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The Schemel Forum We Have Had a Semester Rich in Courses and Speakers SPRING 2021 THE UNIVERSITY OF SCRANTON THE SCHEMEL FORUM FOR CULTURAL ENRICHMENT & EDUCATION IN THE COMMUNITY A PROGRAM OF THE HARRY & JEANETTE WEINBERG MEMORIAL LIBRARY SCHEMELITES HANG TOGETHER — THANKS TO ZOOM Nothing will replace the comraderie of our World Affairs Luncheon Seminars and our six-session Evening Courses. That said, notwithstanding the limits thrust upon us by the pandemic, Schemel lives on! Thanks to the wonders of Zoom, Sondra Myers Director, The Schemel Forum we have had a semester rich in courses and speakers. We have continued to read and discuss texts, agree and disagree, continuing to enjoy the opportunity to learn together. True we have missed the live interaction that has stimulated and delighted us through the years—not to mention the big cookies—but we have adapted to our new (and hopefully temporary) constraints. We have proven our resilience and continuing appetite for learning. Given the circumstances, we begin our Spring semester on Zoom. It may well be that we will continue Zoom all through to May. To be sure if we find that we have the opportunity to switch back to learning in person, we will seize it. If not, we will continue on this remote path throughout. All that said I hope you will find the Spring offerings to your taste. The Schemel Forum lives on—because of you and for you! Warm regards, about THE SCHEMEL FORUM The Schemel Forum was founded in July 2006 through generous gifts to the Rev. George Schemel, S.J., Fund, created by friends of the late Father Schemel in his loving memory. Its aim is to provide an opportunity for people of all ages to explore the intellectual and cultural wonders of the world. courses Eros and Metaphor: Contemporary Love Poems In this seminar, which borrows its title from a talk given by poet Alicia Suskin Ostriker at Rutgers University in 2005, we will develop a vocabulary for the shared practice of close-reading poems, and we’ll analyze and engage twenty-first century love poems. Our discussions will concern the formal and structural aspects of poems, as well as the broader questions of what constitutes a “love poem” (or, even, what constitutes a “poem”). We’ll read poems by a diverse group of contemporary poets including award-winning writers like Jericho Brown, Meg Day, Natalie Diaz, Jack Gilbert, Louise Glück, Terrance Hayes, Maggie Nelson, and Carl Phillips. Billie R. Tadros, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Department of English & Theatre, The University of Scranton Mondays, February 8, 15, 22 and March 1, 8, 15 6:00 p.m. to 7:15 p.m.; link will be emailed Addiction, Attachment, Trauma, and Recovery: The Power of Connection The INDEPENDENT PRESS AWARD recognized Addiction, Attachment, Trauma, and Recovery: The Power of Connection by Oliver J. Morgan in the category of Addiction & Recovery as a WINNER. Dr. Morgan provides a fresh take on addiction and recovery through cutting-edge work in attachment, interpersonal neurobiology and trauma, integrated with ecological-systems thinking to provide a consilient and comprehensive picture of addiction. Oliver J. Morgan, Ph.D., Professor of Counseling and Human Services, The University of Scranton Thursdays, February 11, 18, 25 and March 4, 11, 18 6:00 p.m. to 7:15 p.m.; link will be emailed Women Philosophers of the Middle Ages and Early Modernity This course will study the ideas of six women philosophers of the Middle Ages and Early Modern Period, along with their place in the larger philosophical and historical landscape. The philosophers include Heloise, Julian of Norwich, Christine de Pizan, Princess Elisabeth of Bohemia, Anne Conway, and Margaret Cavendish. Andrew LaZella, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Philosophy, The University of Scranton Tuesdays, March 16, 23, 30 and April 6, 13, 20 6:00 p.m. to 7:15 p.m.; link will be emailed Course Fees: Single Fee Non-Member: $60 Free to University of Scranton Staff, Students, Faculty and Schemel Forum Members WORLD AFFAIRS seminars Wednesday, February 3 The Post-Pandemic World: Lessons from Asia Like the 14th century Black Death, the coronavirus has caused a profound worldwide loss of life, significant restructuring of trade patterns, major reordering of geopolitical relations, and substantial disruption to our daily lives. What radical changes lie ahead in the post-pandemic world? How will geopolitical and market competition play out in this new global scenario? Will decoupling between regions be followed by new areas of mutually beneficial cooperation? In this lecture, Dr. Parag Khanna maps out the future of global capital flows, infrastructure investments, supply chains, industrial policies, accelerating growth sectors, and other major drivers of the next world order. Parag Khanna, Ph.D., Managing Partner of FutureMap Pte. Ltd. link will be emailed; 8:00 