Kudzu Twines Journal » Nationwide

National Endowment for the Humanities Chairman to Visit Birmingham

Jennifer Dome — Tue, 06 Jul 2010 20:37:02 +0000

Please join us on Thursday, July 29, at 6 p.m. for an evening with Jim Leach, chairman of the National Endowment for the Humanities. The reception and program, “Civility in a Fractured Society,” will take place at Brock Recital Hall at Samford University.

The event is presented by the Alabama Humanities Foundation, in partnership with Samford’s Frances Marlin Mann Center for Ethics and Leadership and the Birmingham Area Consortium for Higher Education.

Jim Leach, the ninth chairman of NEH, will speak and lead a discussion on the critical need for greater civility in the nation’s political life. He has served in the United States Congress for 30 years as a Republican representative from Iowa, and was appointed in 2009 to chair the NEH by President Barack Obama. The NEH is an independent federal agency that provides grant support for learning in history, literature, ethics and other areas of the humanities.

The reception begins at 6 p.m., followed by the program at 7 p.m. The event is free, but reservations are required as seating is limited. Please RSVP online at: http://tinyurl.com/35fyy5m

Teaching History Through the Arts

sperryahf — Wed, 30 Jun 2010 17:18:32 +0000

Nathan Glick shows his WWII sketches.

How do we, as civilians, understand war?

Nathan Glick, a WWII veteran and combat artist, brought World War II to life for SUPER teachers June 11 with his portfolio of portraits of heroic WWII pilots and sketches of combat and soldiers at leisure. At 98 years old, Nathan Glick vividly remembers every location where he witnessed and recorded the personal stories and graphic images of WWII. Last week at the SUPER Institute, teachers explored World War II, considered by many to be the last “good” war, through art, music and literature. The lead scholar, Dr. Alan Brown, professor of English at the University of West Alabama, showed the PBS documentary film “They Drew Fire” about the 100 U.S. servicemen and civilians who served as combat artists in WWII. You can see the art gallery of their work, often unseen since the war, on the PBS website.

Members of the June 9-11 SUPER Institute program.

The SUPER Teacher Institute exemplifies the theme of the keynote address “Student Voice—through the Arts” by Dr. Tommy Bice, the Deputy State Superintendent with the Alabama State Department of Education. Alabama Institute for Education in the Arts (AIEA) invited Dr. Bice to be the luncheon speaker for the AIEA Teacher Institute in Montgomery, an AHF grant-funded project. Dr. Bice challenged teachers to listen to students and understand their interests through the arts. As an example of the integration of arts to teach the core curriculum, he used his own positive educational experience in the arts in elementary school in Alexander City. As a young student, he played the Mad Hatter in the play “Alice in Wonderland.” In an effort to decrease the number of dropouts in Alabama schools (currently about 5,000 a year), Dr. Bice believes that all children can become engaged through the arts. He quoted Ron Edmonds, an influential educational researcher: “We can, whenever and wherever we choose, successfully teach all children whose schooling is of interest to us.” The arts are a powerful tool to hear the student’s voice and to teach history, literature and mathematics.

Written by: Susan P.

Bits of Bama on Capitol Hill

rstewartahf — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 19:31:47 +0000

Alabamians have been fixtures for decades on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. Celebrated senators and congressmen—Carl Elliott, Bob Jones, Lister Hill, John Sparkman, Howell Heflin and others—have helped shape national policy and profoundly influenced American history in the 20th century. In a recent visit to Washington, however, I discovered two new additions to Capitol Hill, neither of which is a member of Congress.

In the expansive new Capitol visitor center, the newest state statue is that of Helen Keller, who has replaced the more obscure Jabez Curry as Alabama’s official statue. She is depicted in the moment she reaches out to touch the water from the well at her Tuscumbia home, Ivy Green.

Much smaller than the monumental figures around her, Keller’s bronze statue is both lively in form and human in scale. Gov. Bob Riley, the Alabama Council on the Arts and many other individuals and groups are to be commended for choosing Keller and her wonderful statue. I suspect that when other states decide to replace their own lesser-known (and stiff) statues, such as Mississippi’s James Zachariah George or Oregon’s John McLoughlin, they will look to the image of our own Helen Keller for guidance.

A few blocks east of the Capitol, behind the Library of Congress, stands the Folger Shakespeare Library. In this quiet and scholarly museum and archives, visitors can escape the tourist hubbub found in the Smithsonian’s museums on the Mall. While there I enjoyed the intriguing exhibition,”Extending the Book: The Art of Extra-Illustration.”

Unfortunately, I was unable to visit Alabama’s own unique contribution to the Folger—a television studio. As I am writing this, Alabama Public Television is constructing a studio in the Folger’s Haskell Educational Building. (The building is named for Birmingham’s Wyatt Haskell, who serves on the Folger board as well as the Alabama Shakespeare Festival board.) Soon APT will be producing from Washington both public affairs programs related to Alabama’s Congressional delegation and educational programs for Alabama English teachers using the vast resources of the Folger.

