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First Wednesdays 2009-10 |
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“Sharing Our Past — Shaping Our Future” Since 1974 |
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Kellogg-Hubbard Library, 135 Main Street, Montpelier, 7:00 p.m. on the first Wednesday of every month. Library phone: 802.223.3338
October 7 ~ It’s All Uphill in Afghanistan. Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Thomas Powers argues that in mountainous Afghanistan, we don’t speak the language or understand the people — and that we’re trying to solve a political problem militarily. Trying to square this circle could poison American politics and ruin Obama’s presidency.
November 4 ~ Singer’s Typewriter . . . and Mine. *** CANCELLED *** Amherst College professor Ilan Stavans, editor of the three-volume Collected Stories of Isaac Bashevis Singer, examines the life and work of the controversial Yiddish writer and Nobel Prize winner.
December 2 ~ Poetry’s Spiritual Language. Using the poetry of Dickinson, Kenyon, Rumi, and Kabir—poets from diverse religious traditions—Dartmouth English professor Nancy Jay Crumbine examines poetry’s language of spirituality. Sponsor: Bear Pond Books /Rivendell Books
January 6 ~ Vermont’s State House at 150 Years. Vermont State Curator David Schutz explores the architectural, cultural, and political significance of one of the nation’s oldest and best-preserved capitol buildings.
February 3 ~ The Truth about Happiness. What is happiness, and why is it so elusive? Are Americans particularly hungry for happiness? Analyst and author Dr. Polly Young-Eisendrath examines the cultural and psychological context of happiness.
March 3 ~ Welfare Brat. Dr. Mary Childers’s childhood in the Bronx was often marred by violence, alcoholism, and neglect. Referencing her own story, she discusses various paths out of poverty and away from welfare dependence, as well as ethical issues associated with publishing memoirs.
April 7 ~ The Unseen Alistair Cooke. One of the twentieth century’s preeminent journalists, Alistair Cooke reported on the events of his time. His daughter, Susan Cooke Kittredge, speaks about her father and his life away from the public eye.
May 5 ~ 1763 and How America Became American. Native American History scholar and Dartmouth professor Colin Calloway considers a time when a war of independence waged by Indian people set America on course for a second, more famous, war of independence.
Program Sponsor: Bear Pond Books / Rivendell Books
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Montpelier |
