IRis Highlight: Studies in American Fiction

Founded by the Northeastern University English Department and published for over three decades, Studies in American Fiction is a well-regarded, peer-reviewed journal that covers both “emergent writers and canons, as well as American literary classics.” IRis has a small selection of recent articles, and will hopefully include more backfiles in the future. In Studies in American Fiction you can find articles on authors as diverse as John Cheever, Jonathan Safran Foer, and Sarah Orne Jewett, and on topics as diverse as missionary literature, Orientalism, and temperance. IRis also includes additional contributions from the Northeastern English Department, and you can even browse in IRis for more exposure to the fascinating array of subjects being studied by Northeastern’s other departments and research centers.

Bob McChesney and John Nichols on “Outfoxed”!

This past February, we had the honor of hosting media revolutionists, Bob McChesney and John Nichols as part of the Northeastern Libraries’ “Meet the Author” Series. The dynamic pair delivered an interesting discussion on the current crisis in journalism and their quest to promote a free press. Although they may have left a few Journalism students discouraged, I think that the overall message of this talk was positive. If nothing else, the co-authors of The Death and Life of American Journalism  empowered the audience to demand news in its most raw and honest form. In order to reach a full democracy in our country, it is necessary that we have access to unbiased, unfiltered, real news. A few days after this event, I coincidentally stumbled upon the documentary, Outfoxed. It agreed with McChesney’s and Nichols’ argument, favoring a free press and fair news. Specifically highlighting Fox News, the documentary illustrated how the information we receive, supposedly objective, is altered to foster certain views. Fox, catering to the Republican party, has gone so far as using scare tactics and propaganda to build support behind war efforts. Much to my delight, I was surprised when I saw both McChesney and Nichols appear on this very documentary! As they reiterated their message on Outfoxed, I felt that the Northeastern Library , through its “Meet the Author” series, had successfully joined their battle. For more information on Journalism/ McChesney & Nichols, visit: http://ajr.org/

Earth Week means parting with old electronics

To celebrate Earth Week, Snell Library is participating in a campus-wide electronics waste collection effort. If you have old chargers, hair dryers, lamps, plugs, cords or other electronics (not phones) please bring them to the collection box on the Circulation Desk in the lobby of Snell Library. For questions about what items are eligible, contact Carol Rosskam, NU Sustainability Program Manager, at 617.373.8730, 617.828.2505 (cell) or c.rosskam@neu.edu. Find out more about e-waste collection on the Sustainability@NU web site.

Meet Dr. Lisa Sanders Wed. April 21

Please join us on April 21 at noon. Dr. Lisa Sanders will be speaking in 90 Snell Library. Dr. Lisa Sanders is the author of the very popular “Diagnosis” column with the New York Times. Her column inspired the hit Fox television drama “House MD” and Dr. Sanders now serves as Technical Advisor to the show. She was trained at Yale School of Medicine where she currently teaches. Dr. Sanders was recently named one of America`s Top 21 Women`s Doctors by LifeScript.com, the #1 website for women`s health. Before going to medical school Sanders was an Emmy award winning producer for CBS News. Her most recent book was Every Patient Tells a Story: Medical Mysteries and the Art of Diagnosis. Books and free DVDs of “House MD,” including the full series, will be raffled at the event. Sponsored by Northeastern University Libraries, the Humanities Center’s Artists and Practitioners in Residence Program, and the Northeastern Bookstore. Download the event flyer here.

Top Ten list of most frequently challenged books for 2009

Last July we had a lively and thought provoking discussion about Censorship and the Library as a follow up to that discussion I thought I would post a link to the ALA Top Ten list of most frequently challenged books for 2009. What I find interesting is that the popular Twilight series of books has been added to the list. It seems that the challenges are theme based rather then content based for this series of books. The majority of these books are works of fiction which are challenged because they offend values of the complaining individuals. So the question that all this raises (again) is: should offended individuals prevent others from having general access to works of literature, art, music or film because they may have controversial themes or content? In my opinion taking the time to attempt to censor a particular work just calls attention to it and rather then removing the offending work from general circulation it just promotes that work to those who may indeed find it to be influential. Which is contrary the intent of the censors.