Congratulations to all our colleagues, partners and friends for expanding the state’s presence in the nation’s capital—in ways far beyond government and politics!

Written by: Bob S.

Christmas in February

bwhetstoneahf — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 22:30:23 +0000

Our 2009, Christmas Eve’s Eve gathering proceeds as usual. The grandchildren arrive at Gram and GrandBob’s house with their parents in tow. The little ones manage to eat a few bites of wild rice soup as their expectations soar. Excitement builds until the moment finally arrives for opening gifts. Four-year-old Elise is the first to rip open a red and green package to discover heavy black pac boots and wool socks. One by one the three stair-step boys share her obvious disappointment as they all extract from their brightly wrapped packages—balaklavas, goggles, moisture-wicking base-layer underwear, thick gloves, toboggans, jackets and neck gators. “Where are the toys, the electronic games—the fun things Gram always gives us at Christmas?”

As they grudgingly try on their heavy winter wear, the adults finally reveal the second part of a Christmas surprise. The kids will travel in February, with their parents and grandparents, from Alabama to Northern Minnesota, birthplace of their great grandmother and former home of their French/Ojibwe great-great-grandfather, a Boundary Waters fishing, hunting and canoeing guide.

How ironic! The day we are to leave for the 1,200 miles to our winter cabin near Ontario, Canada, the weather report is snow on the ground in 49 of the 50 states, including Alabama. Our departure is delayed, waiting for snow and ice to melt, exhausting everyone. After our 10-year-old geography wizard sets his GPS, we proceed in caravan from Birmingham to the promised white Christmas in February.

The week begins with a family sleigh ride drawn by two giant Belgian draft horses, then exploring frozen Bear Island Lake in near zero-degree temperatures and knee-deep snow, making snow angels and snow ice cream. Following a day of adjusting to the extreme climate, the educational activities begin in earnest—visits to the Dorothy Moulter (Root Beer Lady) Cabin/Museum, the Bois Forte Ojibwe Heritage Center, the International Wolf Center, the Ely Ice Sculpture Outdoor Exhibit, Chilly Dogs Mushing Center, ice fishing and snowmobiling. Each child keeps a journal, a condition for missing five school days.

To walk a mile in someone else’s snowshoes increases one’s level of appreciation for the hardy folks who live here.

Highlights of the trip are mushing six teams of sled dogs through several miles of wooded trails flanked by towering birch trees and evergreens, and howling to wolves deep in the nighttime wilderness with guides from the Wolf Center.

As I write this blog I glance occasionally at the snow-bound lake outside our window and wonder why I almost refused to take this journey into our country’s official deep freeze in the dead of winter. It’s a frontier for folks who prefer the raw challenges of nature to the domesticated conflicts of urban survival. This cross-cultural experience is proving enlightening as well as inspiring for each member of our family. To walk a mile in someone else’s snowshoes increases one’s level of appreciation for the hardy folks who live here.

This morning, our host at the lodge asks one of the children how he’s enjoying the vacation his grandmother planned. His answer comes quickly. “Gram doesn’t take us on vacations; she takes us on field trips.” We hope he remembers to say that to his teacher back home.

Written by: Bob W.

Check out our online speakers bureau catalog

kcrawfordahf — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 22:20:53 +0000

The Alabama Humanities Foundation has launched ahf.net/speakersbureau, our first-ever online Road Scholars Speakers Bureau catalog. We are now accepting requests for speakers bureau programs.

We would also like to take this time to point out new changes in our booking procedures and guidelines that are highlighted below.

New guidelines and procedure changes effective January 1, 2010:

AHF will only allow respective organizations/clubs to book one speaker per year.
AHF kindly requests a $50 contribution to assist in offsetting the program expenses.
When submitting a speaker request form, we ask that the contribution accompany the form.
If an organization is unable to make the suggested $50 contribution, then they should contact AHF Programs Coordinator Michael Chambers at (205) 558-3999 for further assistance.

Interested in book a complimentary speaking engagement? Click here.

AHF Board member offers insight on the Kwanzaa celebration

mbrowneahf — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 23:17:07 +0000

Habari gani, or “What is the news?” This welcoming greeting is Swahili, a non-tribal language spoken throughout most of East Africa. It is the primary greeting for each day of Kwanzaa (Swahili for First Fruits), an African-American secular celebration that was created by Maulana Karenga, Ph.D., in 1966.

Over the years, confusion has arisen over this holiday, some thinking it was an African holiday, some melding it with Christmas since it begins the day after. Truth is, Kwanzaa is based on broad-based African traditions–the sense of collective work, responsibility, collective economics, for instance–but there is no Kwanzaa per se anywhere in Africa.

