Former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Samantha Power will present “America’s Foreign Policy and the State of the World” at Boston College on March 22 at 4 p.m. in the Heights Room of Corcoran Commons. One of TIME’s “100 Most Influential People,” Power has been called “a powerful crusader for U.S foreign policy as well as human rights and democracy” by Forbes and been named one of Foreign Policy’s “Top 100 Global Thinkers.” As U.S. Ambassador to the U.N., Power became the public face of U.S. opposition to Russian aggression in Ukraine and Syria, negotiated the toughest sanctions in a generation against North Korea, lobbied to secure the release of political prisoners, and helped mobilize global action against ISIL. She won a Pulitzer Prize for her non-fiction book, “A Problem From Hell”: America and the Age of Genocide. She is currently the Anna Lindh Professor of Practice at Harvard Kennedy School and Harvard Law School where she is writing a book, The Education of an Idealist, which will chronicle her years in public service and reflect on the role of human rights and humanitarian ideals in contemporary geopolitics. Sponsor: Winston Center for Leadership and Ethics Clough Colloquium, with the Women’s Collaborative and the Women’s Center.
Samantha Power
Viet Thanh Nguyen
Pulitzer Prize winner Viet Thanh Nguyen will talk about his best-selling novel, The Sympathizer, on Mar. 21 at 7:00 p.m. in Gasson Hall, Room 100. In addition to the Pulitzer, The Sympathizer has been awarded the Dayton Literary Peace Prize, the Edgar Award for Best First Novel, the Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Fiction, a Gold Medal in First Fiction from the California Book Awards, and the Asian/Pacific American Literature Award, among other honors. A black comedy, historical novel, and literary thriller, The Sympathizer follows a nameless spy who has infiltrated the South Vietnamese army and flees with its remnants to America. His mission: report on their efforts to continue their lost war. Nguyen’s other books include Nothing Ever Dies: Vietnam and the Memory of War (a finalist for the National Book Award in nonfiction) and a short story collection, The Refugees. He is a University Professor, the Aerol Arnold Chair of English, and a Professor of English, American Studies and Ethnicity, and Comparative Literature at the University of Southern California. His writing has appeared in the New York Times, Time, The Guardian, The Atlantic, and other venues. Sponsors: Lowell Humanities Series, Asian American Studies, the English Department, and the Institute for the Liberal Arts. | NPR interview, Late Night with Seth Meyers
Lessons from Piers Plowman
Higher education has become a polarizing topic in U.S. politics, but the underlying issues—who should be taught, what should be taught, and to what end—stretch back to the Middle Ages, according to Assistant Professor of English Eric Weiskott. In a piece for the Winter issue of Boston College Magazine, Weiskott considers the timeliness of the message in English writer William Langland’s epic poem Piers Plowman. “In the late 14th century, as in the early 21st century, everyday people felt the chasm between the haves and have-nots widening,” writes Weiskott, adding “Langland wondered whether education was living up to its promises.” Weiskott is the author of the book English Alliterative Verse: Poetic Tradition and Literary History (Cambridge University Press). He recently talked about his book in this video from BC Libraries.
Posted in Boston College Authors
Tagged BC Libraries, English Department, higher education
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Savage’s book on the shortlist
Boston College Robert Savage’s book The BBC’s ‘Irish Troubles’: Television, Conflict and Northern Ireland has been named to the shortlist for the 25th Christopher Ewart-Biggs Literary Prize. The winner of the prize, named for the British ambassador to Ireland who was murdered by the IRA in 1976, will be announced on April 11 in Belfast. The objective of the prize is to honor works that align with the ideals of Christopher Ewart-Biggs–promoting and encouraging peace and reconciliation in Ireland, a greater understanding between the people of Britain and Ireland, and closer co-operation between the partners of the European Community. Savage’s book focuses on the BBC and how its broadcasts complicated the “Troubles” by challenging decisions, policies and tactics developed by governments trying to defeat a stubborn insurgency that threatened national security. More from the Irish Times.
Shariah
Shariah, the Islamic canonical law based on the teachings of the Koran, is a complex concept that has been interpreted in many ways over time and around the world. It plays a vital role in the lives of Muslims around the world, offering guidance on everything from personal morality to ritual practices, family life, and finance. But for many outside the Islamic world, Shariah is a misunderstood concept susceptible to media manipulation. In their new book, Shariah: What Everyone Needs to Know (Oxford University Press, 2018), Natana J. DeLong-Bas of Boston College and John Esposito of Georgetown University provide clear and even-handed answers to a wide range of questions, covering the history, development, content, and practice of Shariah. According to Publishers Weekly, “the clear writing and solid scholarship make [Shariah: What Everyone Needs to Know] a valuable reference work.” DeLong-Bas is an assistant professor of the practice in the Theology Department & Islamic Civilization and Societies program. She is also the author of Wahhabi Islam: From Revival and Reform to Global Jihad.
