Book Talk by Michael Farris Smith

Hello from Scottsboro!

Thank you to all who joined us at "Making History Public" in Scottsboro!

"Making History Public" in Scottsboro

Are you a leader or volunteer in a local historical society, museum, or non-profit organization that preserves, interprets or makes history available to the public? Join with others for a day of networking and learning about resources and funding opportunities. A “Making History Public” workshop will be held on Thursday, April 10 at the Scottsboro Depot Museum in Scottsboro, AL.

Co-sponsored by the Alabama Historical Association and the Caroline Marshall Draughon Centerfor the Arts & Humanities, this workshop will include around-the-table presentations on such topics as nonprofit management, oral histories, university-community partnerships and best practices for your institution:

• "Our Local Society’s Story," Mary Jones-Fitts, Marengo County History and Archives Museum
• "Collaborative Opportunities with Colleges and Universities," John Kvach, University of Alabama at Huntsville
• "What I’ve Learned About Oral History Projects," Marty Olliff, Troy University Dothan
• "Archival Training Collaborative," Greg Schmidt, Society of Alabama Archivists
• "Using Archaeology to Fill the Gaps in Historical Research," Kimberly Pyszka, Alabama Archaeological Society
• "Saving the Places Where History Happens: Quick Tips on Historic Preservation," Valerie Pope Burnes, University of West Alabama
• “Digitizing History Through Alabama Mosaic,” Susanna Leberman, Huntsville-Madison CountyPublic Library
• “What I’ve Learned About Successful Non-Profit Organizations,” Billy Baxter, Alabama Association ofNonprofits

The day will conclude with an introduction to the Encyclopedia of Alabama, an online resource on Alabama history, culture, geography, and natural environment.  The registration cost for the workshop is $15, which covers lunch.

The workshop precedes the 2014 Annual Meeting of the Alabama Historical Association, to be held April 10-12. The Alabama Historical Association, founded in 1947, is the oldest statewide historical society in Alabama. The two-day meeting in Scottsboro features talks, papers, and tours of historical sites and houses. For more information about the AHA Annual Meeting,  visit www.alabamahistory.net.

For more information about the workshop, visit our website at www.auburn.edu/cah or contact Maiben Beard at 334-844-4903.

Join us for a screening of NOSTALGIA FOR THE LIGHT

On Thursday, March 6, 6:00 p.m., the Caroline Marshall Draughon Center for Arts & Humanities in the College of Liberal Arts at Auburn University will screen Point Of View’s Nostalgia for the Light (90 minutes) at the Auburn Unitarian Universalist Fellowship (450 East Thach Avenue). The screening is free and open to the public.

Patricio Guzmán's Nostalgia for the Light is a remarkable meditation on memory, history and eternity. Chile’s remote Atacama Desert, 10,000 feet above sea level, provides stunningly clear views of the heavens. But it also holds secrets from the past in its arid soil: human remains, from pre-Columbian mummies to the bones of political prisoners "disappeared" during the Pinochet dictatorship. In this otherworldly place, earthly and celestial quests meld: Archaeologists dig for ancient civilizations, women search for their loved ones and astronomers scan the skies for new galaxies.

A reception and discussion led by Dr. Kerri Munoz, Department of Foreign Languages & Literatures, will follow the program. 

PBS’s POV is television's longest-running showcase for independent non-fiction films. The screening is sponsored by the Caroline Marshall Draughon Center for Arts &Humanities in the College of Liberal Arts at Auburn University and the Auburn Unitarian Universalist Fellowship.

Celebrate National Poetry Month!

Join us for a Book Talk with Sunny Stalter-Pace

The public is invited to a book talk by Sunny Stalter-Pace, author of Underground Movements: Modern Culture on the New York City Subway on Wednesday, March 19 at 4:00 p.m. at Pebble  Hill.

For more than a century the New York City subway system has been a vital part of the city’s identity, even as judgments of its value have varied. It has been celebrated as the technological embodiment of the American melting pot and reviled as a blighted urban netherworld. Underground Movements explores the many meanings of the subway by looking back at the era when it first ascended to cultural prominence, from its opening in 1904 through the mid-1960s.

