• Welcome
    • Curriculum Vitae
    • About Me
  • Publications
    • Work in Progress
  • Blog
  • Provocations

TRANSFORMATIVE TEXTS

10/19/2021

1 Comment

 
 “Transformative texts?” Most people reading this blog have, I bet, encountered such texts, but perhaps not in the way Dominican born Roosevelt Montás has.. It couldn’t have been easy moving to the States and growing up in the Big City, but now he’s   Senior Lecturer in American Studies at Columbia University.  On November 16 Princeton Press will release  his  book Rescuing Socrates: How the Great Books Changed My Life and Why They Matter for a New Generation. You can preorder it now.          But why wait for the release? The Teagle Foundation, under the skillful leadership of Andy Delbanco, will provide an on-line opportunity to explore “how certain books transformed the life of this immigrant from the Dominican Republic—"and why they have the power to speak to people of all backgrounds.” You can  interact with Roosevelt Montás   in a Teagle  virtual workshop  on November 4th from 12:30-1:30 p.m. EST. (Foundation staff will remain from 1:30-2:00 p.m. EST to answer questions about the Foundation’s  Cornerstone: Learning for Living initiative.)  The workshop is free and open to current  Foundation grantees and prospective applicants.  You can  Register for workshops > here.

1 Comment
Jim O’Donnell
10/19/2021 01:13:42 pm

Creating a canon involves inclusion and exclusion. In a moment of cultural upheaval there are worthy books of eld that lose their purchase on our attention — deservedly? Which slaveowners can we dispense with? Which ones would we keep and how do we justify that discernment? Not a question if cancel culture yes/no, because cancel culture is always with us. How do we manage it rationally and bumanely in a setting like this?

Reply



Leave a Reply.