Film Series on Immigration Launches with "El Norte"

On Tuesday, Feb. 28, El Norte, a film by director Gregory Nava, will kick off a movie series on immigration. “El Norte” will screen at 7 p.m. at the Auburn Unitarian Universalist Fellowship (540 East Thach Avenue). Dr. Robert Leier, professor in the Auburn University College of Education, will lead discussion.

El Norte, the first independent film to receive an Oscar nomination for Best Original Screenplay, traces the journey of two Mayan youth who flee Guatemala following a Guatemalan Army-led massacre in their village. The journey is marked by danger, and sometimes humor, as the two make their way to Los Angeles.

Leier, who will moderate El Norte, is currently an assistant professor and program area coordinator for the graduate degree and certificate programs in English for Speakers of Other Languages Education, Department of Curriculum and Teaching, College of Education at Auburn. In addition to its Oscar nomination, the film was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant."

The series, which is free and open to all, will include screenings of seven other films, including Harvest of Shame, Pueblos Hermanos and Morristown. Each screening will take place at AUUF at 7 p.m. Designed to spark discussion of both film and issues of immigration, the series was created by Dr. Kerri Muñoz and is sponsored by the Auburn University Latin American Studies Center for Community Connections, the College of Liberal Arts Global Citizenship Project, the departments of Foreign Languages and Literatures, English, and Political Science, as well as AUUF and the Caroline Marshall Draughon Center for the Arts & Humanities in the Collegeof Liberal Arts.

Auburn Speaks 2013 Announces Editors and Call for Submissions

Auburn Speaks, an annual peer-reviewed publication showcasing research and creative scholarship by Auburn University faculty, students, staff and alumni, is pleased to announce that Dr. Graeme Lockaby, the associate dean for research in the School of Forestry and Wildlife Sciences, will serve as the editor for its 2013 edition.

Auburn Speaks features important research at Auburn University that affects and may be of interest to the general public. Accessible and visually engaging, the publication draws from all disciplines.

The 2013 edition will focus on water. The topic is a subject rich with applications across the sciences and social sciences, including state, regional and global issues of use, conservation and quality. Water is a significant factor in issues related to energy and the environment, rural and urban development, public health, as well as food production, processing and distribution. Water informs creative research, the visual arts, creative writing and performing arts. Auburn’s long history of engagement in water research will also be featured.

Lockaby serves as director of the Center for Forest Sustainability and has extensive experience with research and outreach on water issues. Working with him to recruit and edit submissions are ten  faculty members who will serve as subject area experts and  associate editors: Dr. Kelly Alley on social/policy issues and arts/humanities; Dr. Claude Boyd on water use and aquaculture; Dr. Prabhakar Clement on groundwater; Dr. Mark  Dougherty on global water issues; Dr. Diane Hite on ecosystem services; Drs. Elise Irwin and John Aho on biodiversity; Dr. Latif Kalin on land-use change; Dr. Charlene LeBleu on low-impact development; and Dr. Puneet Srivastava on climate influences.

The deadline for submissions of articles to Auburn Speaks is no later than April 15. The Auburn Speaks website (www.auburn.edu/auburnspeaks) offers contact information and submission guidelines. Those with questions about appropriate topics for submissions are encouraged to contact an associate editor.

Auburn Speaks is a project of the Office of the Vice President for Research, with assistance provided by the OVPR’s Program Development Office, the University Writing Initiative and the Caroline Marshall Draughon Center for the Arts Humanities in the College of Liberal Arts, as well as the College of Agriculture’s Office of AgriculturalCommunications and Marketing.

The 2012 edition of Auburn Speaks, which will debut in April during this year’s Auburn University Research Week, will include features and profiles relating to research on the BP oil spill. Information about it can also be found at the Auburn Speaks website.

Intersections and Meeting Grounds: Public History and Community

On February 17-18, 2012, Auburn University will host a two-day symposium exploring the intersection of public history and community in the South, with a focus on Alabama. The symposium, “Intersections and Meeting Grounds: Public History and Community,” will be held in the Special Collections and Archives Department of the Ralph Brown Draughon Library.