Kwanzaa and Christmas are also different celebrations, though some elements of Kwanzaa are in Christmas–family, sharing of gifts–Zawadi. However, the gift-giving for Kwanzaa differs from that of Christmas. Kwanzaa gift-givers are encouraged to offer handmade gifts of cultural significance, an African batakari (tunic), for instance, books and puzzles, given over the seven days of Kwanzaa.

The Seven Days of Kwanzaa, the Nguzo Saba in Swahili, begins on December 26 and ends on January 1. Each day has a name, and they are:

Umoja: unity
Kujichagulia: self-determination
Ujima: collective work and responsibility
Ujamaa: cooperative Economics
Nia: purpose
Kuumba: creativity
Imani: faith

Each day’s celebration is vibrant with family and friends coming together to share traditional food–hoppin’ johns, beans, jollof rice, fried plantain–stories from African-American history, family history, folklore, gifts. The biggest feast, however, occurs on the sixth day of Kwanzaa, Kuumba. The last day’s celebration ends with a shout of harambe–”Let’s work together”–seven times.

In a typical home where Kwanzaa is celebrated, a table will be set with an African cloth (usually kente.) At the center of the table will be the mkeka, the mat. Behind this mat would be set a kinara, seven-hole candle-holder, with themishumaa saba, seven candles–three red (for the struggle), three green (for the land), one black (for the people.)

A candle is lit for each day of Kwanzaa, until the last day when all seven are lit. On the mat is placed mazao–fruits, vegetables; vibunzi–ear of corn for each child in the household; and the kikombe cha umoja–unity cup from which all drink at the end of each ceremony.

Written by: Malík B.

Choo choo!

rstewartahf — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 16:38:51 +0000

Only days before we arrived for the Federation of State Humanities Councils’ national conference in Omaha, Nebraska, in November, the city’s famed “oracle,” investor Warren Buffett, announced that he was buying Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad. I don’t know whether Buffett, from his Berkshire Hathaway offices, can see either the BNSF tracks or those of the Union-Pacific also headquartered downtown. But the railroad has been a defining feature of Omaha since its post-Civil War beginnings, and I’m sure Buffett understands the historical connections. (Of course he didn’t buy the railroad out of nostalgia. Burlington Northern is a profitable enterprise, which he purchased at a fair price, and it promises even greater returns in the future.)

…I have seldom heard a train go by and not wished I was on it.” Paul Theroux, writer

Does Buffett’s investment have anything to do with the humanities—other than the presence of 300+ humanists in his hometown the same week, or the history and romance of railroads? Moreover, is it of any relevance to Alabamians?

I would answer the first question by pointing out that Buffett is known as a long-term value investor, an approach not unlike those of us who work in the humanities. Understanding deeply the value of our mission, we don’t expect quick profits but instead long-term gain from the study and appreciation of history, literature and the like.

Most important of all…it’s an all-in wager on the economic future of the United States. I love these bets.” Warren Buffett, billionaire.

As for the relevance of this news to Alabamians, I can only suggest that business, government and civic leaders in Birmingham should note:

Buffett spent $34 billion on something that runs on steel rails, instead of fiber-optic cable, and carries stuff like coal and corn, instead of tweets and blogs. With all due appreciation for Birmingham’s diversified economy, based on finance, education and healthcare, we shouldn’t forget that many workers here still make and transport actual products.
Railroads—including passenger trains—still have a vital place in our national transportation network. Why can’t we invest in efficient public transportation systems in Alabama, even if they are only reliable bus systems?
Two Birmingham parks and cultural institutions, the Railroad Reservation Park currently under development, and Sloss Furnaces, which is nearly 30 years old as an industrial museum, need greater public support. Planners hope eventually to link these two open spaces and icons of our past via a pedestrian corridor alongside the rail lines that bisect the city. Let’s hope that dream becomes reality.

Written by: Bob S.

Alabama vs. Florida, on the literary front

rstewartahf — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 14:00:42 +0000

I had a special reason to celebrate the University of Alabama’s victory over the University of Florida in the SEC Championship game on December 5. At the Federation of State Humanities Councils’ national conference in November, I made a wager on the game with the incoming chairman of the Federation board, David Colburn. David is a retired UF history professor and former provost of the university. Our bet was that if Alabama won, David would read an excerpt from Zora Neale Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God at the next Federation event. But he would have to introduce her as “Alabama native Zora…” If Florida won, I would read the same excerpt but identify her as “Florida native Zora…” There has been a longstanding scholarly controversy over whether the famous African-American folklorist and Harlem Renaissance figure was born near Notasulga, Alabama, or Eatonville, Florida.

