|
 |
 |
 |
|
|
||
Books That Made A Difference
The Rooke Lectures, which have been presented annually since 1998, honour the memory of the late Barbara Rooke, who was chair of Trent University’s Department of English Literature from 1969 to 1973. The name of this year’s series, At Work In The World, Prof. Neufeld explains, is excerpted from a George Bernard Shaw quote. He once said of Ibsen’s A Doll’s House that it "will be as flat as ditchwater when A Midsummer Night's Dream will still be fresh as paint; but it will have done more work in the world." A Doll’s House will be the subject of the fifth of seven lectures in the series on January 29. Trent University’s Leonard Conolly will speak. At Work In the World will examine books that have changed our way of thinking about ourselves and have shaped the world we live in. Seven speakers have been drawn from Trent University’s faculty and from further afield to participate. While Obasan, A Doll’s House and Uncle Tom’s Cabin are literary works which have inspired change by bringing to light social wrongs, others have influenced the world’s views on religion - The Qur’an, environmental awareness - Silent Spring, and social responsibility - Walden and Civil Disovendience. Last year’s Rooke Lecture Series "Literature and Other Arts" invited experts from a range of the arts to discuss "the multimedia circus in which literature now jostles and thrives". Past Rooke Lectures have been diverse in their focus and having included Our American Cousins (2001 - 2002), Fabricating the Past (2000 - 2001), Literary Puzzles and Mysteries (1999 - 2000) and Author, Author! (1998 - 1999). At Work in the World is sponsored by the Barbara Rooke Fund, under the auspices of the English department, Trent University, and by the Peterborough Public Library, with generous support from the Trent University Bookstore. For further information, visit www.trentu.ca/english/rooke or the English department office, 748-1733. All lectures take place at the Peterborough Public Library and are free and open to the public.
The Gutenberg Galaxy (1962), Marshall McLuhan’s challenging articulation of the effects of the printed book on human consciousness, continues to inform our understanding of contemporary media, and humankind’s place in an electronic culture. Derrick de Kerckhove is Director of the McLuhan Program in Culture and Technology and Professor in the Department of French at the University of Toronto. For over ten years, he worked closely with Marshall McLuhan as his translator, assistant, and co-author. He holds the 2004 Papamarkou Chair in Technology and Education at the Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. Posted: October 17, 2003 |
||
Return to Trent Home |
||
 |
| |
The
books that will be examined as part of The Sixth Annual Rooke Lectures
are not only "extremely popular" they have made a difference
in society, says Dr. James Neufeld, chair of the English department at
Trent University, which presents the series, in partnership with the
Peterborough Public Library. The first in the series of lectures, titled
At Work In The World…Seven Books That Made A Difference,
featured Joy Kogawa, author of the award-winning Obasan, on
October 16 at 7:30 p.m. at the Peterborough Public Library.