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Category: "Literature and Poetry"

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Gatsby's "West Egg" and the "Slender Riotous Island" in the 1920s

Natalie Naylor, Uniondale
F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby created the literary image of Long Island, but what was the historical reality of Long Island life in the 1920s?

Political Humor: A Look Back in Anger Mixed with Mirth

Joseph Dorinson, Brooklyn
Can Tina Fey impede the political ascent of Sarah Palin? Did H.L. Mencken destroy the reputation of Presidents Harding and Coolidge? How did comedians in America contribute to Nixon's resignation? For answers to these and other knotty questions, stay tuned.

Brooklyn Bridge Forever: A Monument in Stone and Steel

John B. Manbeck, Brooklyn
The first bridge to connect the cities of Brooklyn and New York, the Brooklyn Bridge is a majestic work of art in stone and steel. It is also a practical conduit that proved crucial to New York City's growth and prosperity.

The Immigrant Saga: A Memoir of the Lower East Side & Early Jewish American Writers

Sanford Sternlicht, Syracuse
Where did they come from? Why did they leave their homes in Eastern Europe to sail the Atlantic to NYC? How did 1.5 million Jews adapt to, contribute to, and effect American society and culture?

Aristotle's E-Mail: Friendship in the Cyber Age

Timothy J. Madigan, Rochester
Facebook, MySpace, LinkedIn and other such programs allow us to be “friends” with hundreds, if not thousands of people. But just what makes a person a friend?

Longing and Belonging: The Idea of Home in Asian American Literature

Luis H. Francia, New York
Asian-American writers often explore the tension of being both an American and an outsider. Learn more about how contemporary authors including Maxine Hong Kingston, Chang Rae Lee, and Jumpa Lahiri re-imagine notions of home, tradition, sexuality, history, and memory in their stories and novels, to forge a unique place for Asian-Americans in American culture.

Gilded Age Psyches: A Tale of Victorians Run Wild

Robert Spiegelman, New York
From the American Revolution to the Indian Wars of the Wild West, the love story of John Adair and Cornelia Wadsworth is interlaced with the history of America's first 100 years. Follow this brilliant -- but haunted -- Victorian couple as they romance in Manhattan, hunt buffalo on the Great Plains, and found a Texas cattle empire.

Romance and the Romantics: The Liaison of Mme. George Sand and M. Frederic Chopin

Ruth Albert Spencer, New York
This 19th century romance encompasses music, French literature and women's roles in European society. The presentation includes slides showing where the couple lived, and the music of Chopin (where a piano is available).

Letting in the Sky: Women Writers and Nature

Charlotte Zoe Walker, Gilbertsville
Based on "Women and Nature," a course Walker teaches at SUNY Oneonta, this lecture considers the work of major women novelists and poets, such as Virginia Woolf, Willa Cather, and Terry Tempest Williams, from the perspective of their concern for nature and the environment. Includes audiovisual materials.

The Beat Writers

Larry Rapant, Voorheesville
The Beat Writers: druggies or prophets? Poets or con artists? Mystics or purveyors of smut?

Imagining the "Highlands of the Hudson" in Nineteenth-Century America

Stephen P. Rice, Mahwah
See how artists and writers in the nineteenth century depicted one of the most scenic and celebrated stretches of the Hudson River, the "Highlands of the Hudson."

Aging in Shakespeare

Maurice Charney, New York
People aged earlier in Shakespeare's time than in ours. Cleopatra speaks of herself as "wrinkled deep in time," but she was only in her late thirties.

Frankenstein Lives! The Continuing Relevance of Mary Shelley’s Novel

Timothy J. Madigan, Rochester
Although written almost 200 years ago, Mary Shelley 's "Frankenstein" remains relevant today. The story of a man obsessed with creating artificial life, it eerily echoes today’s discussions on fetal tissue research, life-extension, robots, and human cloning.

Utopia: Living in a Nowhere Land

Timothy J. Madigan, Rochester
We often talk about “utopias,” but is there such a thing as a “perfect world”? And would you really want to live in it if there were?

All Things Herriot: James Herriot and His Peaceable Kingdom

Sanford Sternlicht, Syracuse
In the Great Depression how could a poor, newly graduated, veterinarian from Scotland, who had taken a job caring for farm animals in Yorkshire, England, become a household name as a world class storyteller?

The Many Guises of King Arthur

William Seaton, Goshen
King Arthur appears in a variety of stories: some are heroic, some romantic, mystical, or simply entertaining. What can this ancient hero teach us today?

Stephen Crane as a Regional Writer

William Seaton, Goshen
At once rebellious and affectionate toward his home region, Stephen Crane's local references are essential to an understanding of his work.

Sweet Treason: Literary Translation

William Seaton, Goshen
Illustrated by texts in several languages, this lecture argues for the value of literary translation in spite of the impossibility of complete success.

Winged Words: Notes on the Oral Performance of Poetry

William Seaton, Goshen
How does performed poetry differ from poetry on the page? Is one mode more authentic of effective? The speaker surveys the history of art.

Franz Kafka and Movies

Maria Luise Caputo-Mayr, New York
A short introduction into Kafka's life and his fascination with contemporary cinema in Prague, and the often "theatrical" character of his prose and novels. Will be followed by a presentation of the influence of his works on filmmakers. Clips of cinematic renditions available.

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