6 BEHREND BEACON
October 23, 2009 umanities & Social
www.thebehrendbeacon.com H
Weekly
Political
Ticker
ADAM SPINELLI
humanities editor
House Democrats reduced
the cost of their Health Care
bill to $B7l Billion... Only
20% of Americans describe
themselves as Republicans
according to new p011...57%
of Americans want a Public
Option in the Health Care
Reform bill ... Senator
Olympia Snowe split
from her party and voted for
the bill in the Senate Fi
nance Committee... She was
the only Republican to do
so... Secretary of State
Hillary Clinton is set to
give a speech on arms con
trol at the US Institute of
Peace... Sarah Palin is
set to appear on Oprah the
day before her book is re
leased... White House offi
cials criticized Fox News for
distracting Americans on re
form... Former President
Bill Clinton rallied for
New Jersey Jon
Corzine's reelection
campaign... The Dow Jones
closed above 10,000 for the
first time in almost two
years - this is a sign that the
recession is finally ending...
Western countries met in
order to talk about Iran's nu
clear facilities... South Car
olina Governor Mark
Sanford is expected to
have an impeachment bill
passed against him... Pr
ogressives have criticized
Senate Majority Leader
Harry Reid for his lack
of putting a Public Option in
the Health Care bill... Ame
ricans think that Afghanistan
is turning into a second
Vietnam war... President
Obama gave a speech
where he announced he
would end Don't Ask, Don't
Tell... Former President
George W. Bush is
going to be the featured
guest speaker for a business
seminar.
On This Day in
History:
October 23rd
1869: John Heisman, one
of the innovators of
football, is born.
1929: The Dow Jones
plunges, beginning the
stock market crash that led
to the Great Depression.
1946: The United Nations
convenes in New York for
the first time.
1989: Hungary becomes
an independent nation.
1998: Japan nationalizes
its first bank since World
War 11.
hii !Pi i Pri /7110 th vi 4
History prof. tours France on book tour
ADAM SPINELLI
h&ss editor
Dr. Michael Christofferson,
Professor of History at Penn
State Behrend, was honored by
being in
vited to
France for a
book tour on
his book Les
Intellectuels
contre la
gauche:
l'ideologie
antitotali-
France
(1968-1981).
Contributed Photo
Dr. Christofferson.
The book
was re-
A unique
opportunity
for a
lifelong
student of
French.
viewed in
the France
daily news
paper Liber
ation and
l'Humanite
and received
very positive
feedback.
They also
published
an interview
with Christofferson
Christofferson spent about a
week in France during the
week of October 11, 2009.
Christofferson was invited for
this book tour by the publisher
of the book with support of the
American Embassy in France.
Les Intellectuels was pub
lished in English in 2004 and in
French in September 2009 is
about how and why French in-
aiiiliiikiiiiwilid
Poet David Baker visits Behrend
ANDREW TARR
humanities write!
Night was beginning to fall as
members of the Behrend and
nearby communities filled into
the sanctu
ary of the
Larry and
Kathryn
Smith
Chapel for
the final
reading of
this semes
ters Creative
Writer's
Speaker Se
ries read by Contributed Photo
Poet David Poet David Baker
Baker.
David
Baker holds the Fordham Chair
of Creative Writing at Denison
SCHEDULE OF COURSES
New classes being
MATT DEFUSCO Penn State Behrend is planning on offering many new classes this coming spring semester in all
humanities writer subjects in Humanities and Social Sciences. Some of the new classes are listed below:
Political Science:
• PL SC 123: Studies the social and po
litical tensions that arise from ethnic
and racial distinctions that are made
in America.
• PL SC 155: Goes through the differ
ent types of media to investigate
methods of tyranny and their conse
quences in history.
• PL SC 480 W: Examines the process
of political legislation and the changes
in office that occur. Also discusses the
interaction of the different political in
stitutions.
• PL SC 439: Explores motives and
reasoning behind violent terrorism in
the world, and presents it as a different
option of solving political problems.
Cover neWs tiyoutate abeutf
cc*. rintaimusli
'lb write for the Human ties page, hies Editor Adam Spinelli at alsssll9@pen —,4l4ltduer°B3e-
tellectual Pro-Marxists and
Pro-Revolutionists turned in
the 19705.
The book is especially inter
esting to many French people
because many people in France
who were involved in this time
period are still alive and remain
integral parts of society.
While in France, Christoffer
son participated in a discus
sion/debate on the book in
Blois, France. He then took his
book tour to independent book
stores to talk about what he
wrote in Paris, Bordeaux, and
Toulouse. The events lasted
around two hours each, though
in a much different setting than
one would see in America.
"There are no chain book
stores in France, such as Bor
ders or Barnes and Noble," he
says.
"Independent book stores are
very popular and successful in
France because of the Law of
Single Price, which was put in
place in 1981. The law states
that for the first two years of
printing, it is illegal to sell a
book for more than 5% of the
cover price."
The book tour allowed
Christofferson to travel to vari
ous regions of France. He trav
eled from city to city via high
speed train, and made it to each
stop in around two hours.
Christofferson lived in
France for a total of two years
(on and off) and learned to
speak French decently well,
which luckily helped eliminate
language as a big obstacle for
University. He is also a profes
sor of English at Denison Uni
versity.