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. * Please note the later time due to location of speaker Wednesday, February 17 Vanguard: How Black Women Overcame Barriers, Won the Vote, and Insisted on Equality for All In Dr. Jones’ most recent book she offers a new history of African American women’s political lives in America. She recounts how they defied both racism and sexism to fight for the ballot, and how they wielded political power to secure the equality and dignity of all persons. Martha S. Jones, J.D., Ph.D., Society of Black Alumni Presidential Professor, Professor of History and the SNF Agora Institute, Johns Hopkins University link will be emailed; Noon to 1:30 p.m. Tuesday, March 9 Next Steps with Russia? The new U.S. administration faces a dangerously degraded relationship with Russia. Is there any way to pull it back from the brink? Are there any issues on which the United States and Russia can agree to work together? Jill Dougherty analyzes the challenge of re-defining the relationship, without a “reset.” Jill Dougherty, was CNN’s Moscow Bureau Chief for almost a decade. A Russia expert, she is now an adjunct Professor at Georgetown University and a CNN on-air contributor link will be emailed; Noon to 1:30 p.m. Tuesday, March 16 America: The Farther Shore “Believe that a farther shore is reachable from here.” Those words of Nobel Laureate poet Seamus Heaney were my inspiration for coming to America. I grew up in Belfast, Northern Ireland. But here I am in Scranton, PA, honored to lead WVIA, a PBS/NPR affiliate station. My aim is to ensure that we are embedded in the core of the communities we serve, producing programs that reflect who we are, and at the same time, open our hearts and minds to the world we live in. Carla McCabe, President & CEO, WVIA link will be emailed; Noon to 1:30 p.m. Wednesday, March 24 Borges and Me: My Travels in the Highlands of Scotland with a Literary Genius With The Department of World Languages and Cultures and Latin American Studies, The University of Scranton Jay Parini, a native of Scranton, is a poet, novelist, and biographer, author of thirty books, including The Last Station, which was made into an Academy Award-nominated film starring Helen Mirren and Christopher Plummer. His New and Collected Poems appeared in 2016. His latest book is Borges and Me, a memoir. Jay Parini, Axinn Professor of English at Middlebury College in Vermont link will be emailed; Noon to 1:30 p.m. Friday, April 9 The Abolitionist International The talk re-imagines abolition as a radical international movement composed of ordinary men and women, whites and blacks. It shows how the fight to end slavery overlapped with contemporary social movements such as feminism, utopian socialism, pacifism as well as struggles for rights of labor, immigrants and Native Americans. Manisha Sinha, Ph.D., Draper Chair in American History, University of Connecticut link will be emailed; Noon to 1:30 p.m. Friday, April 16 A Jesuit Education and Integrative Thinking in Biotechnology (fighting Tuberculosis) and Economics (eradicating poverty) The Scranton tradition of “scholarship and service” is only part of it. Taking the best ideas and tools from one academic domain and applying them to the challenges of another is how innovation occurs. Michael Fairbanks, Ph.D., Fellow at Harvard and the chairman and founder of Akagera Medicines, a Biotech company based in Boston and San Francisco focussed on cures for infectious diseases link will be emailed; Noon to 1:30 p.m. Seminar & Virtual Tour Fees: Free to University of Scranton Staff, Students, Faculty and Schemel Forum Members $10 per seminar per person SPECIAL feature Date TBA Consciousness: Life Transitions and the Importance of Story – Continued References will be made to cave paintings, Homer, Sophocles, Jung, Tennyson, Shakespeare and Erik Erikson. Harmar Brereton, M.D. link will be emailed; Noon to 1:30 p.m. VIRTUAL tours Saturday, January 23 On My Studio Practice – Over the Decades… Join us for a virtual visit with distinguished Artist Diane Burko who has invited us into her studio to see and discuss her recent works. We were first introduced to Diane a number of years ago on a visit to Bucks County and then in 2019 at our University for a Day where she discussed her practice at the intersection of art, science and the environment. This time she will focus on that studio practice — how she has evolved over the decades and what she is currently working on. It should be quite a treat! Diane Burko, Artist link will be emailed; 11:00 - 12:30 p.m. Saturday, April 24 The Museum of the American Revolution Join a museum educator for a guided, one-hour, virtual walk-through of the Museum’s core galleries. Learn how soldiers, women, African Americans, Native Americans, children, and others experienced the tumultuous events of the Revolution through the stories and objects they left behind.
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