NSU Living Literature Center Presents Spring 2004 Conference

TAHLEQUAH Northeastern State University's Living Literature Center announces its Spring 2004 Conference, which will run April 2-3 on the Tahlequah campus. Titled "War," the conference will examine representations of war in literature, film, song, and popular culture.

NSU and regional university speakers will address many themes including the effects of war on the individual, the concept of heroism, the impact of war on American society, the returning soldier, protest and patriotism, as well as how to broach the subject of war and its political ramifications in the classroom.

In addition to speaker presentations and the screening of two films, Laurette Willis, touring presenter with the Oklahoma Arts Council, will present a one-woman performance on Friday night. In Willis' show "Reflections," Liz Gray is the wife of one of the men who took part in the Doolittle Raid, America's first bombing attack on Japan (carried out on the last day of the Bataan Death March in April 1942 when things looked very bleak for America, especially in the Pacific). Liz shares reminiscences of daily life in northeast Oklahoma during the war (rationing, working at the powder plant in Pryor, war bonds, learning to do with what you have or do without).

Registration received before March 19 will be $45 and thereafter will be $55. The registration fee will cover Saturday's catered lunch and conference speakers. Registration will be held from 4:15-4:45 p.m. on Friday, and presentations will last until 9:30 p.m. Friday evening. The seminar will resume at 8 a.m. Saturday and last until 6 p.m. All presentations, performances, and screenings will be held in the Jazz Lab (NSU-Tahlequah) located on Downing Street a few blocks away from campus.

Individuals can earn one hour of undergraduate or graduate English credit (English 4931/English 5651) by participating in the conference. Receiving a grade for the course is contingent on paying registration.

Living Literature Center seminars are comprised of scholarly presentations and cultural performances dealing with some literary topic. Seminars allow students to participate in a critical conversation about literature in a non-traditional, performative setting.

For more information about the conference, email Dr. Chris Malone, director of the Living Literature Center, at malonect@nsuok.edu, or call him at 918-456-5511, ext. 4503.