At the charming Eastern Divide Brewery, the Center for Humanities at Virginia Tech recently hosted a “Books at the Brewery” event, celebrating published books from within the last year in VT humanities. Attendees could walk around and chat with each of the authors, purchase their books at a Blacksburg Books stand, have them signed, and grab a drink in between!
Though the event featured numerous authors from diverse backgrounds, I particularly seek to uplift the books written by women. In a time where women’s rights are being challenged, the academics are constantly put on trial, and the value of humanities is in question, events like these bring the community together to combat these hostilities. I think that’s worth celebrating.
Even in just the brief conversations I had with some of the featured female authors, I felt like my eyes were opened to fields of research which I knew hardly anything about. Walking around the room, I learned about the current state of higher education, personal stories from living in Appalachia, Latin prose, medieval Europe, and practically everything in between. Even despite the complex nature of each book, getting to sit down and talk with each author individually was incredibly insightful.
“In one place somebody could go and chat with someone who is a poet who published original poetry or fiction, but then also somebody who published a work of history on early modern Europe, or 21st century Africa, and pretty much everything in between,” said Dr. Paul Quigley, Director of the Center for Humanities.
“Mae Mallory and the Monroe Defense Committee, and World Revolutions” by Dr. Paula Marie Seniors examines the history of Black women who were radical activists in the latter half of the 20th century, particularly Mae Mallory. But Dr. Seniors has quite a unique background on the subject. She comes from a family of activists, her parents, Audrey Proctor and Clarence Henry Seniors, founded the Monroe Defense Committee in an effort to fight the kidnapping accusations Mallory was facing from Ku Klux Klan members. Dr. Seniors grew up in the height of this conflict and grew up around Mallory as a close friend of the family. The book combines a historical account of these events with Dr. Senior’s personal memories and connections to tell the story of these powerful women.
“Championing a Public Good | A Call to Advocate for Higher Education” by Dr. Carolyn D. Commer comes at a particularly relevant age of academia, and focuses on how instructors, faculty, and administrations can advocate for higher education. The current state of the economy contrasted with the high costs of university, combined with recent controversy in academia, has led to quite a negative perception of higher education. Rather than focusing on why higher education itself is important, this book lays the groundwork and models for how academia as a structure can work against this rhetoric and fix the system.
“Beginning Again: Stories of Movement and Migration in Appalachia” by Dr. Katrina Powell follows several individual stories of people in Appalachia, emphasizing the diverse backgrounds and perspectives that exist within the region. When chatting with Dr. Powell about her book, I asked her if there was anything in the process of collecting these Appalachian stories that surprised her, and her response really stuck with me. She said that when interviewing a young Black man, whose family had a long history in the area, he detailed the experience of facing racism in rural Appalachia. He described it as a slow, grating burn. Recalling one or two particular instances couldn’t fully capture it, it was something that slowly wore away at him throughout his life. This book showcases stories such as these and many more.
“Tetra Nova” by Sophia Terazawa is an experimental operatic novel that follows a Roman goddess as she reimagines herself in the 20th century, an assassin and an emerging performance artist. The structure is unconventional, quite different from the other books on this list, but it’s particularly interesting for those interested in creative pieces (such as myself). It deals heavily with themes of family, an aspect of the story which Terazawa noted was influenced by her own life, even including photographs of her mother in the book. Turns out Terazawa is also my creative writing professor’s master’s program instructor, small world!
The Center for Humanities at VT is constantly working to support, uplift, and promote humanities education and research to all members of the community. Whether it be students, professors, or Blacksburg residents. Professors can look out for a workshop the Center is hosting in late May, which deals with the usage of AI in the history classroom. And students can watch out for the annual Humanities Week in the fall semester. This year’s Humanities Week will be themed around Beth Macy’s visit to the Moss Arts Center to discuss her upcoming memoir. You can find more information about the Center and their upcoming events on the Center for Humanities website.