Posted in Boston College Authors
Tagged Islamic Civilization & Societies, Theology Department
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Beyond Katrina
Award-winning poet Natasha Trethewey will discuss her nonfiction book, Beyond Katrina: A Meditation on the Mississippi Gulf Coast, on March 14 at 7:00 p.m. in Gasson Hall, room 100. A Pulitzer Prize winner and former U.S. Poet Laureate, Trethewey spent her childhood in Gulfport, where her mother’s family extended family lived. In Beyond Katrina, Trethewey melds her memories of the Mississippi Gulf Coast — complete with letters, poems, and photographs — with the experiences of family, friends, and neighbors to trace the erosion of local culture, the rising economic dependence on tourism and casinos, and to unveil a life on the margins for Gulf Coast whose citizens—particularly African Americans—well before the storm hit. Trethewey is the author of four collections of poetry: Thrall; Native Guard; Bellocq’s Ophelia; and Domestic Work. She is Robert W. Woodruff Professor of English and Creative Writing at Emory University. Sponsors: Park Street Corporation Speaker Series and Lowell Humanities Series.
Posted in Guest Authors, Lowell Humanities Series, Park Street Corporation Speaker Series
Tagged nonfiction, poet, race
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The story of Yak Girl
At age seven, Dorje Dolma was living in one of the most remote places in the world, protecting her family’s goats and sheep from wolves and snow leopards. By age 10, she was facing a life-threatening condition and would encounter an American woman, with Boston College ties, who would change the course of her life. Dolma recounts her amazing childhood and journey to America in her new memoir, Yak Girl: Growing Up in the Remote Dolpo Region of Nepal (Sentient Publications, 2018). The book’s foreword is written by former Boston College soccer player Jennifer Cleary, whose writes that her life was changed “in the most profound of ways” after she met Dorje. Read more from BC News.
Love and marriage in today’s India
In India today, tradition is colliding with Western culture, creating an uneasy fusion whose impact is most evident in the institution of marriage. In her new book, The Heart Is a Shifting Sea: Love and Marriage in Mumbai (Harper, 2018), journalist Elizabeth Flock takes a deep dive into the married lives of three couples as they navigate issues such as infertility, women’s roles, religious tradition, and infidelity. Flock spent close to a decade getting to know these couples—listening to their stories and living in their homes, where she was privy to countless moments of marital joy, inevitable frustration, dramatic upheaval, and whispered confessions and secrets. The Heart Is a Shifting Sea is both a look at the universal mysteries of love and marriage and a portrait of a nation in the midst of transition. A graduate of Boston College, Flock is a reporter for PBS NewsHour. She began her career at Forbes India Magazine, and has worked for U.S. News & World Report and the Washington Post. She has also written for the New York Times, the Atlantic, Al Jazeera, the Hindustan Times and the Hindu. National Public Radio interview.
Making education abroad more inclusive
While education abroad is increasingly emphasized as a critical factor in preparing undergraduates for a globally interconnected world, many segments of the student population are underrepresented in the pool of students partaking in international education. Students with disabilities, first-generation college students, and science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) majors are just a few of the groups that encounter barriers to education abroad. In Promoting Inclusion in Education Abroad: A Handbook of Research and Practice, co editors Nick J. Gozik of Boston College and Heather Barclay Hamir of Butler University gather leading thinkers and practitioners to offer research and case studies that illuminate the personal and institutional issues which may inhibit education abroad participation and present practices to increase the diversity of students engaged in international education. Gozik is director of Boston College’s Office of International Programs and McGillycuddy-Logue Center for Undergraduate Global Studies.
Posted in Boston College Authors
Tagged globalization, International Programs, study abroad
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Book award for Ross
Everyday Renaissances: The Quest for Cultural Legitimacy in Venice (Harvard University Press) by History Professor Sarah Gwyneth Ross has been awarded the Helen and Howard R. Marraro Prize in Italian History by the Society for Italian Historical Studies, an affiliate of the American Historical Association. The award recognizes the best book, published in the previous calendar year, on Italian history in any epoch, Italian cultural history, or Italian-American relations. In Everyday Renaissances, Ross looks beyond Michelangelo and the Medici to the lives of more than 100 artisans, merchants, and others on the middle rung of Venetian society who embraced literature, learning, and humanistic education. For more about the book see the 3/3/16 BC Bookmarks post.
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