When the clock reached 00:00 in the football game, I knew that David owed me. The next step was selecting the right excerpt from Hurston’s acclaimed celebration of black life in rural Florida in the early 20th century. Here’s the excerpt, which depicts the death of a famous mule in town and the locals’ reaction. I have encouraged David to substitute “Tim Tebow” for “mule,” and “Nick Saban” for “Stark,” when he reads it at our next state council gathering in Washington in March. It should be a sparkling literary event.

“When the news got around, it was like the end of a war or something like that…But finally there was nothing to do but drag him out like all other dead brutes. Drag him out to the edge of the hammock, which was far enough to satisfy sanitary condition in the town. The rest was up to the buzzards…”

“Out in the swamp they made great ceremony over the mule. They mocked everything human in death. Stark led off with a great eulogy on our departed citizen, our most distinguished citizen and the grief he left behind him, and the people loved the speech…He stood on the distended belly of the mule for a platform and made gestures…He spoke of the joys of mule-heaven to which the dear brother had departed this valley of sorrow…”

“Everybody enjoyed themselves to the highest, and then finally the mule was left to the already impatient buzzards…”

Note: The Encyclopedia of Alabama claims that the controversy has been largely settled in Alabama’s favor.

Written by: Bob S.

AHF Board member honored

rstewartahf — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 14:00:34 +0000

AHF Board member Billie Jean Young, Ph.D., was among five Alabama women inducted into the Southern Rural Black Women’s Hall of Fame.

The Southern Rural Black Women’s Initiative was founded in 2005. Every two years it honors five rural black women from each of the three states included—Alabama, Mississippi and Georgia.

The five women were recognized on Friday, November 6, in the Taylor Center at Auburn University, Montgomery.

To read the article from al.com, click here.

Written by: Bob S.

A new view of Dr. Seuss

bbashorahf — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 14:00:09 +0000

I was talking to a coworker a few weeks ago about some night classes she had taken recently–one of which was in the humanities. She mentioned that she had written a paper on Dr. Theodor Seuss Geisel, the famous children’s books author and illustrator. I assumed that the subject matter of her paper was directed towards his influence on children literature and left it at that. However, the next day, she brought to me a book entitled Dr. Seuss Goes to War: The World War II Editorial Cartoons of Theodor Seuss Geisel by historian Richard H. Minear (The New Press, 1999).

I quickly discovered how very little I actually knew about the man behind Horton Hears a Who! and The Cat in the Hat. The meaning and purpose behind his children’s books and in Seuss’ works outside of children’s literature is quite fascinating indeed. During World War II, Seuss worked as the chief editorial cartoonist for the left-wing New York newspaper PM-–for which he drew more than 400 editorial cartoons from 1941 to 1943.

Seuss infused his political philosophy into his art. His editorial illustrations contained his trademark creatures–quite similar to those in his children’s books. Seuss used his bizarre characters to denounce social issues (including isolationism, racism, anti-Semitism and propaganda) and people (including Hitler, Stalin and the Japanese).

It is no wonder, then, that in his children’s books, Seuss embedded his fantastic creations into moral parables that spoke of progressive ideas. For example, The Sneetches was inspired by Seuss’s opposition to anti-Semitism and is a plea for racial tolerance. [Fun fact: the Sneetch creature first appeared in the political cartoons he drew for PM].

Horton Hears a Who! is a political statement about isolationism and is actually a parable about the American occupation of Japan. The Lorax and The Butter Battle Book are parables about the environment and the arms race, respectively.

I am sure that, to this day, many have no idea what the underlying meaning is in Seuss’ children’s books and know very little, if not nothing, about his political cartoons. Seuss deftly presented a political philosophy with such humor and finesse in his children’s books that it offends no one and few realize it as being political at all.

Seuss “advocated social change, teaching generations of children not only how to be better readers, but better people as well.” (The Political Dr. Seuss, Independent Lens).

To read more about this political side of Seuss, here are two good websites for your use and enjoyment.

Mandeville Special Collections Library Presents “Dr. Seuss Went to War: A Catalog of Political Cartoons by Dr. Seuss”: http://orpheus.ucsd.edu/speccoll/dspolitic/
This site provides a complete catalog of Seuss’ political cartoons as seen in Minear’s book Dr. Seuss Goes to War. You can sort through the cartoons by people, war/domestic issues, countries/regions, and battles/battlefields.

Independent Lens presents The Political Dr. Seuss: http://www.pbs.org/independentlens/politicaldrseuss/index.html
This site is dedicated to the political side of Seuss. It also includes an inside look (including video clips) at the documentary entitled “The Political Dr. Seuss.” The documentary provides an intriguing portrait of Seuss and how he viewed the political and social changes of his time.

SOURCES
http://www.tfaoi.com/aa/1aa/1aa291.htm

Written by: Béverly B.