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The President's College

At its November 14 meeting the Mortensen Library Board of Visitors discussed a proposal to bring the President’s College under the Library’s jurisdiction as its programming and community outreach division. The proposal was greeted with enthusiasm.

What is the President’s College and how can it help the Library? It was founded in the early 1990s, when then-president of the University Humphrey Tonkin began a series of lectures on Shakespeare designed to involve the larger community beyond the campus more directly in the University. The lectures were a great success, and eventually blossomed into a four-year marathon covering all of Shakespeare’s works. Soon, requests for additional programs began coming in, and President Tonkin recruited Patricia Cremins to organize a series of courses, taught primarily by University of Hartford faculty, in what became known as the President’s College.

Community members could sign up for individual courses, or they could become Fellows of the President’s College and enjoy both a discount on courses and various other privileges, including campus parking and library borrowing.

Today, some fifteen years after its founding, the program continues. When Pat Cremins left the University this past summer, Tonkin, now President Emeritus and chair of the Mortensen Library Board of Visitors (also a tenant of the Library: he has an office on the third floor), took on the running of the President’s College himself. Today there are a hundred Fellows, and a team of 17 volunteers, several of them also members of the Mortensen Library Board, does much of the day-to-day management. Built into the President’s College budget is an annual donation to the Library that will significantly assist the Library in building its general collection.
Spring Semester offerings:
The Beowulf – Eliot Express
A five-lecture series on major works of English literature taught by some of the English Department’s finest teachers: Jennifer Brown on Beowulf, Humphrey Tonkin on The Faerie Queene and The Prelude, Mark Blackwell on Paradise Lost, and Charles Ross on The Waste Land. Lectures at 11:30. Lunch and discussion at the 1877 Club following each lecture. Wednesdays. Jan. 31 – Feb. 28, 11:30-1:00 pm (followed by optional lunch). Cost $100 (Fellows $75).

Shakespeare on Film
What happens when Shakespeare’s plays move from theater to film, and how have film adaptations changed over time? By pairing early films with later ones, the course, taught by Humphrey Tonkin, will explore changing interpretations of the medium and the plays. Informal discussions (with lunch at the 1877 Club) will be interspersed with viewings of the movies. Fridays, February 9, 16; March 9, 23; April 13, 20, 27. Times vary. Cost (including four lunches) $115 (Fellows $80).

Giotto to Botticelli: An Introduction to the Italian Renaissance
Beginning in early 14th century Italy, painting, sculpture and architecture reflected the emergence of a recognizably modern world from a distinctively medieval one and shaped European art and consciousness for the next five centuries. Art historian and former Wadsworth Atheneum director Patrick McCaughey will examine the social and cultural forces shaping ‘the Florentine revolution'. Fridays March 23, 30, April 13, 20, 27, 4:30-6:00 pm. Cost $160 (Fellows $100)

90 North: Science and Discovery at the Top of the World
Michael Robinson, historian of Arctic exploration and professor in the University’s Hillyer College, and Andrew Revkin, science reporter for the New York Times, will discuss the importance of the polar regions in Western culture, from early quests to reach the North Pole to current expeditions looking for evidence of global warming. The lecture will be followed by dinner at the 1877 Club. Monday, March 5, 4:30 pm. Cost (including dinner) $45 (Fellows $40)

The Tempest – Text and Play
The poet’s farewell to the stage? The first critique of colonialism? A utopian dream? This spring, Hartt students training as professional actors will perform The Tempest directed by Professor David Watson. He and Shakespeare scholar Humphrey Tonkin will offer theory and background by Humphrey and “reports from the field” as David works with the cast. Wednesdays February 7 – March 7, 4:30-6:00 pm. Cost $100 (Fellows $75)

Presidents College - continued on page 8