 |
Page 11 |
| Hyenas, Petticoats and Mini-golf? |
| What could these possibly have in common? The Libraries, of course! On March 26 the Mortensen Library Board of Visitors sponsored “Hyena in Petticoats? Mary Wollstonecraft and A Vindication of the Rights of Woman”.  Mary Wollstonecraft’s A Vindication of the Rights of Women (1792) is a timeless revolutionary book. Composed just eleven years after America’s defeat of the British and while the excesses of the French Revolution were shocking the old order in Europe, Wollstonecraft seized the moment and passionately argued for freedom and equality among the sexes, as well as redress for the myriad social and political injustices suffered by women. Appropriately enough for a symposium at our university, many of Wollstonecraft’s ideas centered around a woman’s right to be educated. She viewed this right as a major step toward female emancipation and scorned the prevailing notion that contracting a good marriage was the only measure of a woman’s success in life.She favored the radical idea that an educated woman could find her own way |
|
in the world, and could study the arts, sciences, medicine, or law as a means of attaining personal independence and professional status. With these achievements, Wollstonecraft believed that women would attain both “power and control over themselves” – true liberation from the constant social control of men.The panelists were Christopher Anderson, Leslie Lindenauer, Jennifer Sanborn, and Catherine Stevenson. They brought to life the woman, the time period, the book, and examined the issues facing a newly formed nation. So that brings us to Mini-golf and Community Day! An unlikely event took place on the lower level of the Mortensen Library on April 21st – eighteen holes of golf! Chip shots were heard all over the periodical room. Laughter, hoots and cheering, and all sorts of excitement made for great rounds of golf. The course was constructed in and out of the periodical stacks, under book carts, tables and chairs. And yes, there were a few holes-in-one!Next year – bring on windmills, sand traps and water hazards! ■ |
| Sonnets Marathon 2007 - Shirley Leong | ||
| ll the world’s a stage, wrote William Shakespeare, but on April 21 in West Hartford, the men and women at the Gengras Student Union were not “merely players” but instead enthusiastic participants in the Sonnet Marathon. In celebration of Community Day and the 50th Anniversary of the University of Hartford (and also National Poetry Month and Shakespeare’s birthday), all 154 of Shakespeare’s sonnets were read to a receptive audience. Among the readers were students (including a few actors from the recent Hartt School production of The Tempest), faculty and staff, radio announcers, and community members. Most had pre-registered, some were ‘walk ons’, and a few readers presented more than one sonnet. |
 Colin McEnroe  Wally and Mattie Banzhaf |
Of the 133 readers, ages ranged from teenagers to nonagenarians. Reading styles varied, and as the event progressed, there were cheers from the audience. Despite the short length of each presentation, the individual styles of reading, acting and presenting Shakespeare’s words were clearly shown within the 14 lines of each sonnet.The Sonnet Marathon was organized by Humphrey Tonkin of the President’s College as well as several volunteers, including Nancy Mather, who represents the President’s College on the Mortensen Library Board of Visitors. Special thanks go to all the readers, the volunteers – and also the attentive audience. ■ |
|