“Intersections and Meeting Grounds” will explore the roles of community, institutional, and academic partners in public history collaborations. The symposium aims to bring together a diverse range of panelists working in Alabama and across the South to address strategies and approaches for sharing authority, effective decision-making, resolving conflict, and community engagement.

The symposium is sponsored by Auburn University's College of Liberal Arts' Caroline Marshall Draughon Center for the Arts & Humanities and Department of History, Alabama Department of Archives and History, and History Matters LLC.

Registration for the conference is $30 ($15 for students), and includes lunch on Friday and Saturday. Registration for the keynote dinner Friday evening is $15. For a schedule and a list of presenters, please visit www.cla.auburn.edu/publichistory or call 334-844-4903.

Discover SHR at Free Master Class

On Saturday, Feb. 11, 2012, the Southern Humanities Review will host “Discovering SHR,” free master writing classes at St. Dunstan’s Episcopal Church in Auburn.

Pushcart Prize nominees Alison Pelegrin and Emma Bolden will lead workshops on writing poetry and nonfiction. Pelegrin, poet, essayist and author of two poetry collections, will offer a poetry writing workshop from 10 a.m. to noon. Bolden, currently an assistant professor at Georgia Southern and author of How to Recognize a Lady, will lead a nonfiction master class from 1 to 3 p.m.

The classes are free and open to the public, but seating is limited. To reserve a spot, send an email to shreng@auburn.edu. Following the master classes, The Gnu’s Room will host a free reading by the presenters at 6 p.m. For more information on the reading, visit www.thegnusroom.com. 

The Southern Humanities Review was founded in 1967 as the official publication of the Southern Humanities Council. Under the leadership of Professor Dan Latimer and Alumni Professor Chantel Acevedo, SHR publishes fiction, poetry, critical essays and book reviews on the arts, literature, philosophy, religion and history. Work published in SHR is considered for Best American Essays, The Art of the Essay, Best American Poetry, Best American Short Stories, New Stories from the South, Prize Stories: O. Henry Awards and The Pushcart Prize. For information on submitting and subscribing to SHR, visit the website.

“Discovering SHR” is made possible through the generous support of the Auburn University Department of English and College of Liberal Arts, as well as grants from the Alabama State Council on the Arts and the National Endowment for the Arts. 

German Consul to Speak at Public Symposium on Immigration and Migration

Dr. Lutz Hermann Görgens, the Consul General of the Federal Republic of Germany, will deliver a keynote address at “Becoming Alabama: Immigration and Migration in a Deep South State,” January 20-21, 2012 at the Hotel at Auburn University and Dixon Conference Center. The two-day public symposium will feature scholars and professionals exploring immigration and migration from Spanish exploration to the 1813 Creek War through the present.

Görgens, a native of Düsseldorf, Germany, is the official representative of the German government to the Southeastern United States. During his career, Görgens has worked as a desk officer for the Federal Foreign Office in Bonn, Germany, and later as first secretary and head of the Economic Section for the Germany Embassy in Mexico. He later became a deputy consul general in Boston, head of the Economic Section in the German Embassy in Ankara, Turkey, and head of the European Internal Market Affairs Unit of the Federal Foreign Office in Berlin. He holds a Ph.D. in German history and literature from the University of Tübingen.

“It is a delight to welcome Dr. Görgens to our campus,” said Anne-Katrin Gramberg, Dean of the College of Liberal Arts.  “He has a great deal of personal and professional knowledge on the subject of immigration and acculturation in the southern United States.   He is also a dynamic speaker and personable representative of the German culture.”

Prominent scholars of history and political science from Auburn University, as well as other institutions, will present on topics ranging from Spanish Exploration to how Alabama's immigrant population, including Germans, Koreans, Southeast Asians, and Hispanics, among others, have shaped art, politics, education and culture in the state.

The symposium is a “Becoming Alabama” event. Designed to commemorate major Alabama anniversaries of the Creek War/War of 1812, the Civil War and Emancipation and the Civil Rights era, “Becoming Alabama” is a statewide initiative begun by the Alabama Department of Archives and History.

