You already read so many books for classes. You might carry 18 units, a job, and be in a club or activity, so why should you add one more thing to your burgeoning schedule? Because the book club is a place where anyone who loves reading and books can come and find others who love books and reading. Finding camaraderie is important to the sense of belonging on campus, but let me list the professors who attended the book club on Wednesday, September 10: Dr. Veltman, Professor Isaacs, Tronti, Renfro, Bruinius-Alspach, and Dr. Newton. That is six professors in one room, at one time, with your attention. How many times does that happen in college? How many times have you tried to foster relationships with professors and failed? Maybe shyness and quietness in class are inhibiting your networking abilities. Maybe you have goo intentions and life gets in the way.
The Book Club really is an amazing place. These professors who have devoted their lives to education, books, literary criticism, critical thinking, and reading; professors who are among the leaders in their field, are impressive publishers and journal article writers, who have life experience we cannot fathom, are all sitting in a room waiting for students to talk about books. The Book Club provides the perfect place to spend time with these greats. I attended the Book Club on Wednesday and during the discussion, I looked around the room, saw the four students in attendance, the six professors, and could not believe I had the opportunity to sit with people who could be my colleagues, and watch them talk about two short stories with almost no preparation. To sit in a room with great minds discussing literature is an awesome sight. It is something that you cannot get in class. Class is devoted to student learning, to making sure students are learning and understanding something pivotal about a time period or a specific author. While that is important and exciting, try an atmosphere where there is no expectation of imparting knowledge on a student, no course objectives, no agenda. We are all there to discuss these stories, how they made us feel, what we loved about them: the writing, the lyrical nature, the profound message they have left with our soul. And you get glimpses into the professors hearts, minds, and souls because they too feel what we feel, see what we see, analyze what we analyze. After all, they taught us how. So why not try out the Book Club, why not add one more story to your reading list and homework stack, why not take a chance and spend some uninterrupted time with a large portion of the English Department? For days, times, and short story URLs, visit our 2014 page.
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April 23 is Shakespeare's birthday and to celebrate, the English Department, Sigma Tau, and the Creative Writing Club held a party for the 450th birthday of William Shakespeare. |
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May 2015
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