and Night of the Hunter on May 12.  All of the films will be shown in the Main Library’s Francis Auditorium and will start at 2:00 p.m.  I hope these dates work for you and that I will see you at the movies.

Kudos  — As you know, I like to use my Monday Missives to share news about recent accomplishments by members of the English Department.  Here is the latest news:

Boyd Davis recently published a co-authored article titled “A Triangulated Qualitative Study of Veteran Decision-Making to Seek Care During Heart Failure Exacerbation:  Implication of Dual Health System in Use,” which appeared in Inquiry:  https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29482411

Aaron Toscano recently presented a paper titled “The Video Game as Political Scapegoat: Anxieties, Contradictions, and Hyperbole” at the Popular Culture Association Conference held in Charleston, South Carolina.  

Upcoming Events and Deadlines — Here is information about an upcoming event:

April 10 — The English Department will be hosting Leslie Howsam, one of the most renowned historians of the book in North America, to give an open talk titled: “Book History: a Niche for Nerds, or Essential Knowledge?” on April 10th at 4:00 pm in the Atkins Library (Halton Room).

Quirky Quiz Question —  One of the films featured in the upcoming film series is The Reivers.  Do you know the name of the author who wrote the novel upon which this film is based?

Last week’s answer: He spelled his name Geisel backwards publishing as Theo LeSieg.

Dr. Seuss is one of Theodor Seuss Giesel’s pen names, but it is not his only pen name.  He often used another pan name for the beginner books that he wrote but did not illustrate.  What pen name did he use for these books?