Columbia, SC – On February 27, 2008 from noon to 1:00 p.m., Dr. Stephanie Mitchem will discuss “Heroism and Community in A Lesson Before Dying by Ernest J. Gaines” as part of the Benedict College Big Read Program.
This novel poses one of the most essential questions literature can ask: Knowing we're going to die, how should we live? It's the story of an un-educated young black man named Jefferson, accused of the murder of a white storekeeper, and Grant Wiggins, a
college-educated native son of Louisiana, who teaches at a plantation school.
According to Mitchem, the novel spurs reflection on the "heroic" in black communities along with trying to define "the black community." These definitions may not match those of the majority culture and, Mitchem suggests, there are lessons to learn in the distinctions.
Using A Lesson Before Dying as its center for engagement, the Benedict Big Read project will launch a citywide essay contest, panel analysis, dramatization, and other interdisciplinary activities to encourage community reading, discussion, and interaction. For more information, visit www.benedict.edu.
Dr. Stephanie Y. Mitchem, Associate Professor at University of South Carolina, is a joint appointment in Religious Studies and Women’s Studies. Mitchem holds a Ph.D. from Northwestern University-Garrett Evangelical Theological Seminary and a Masters from St. John Provincial Seminary and focuses her research on exploring the rich religious contexts and meanings of African American women and men, while critiquing social injustices structured into American society. Her most recent book is African American Folk Healing (NYU Press, June 2007).
This free lunchtime program is presented by the South Carolina Center for the Book, the South Carolina affiliate of the Library of Congress Center for the Book. The SC Center for the Book is a cooperative project of the SC State Library, the University of South Carolina School of Library and Information Science, and The Humanities Council SC.
This program is sponsored in part by The Humanities Council SC, a state program of the National Endowment for the Humanities; inspiring, engaging, and enriching South Carolinians with programs on literature, history, culture, and heritage.
This program is FREE and open to the public. Attendees may feel free to bring a bag lunch. Location: SC State Library, 1500 Senate St., Columbia, 29201.
Contact: Susanna Brailsford
Literary Arts Program Coordinator
803-771-2477
sbrailsford@schumanities.org