 “Becoming Alabama: Immigration and Migration in a Deep South State” is supported by a generous grant from the Alabama Humanities Foundation, the state office of the National Endowment for the Humanities. It is co-sponsored by the Alabama Department of Archives and History, the Auburn University College of Liberal Arts, History Department, and Caroline Marshall Draughon Center for the Arts & Humanities in the College of Liberal Arts, as well as the Office of the Vice President for International Programs and the Office of Access and Community Affairs. The East Alabama Memory Project, a program of Southern Public Media Group, is also serving as a sponsor.

Registration for the conference is $50. Registration for meals, which will feature keynote speakers, is separate. Students may register at a discounted rate. For a schedule and a list of presenters, visit www.auburn.edu/cah or call 334-844-4946.

“Of Men and Gods” screening kicks off 2012 “Art at the Threshold” Series

AU Connects! and Art at the Threshold announce a screening and discussion of the film Of Men and Gods on Tuesday, Feb. 14, at 5 p.m. in Biggin Hall Auditorium.

The film is the first in a series of Art at the Threshold programs on the role of the arts, language and ritual in the context of social issues. Designed to support the 2011-12 Common Book Program, the programs focus on Haiti, Guatemala and Mexico, three areas in which Paul Farmer’s Partners in Health is currently active.

Of Men and Gods is a documentary by anthropologist and film-maker Anne Lescot. Set in Haiti, it examines the daily existence of several men who are openly gay. Prevalent, yet still taboo, homosexuality and gay culture are allowed to flourish within the context of Haiti's Vodou religion. As "children of the gods," the men find an explanation for homosexuality as well as divine protection. They also find an outlet for theatrical expression through exhilarating performances in which they embody the gods. Meanwhile, the AIDS epidemic looms as a continual threat and adds a disquieting degree of nihilism to their relatively optimistic attitudes toward life and happiness in Port-au-Prince.

Lewis Nordan: Humor, Heartbreak, and Hope

The Caroline Marshall Draughon Center for the Arts & Humanities in the College of Liberal Arts will host a book talk celebration on the publication of Lewis Nordan: Humor, Heartbreak, and Hope at Pebble Hill on January 11 at 4:00 p.m.

Lewis Nordan: Humor, Heartbreak, and Hope examines and celebrates the work of southern writer Lewis “Buddy” Nordan. Written by scholars and fiction writers who represent a fascinating range of experience—from a Shakespearean scholar to a former student of Nordan’s—this is a rich array of essays, poems, and visual arts in tribute to this important writer. The collection deepens the base of scholarship on Nordan and contextualizes his work in relation to other important southern writers such as William Faulkner and Eudora Welty.

Lewis Nordan: Humor, Heartbreak, and Hope is edited by Dr. Barbara Baker, director of the College of Liberal Arts Women’s Leadership Institute and author of The Blues Aesthetic and the Making of American Identity in the Literature of the South. Her most recent publication is an edited collection of essays on Albert Murray, entitled Albert Murray and the Aesthetic Imagination of a Nation.

The program will feature Baker and several contributors and will be followed by a reception. The public is invited. Copies of the book will be available for purchase and signing.

Lewis Nordan: Humor, Heartbreak, and Hope is published jointly by the Caroline Marshall Draughon Center for the Arts & Humanities and The University of AlabamaPress.

Lewis Nordan was born and raised in Mississippi before moving to Alabama to pursue his Ph.D. at Auburn University. He taught for several years at the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville and retired from the University of Pittsburgh, where he was a professor of English. Nordan has written four novels, three collections of short stories and a memoir entitled Boy with Loaded Gun. His second novel, Wolf Whistle, won the Southern Book Award, and his subsequent novel, The Sharpshooter Blues, won the Notable Book Award from the American Library Association and the Fiction Award from the Mississippi Institute of Arts and Letters. Nordan is renowned for his distinctive comic writing style, even while addressing serious personal and cultural issues such as heartbreak, loss, violence, and racism. He transforms tragic characters and events into moments of artistic transcendence, illuminating what he calls the “history of all human beings.”

For more information, please call 334-844-4946 or visit our website at www.auburn.edu/cah.