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First Wednesdays 2010-2011 |
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“Sharing Our Past — Shaping Our Future” Since 1974 |
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Brooks Memorial Library, 224 Main Street, Brattleboro, 7:00 p.m. on the first Wednesday of every month. Library phone: 802.254.5290
October 6 ~ No Peace without Victory: The Failure of Peace Negotiations in the Civil War. By 1863 the Civil War’s casualties had produced a widespread desire for peace. But how was it to be attained? Acclaimed Civil War historian James M. McPherson examines two major efforts to end the war through negotiations. Sponsor: The Lodge at Otter Creek and The Lodge at Shelburne Bay
November 3 ~ Dr. Seuss Goes to War. UMass Amherst Professor Emeritus Richard Minear explores Dr. Seuss’s editorial cartoons of 1940–41, which attacked anti-Semitism and black-white racism, but depicted Japanese problematically at best.
December 1 ~ The History of Herbal Medicine in America. Expert herbalist Rosemary Gladstar examines the early history of herbalism in America and how herbs play a role in healthcare today. Sponsor: Brattleboro Food Co-op
January 5 ~ The Impossible Presidency and Obama's Chance for Greatness. UVM professor Frank Bryan considers why scholars have ranked no president since 1952 as great, and discusses Obama’s and his successors’ chances for reversing the trend. Sponsor: World Learning
February 2 ~ Willa Cather’s Prairie Landscapes. The European immigrant farmers in My Antonia and other novels fail nearly as often as they succeed. Amherst College professor Michele Barale examines the relation between Cather’s art and her very tangible earth.
March 2 ~ The Towering Inferno. The most frequently translated work in America today is Dante’s Inferno—a seven-hundred-year-old book-length poem. Dante translator Michael Palma considers its enduring appeal and what it has to say to a contemporary audience.
April 6 ~ Did Karl Marx Predict the Cuban Revolution? The causes of the Cuban Revolution—and revolutions in general—are widely debated. Amherst College professor Javier Corrales reviews some of the most important—if flawed—theories.
May 4 ~ The Changing Face of Islam: Transformation in Modern South Asia. Looking at Pakistan, Bangladesh, and India, Mount Holyoke College professor Kavita Datla considers the need to shift from a “Clash of Civilizations” model of Islam to considering how transformations in Islam share something with transformations in other religions. Sponsor: Centre Congregational Church
Program Sponsors: Brattleboro Food Co-opThe Lodge at Otter Creek and The Lodge at Shelburne Bay
Library Sponsors: Brattleboro Savings & Loan
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Brattleboro |