Baker has published nine
books of poetry, including
Never-Ending Birds,
Midwest Eclogue, Treatise on
Touch: Selected Poems,
Changeable Thunder, The
Truth About Small Towns, and
After the Reunion.
He also published several
books of criticism, including
The Radiant Lyre:
Essays on Lyrics Poetry and
Heresy and the Ideal in Con
temporary Poetry.
He has received fellowships
and awards from the John
Simon Guggenheim Memorial
Foundation, the Nation Endow
ment for the Arts, the Ohio Arts
Council, the Poetry Society of
America and others.
History:
• HIST 121: The Holocaust is looked at
extensively through the media means of
literature and film. Explores the philo
sophical aspect of the Holocaust.
• HIST 172 U: Examines the different as
pects of Japanese society, including so
cial events and culture from ancient
times to the present.
• HIST 175: Focuses on China and
Japan and their developments as sepa
rate countries but also their relationships
with each other and especially their rela
tions with the West.
• HIST 497: Examines the modern
Arab-Israeli conflict. Examines all polit
ical and social aspects concerning the
current situation.
his trip. Before going to
France, Christofferson wrote a
speech in French to serve as a
guideline for what he would say
during his book tour. He says
that after the first day or two,
language was fine and he was
able to communicate more
properly.
After an event, Christoffer
son says that he would often go
out to dinner with the book
store owner. The dinners could
last two, three, and sometimes
four hours, in the traditional
dining custom in France.
"
-isr;
Borde
Graphic by Adam Spinelli
Christofferson's French book tour included stops in Paris,
Bordeaux, and Toulouse.
"David Baker is a poet that
loves the world" said George
Looney, holder of Program
Chair here at Behrend, in his
introduction of the night. Lis
tening to some of Baker's
works you can see where he is
coming from. Sperlding much
of his life in the Midwest has
helped Baker form a mold in
which he writes a lot of his
works about.
Baker's daughter is also a
major source of inspiration to
him. The poem "Homecoming"
was written about his years of
attending morning coffee shop
chats with his daughter and her
friends before taking them to
school.
Another poem inspired by his
daughter and also the title for
his latest book of poetry,
"Never-Ending Birds," which is
offered this spring
Christofferson says that if
someone wants to truly study
and get to know the culture,
learning the language is imper
ative.
Currently, Christofferson is
in the process of writing an
other book, a biography of
Francois Furet, a well-known
French historian. First pub
lished in English, Christoffer
son wrote an article called
"Francois Furet entre histoire et
journalism," while the French
translation was recently pub
lished.
about the sighting of a massive
flock of migratory birds that
never seemed to end or begin.
He recounts him and his family
on a trip when his daughter
pointed to the sky and saying
"those are the never ending
birds."
When asked who he was in
spired most by to be a writer he
answered "everybody." With a
few chuckles of the audience he
continued on saying that any
one who had the loneliness and
daringness to write poetry was
an inspiration to him. He
looked up to poets Walt Whit
man, John Keats, and Paul
Celan.
The Creative Writer's Speak
ers Series will resume next se
mester on April 15 with a
reading by Debra Nystrom.
English:
• ENGL 262: Examines the differ
ent sections of fiction reading in
cluding character, plot, and
viewpoint analysis in prose genres
around the world.
• ENGL 185: Designed to take the
reader out of their normal litera
ture styles by comparing them to
those from around the world.
• ENGL 436: Examines American
fiction since 1945 to the present
through reading literature by au
thors such as O'Connor, Updike,
and Bellow.
• ENGL 484: Analyzes pieces of
literature by James Joyce and how
they came into being.
Sciences
What's hot
this week:
Pop Chart:
Country Chart:
"Getting You Home"
Chris Young
The Man I Want to Be
Rock Chart:
"Check My Brain"
Alice in Chains
Black Gives Way to Blue
Hip Hop/R&B Chart:
Album:
Foreign Language
Quote of the Week
"l& reft44- dew lotw4'tge4
,t - an. cle4ir dierm loue
dew& fi,t4:"
Francois de La Rochefoucault
French noble and writer
(,
~
.-„,,
Message From
The Editor:
In case you've been look
ing around and seeing the
pink Hungry Howies pizza
boxes, and have been won
dering why they have them
all of a sudden, October is
National Breast Cancer
awareness month.
Breast cancer affects mil
lions of women each year, as
many students across cam
pus unfortunately have seen
first hand - myself included.
So if you don't do it on a reg
ular basis, now is your
chance. It's your chance to
thank your mom, sister,
aunt, and any other female
in your life. Now is your
chance to tell these women
in your life how much that
they mean to you. Now is
your chance to tell them
how much you love them.
Because yesterday is gone,
and no one has promised to
morrow, so make sure you
go out and live for today.
Behrend Beacon
Humanities Staff
Humanities Editor:
Adam Spinelli
Humanities Writers:
Andrew Tarr
Lasheena Barnes
Alli Heitzenrater
Matt Defusco
"Down"
Jay Sean
My Own Way
"Pretty Wings"
Maxwell
BLACKsummernights
Michael Buble
Crazy Love
ADAM SPINELLI
Humanities and Social
Sciences Editor