Stalter-Pace is an Assistant Professor in the Department of English at Auburn University. She received her PhD from Rutgers University and her BA from Loyola University Chicago.

The event is free, open to the public, and will be followed by refreshments. 

Pebble Hill is located at 101 S. Debardeleben Street and is home to the Caroline Marshall Center for the Arts & Humanities in the College of Liberal Arts.

For more information on the program, call 334-844-4903 or visit www.auburn.edu/cah 

Join us for a screening of LAST TRAIN HOME

On Thursday, March 6, 6:00 p.m., the Caroline Marshall Draughon Center for Arts & Humanities in the College of Liberal Arts at Auburn University will screen Point Of View’s Last Train Home (90 minutes) at the Auburn Unitarian Universalist Fellowship (450 East Thach Avenue). The screening is free and open to the public.

Every spring, China’s cities are plunged into chaos as 130 million migrant workers journey to their home villages for the New Year in the world’s largest human migration. Last Train Home takes viewers on a heart-stopping journey with the Zhangs, a couple who left infant children behind for factory jobs 16 years ago, hoping their wages would lift their children to a better life. They return to a family growing distant and a daughter longing to leave school for unskilled work. As the Zhangs navigate their new world, Last Train Home paints a rich, human portrait of China’s rush to economic development. 

A reception and discussion led by Dr. Arianne Gaetano, Assistant Professor of Anthropology, will follow the program. Dr. Gaetano is a Co-Director of Auburn Abroad in China and contributor to the Asian Studies Minor curriculum.

PBS’s POV is television's longest-running showcase for independent non-fiction films. The screening is sponsored by the Caroline Marshall Draughon Center for Arts &Humanities in the College of Liberal Arts at Auburn University and the Auburn Unitarian Universalist Fellowship.

Halftime Heroes: Coaching Beyond the X's and O's

A public screening and discussion of the student-produced documentary Halftime Heroes: Coaching Beyond the X’s and O’s will be held on Monday, March 3 at 6 p.m. at Pebble Hill (101 S. Debardeleben Street). 

The documentary features student athletes and three coaches from Beauregard High School in Lee County and focuses on the crucial role of coaches as mentors to students on and off the playing field.  Psychology major Laney Payne began the project as part of her senior capstone course for the minor in community and civic engagement.  Charles Harper, a senior radio, television, and film major, served as videographer.  

Payne and Harper will discuss their work on the project, and special guests from Beauregard High School will discuss the role of high school sports in a rural community.  A reception in honor of students and coaches will follow.  The event is co-sponsored by the Community and Civic EngagementInitiative and the Caroline Marshall Draughon Center for the Arts &Humanities in the College of Liberal Arts at Auburn University.  For more information, call 334-844-6198. 

Join us for a book talk with Skip Tucker

The public is invited to a book talk by Skip Tucker, author of Pale Blue Light, on Tuesday, February 25 at 4:00 p.m. at Pebble Hill.

Pale Blue Light is a historical fiction thriller set in the Civil War. The story focuses on fictional spy Rabe Canon as he begins to suspect the “friendly fire” that wounded and eventually killed General Stonewall Jackson during a battle may have been an assassination. Pale Blue Light was published by NewSouth Books in Montgomery.

Skip Tucker worked for the Jasper Daily Mountain Eagle for 10 years as a reporter, editor, and assistant publisher. He became press secretary for George McMillan and then Charlie Graddick in their gubernatorial campaigns and was later deputy press secretary for Alabama Governor Jim Folsom.

The event is free, open to the public, and will be followed by refreshments. Books will be available for purchase and signing.

Pebble Hill is located at 101 S. Debardeleben Street and is home to the Caroline Marshall Center for the Arts & Humanities in the College of Liberal Arts at Auburn University. For more information on the program, call 334-844-4903 or visit www.auburn.edu/cah.