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Vermont Humanities E-newsletter
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An Introduction to Poetry
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A Poem for After the Storm
The Vermont Humanities Council has all those affected by Superstorm Sandy and Tropical Storm Irene in our collective thoughts. As individuals, families, friends, and communities go through their recovery from the devastation, we hope some solace can be found in poems, stories, and other works of literature. As the Poetry Foundation says, "Poetry can serve as a link between our individual despair and a more universal sorrow, between our personal, inarticulate confusion and a more eloquent and bearable expression."
We would like to share "Although the wind . . . ," a poignant five-line poem from early 11th-century Japanese poet Izumi Shikibu. You may read other poems of sorrow and grief for Japan gathered by the Poetry Foundation after the 2011 earthquake and tsunami here.
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First Wednesdays 2012-2013
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Acclaimed Historian David Hackett Fischer to Speak in Manchester on Thursday, November 1 as Part of 1st Wednesdays
 Champlain's DreamManchester, First Congregational Church, 7:00 pm
Acclaimed historian and biographer David Hackett Fischer brings to life the remarkable Samuel de Champlain -- soldier, spy, master mariner, explorer, cartographer, artist, and Father of New France. Host: Mark Skinner Library. Location: First Congregational Church. Sponsor: Lake Champlain Basin ProgramFirst Wednesdays Talks on November 7 at 7:00 pm
BRATTLEBORO -- The Unseen Alistair Cooke with Susan Cooke Kittredge. Location and host: Brooks Memorial Library. Host and location: Brooks Memorial Library. Learn more.ESSEX JUNCTION -- From Chittenden County to Baton Rouge: Vermonters, the Civil War, and the Road to Emancipation with National park superintendent emeritus and writer Rolf Diamant. Host and location: Brownell Library. Learn more.MIDDLEBURY -- The Iran Nuclear Dispute with former Iranian Ambassador to the UN and Bennington College professor Mansour Farhang. Location and host: Ilsley Public Library. Learn more.
MONTPELIER -- Patchwork: Piecing Together Family History with author Natalie Kinsey-Warnock. Location. Host and location:Kellogg-Hubbard Library. Learn more.
NEWPORT -- Ask Us Who We Are with filmmaker Bess O'Brien. Host and location: Goodrich Memorial Library.
Learn more.NORWICH -- The Bront� Myth with Dartmouth professor Gretchen Holbrook Gerzina.. Hosts: Norwich Public Library and Norwich Historical Society. Location: Norwich Congregational Church. Learn more.
RUTLAND -- The Original Renaissance Man: Understanding Leonardo da Vinci with Middlebury College professor Katy Smith Abbott. Host and location: Rutland Free Library. Learn more.
ST. JOHNSBURY -- Welfare Brat with Dr. Mary Childers. Host and location: St. Johnsbury Athenaeum. Learn more. Learn what talks will be taking place in a community near you.
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Vermont Humanities Fall Conference, November 9-10
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Still Accepting Registrations!
Sacred Spaces, Sacred Places:
Religious Architecture and Sites
 Vermont Humanities Council Fall Conference
November 9-10, 2012
Stoweflake Mountain Resort and Spa, Stowe, Vermont
Sacred buildings and sites offer us ways to enter into and better understand the cultures that sanctify them -- from Gothic cathedrals to Muslim shrines, from Buddhist and Hindu temples to New England meetinghouses and American churches. Compelling in their own right, these buildings are also visible signifiers of spiritual beliefs and practices. How do they manifest the values of the cultures that sanctify them? What do they have in common? Join us at the Vermont Humanities Council's 39th annual fall conference to examine these places and the beliefs and values they embody. Learn more about the 2012 fall conference, Sacred Spaces, Sacred Places. We hope to see you there!
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Vermont Reads 10th Anniversary
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Announcing Vermont Reads 2013
Celebrate Poetry in Honor of the 10th Anniversary of Vermont Reads
A poem "begins in delight and ends in wisdom."
- Robert Frost
 Celebrate the tenth anniversary of Vermont Reads by exploring poetry! Your community is invited to take part with this statewide read of Poetry 180: A Turning Back to Poetry, an anthology of contemporary poems edited by former US Poet Laureate Billy Collins. Collins created this poem-a-day anthology to make poetry less daunting by assembling a "selection of short, clear, contemporary poems which any listener could basically 'get' on first hearing -- poems whose injection of pleasure is immediate." Students and adults of all ages will enjoy poetry in this book and other books. Join us and discover -- or rediscover -- with others in your community the insight, beauty, and joy that poetry offers. Vermont Reads unites communities around reading, ideas, and activities. Libraries, schools, and other nonprofit organizations may apply; collaboration among town organizations and businesses is strongly encouraged. * Receive FREE books and programming support. * Host poetry readings and slams, poem-a-day projects, poetry writing contests, events with Vermont poets, and more. * Listen to Vermont Public Radio's Vermont Reads feature.  Look for application material online in early November.Apply: December 7, 2012 or May 15, 2013
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Civil War Book of Days -- Marking Events that Happened Each Week During the Civil War
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Humanities Commentaries on VPR
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 Each month, VHC's Executive Director Peter Gilbert presents commentaries on Vermont Public Radio that examine current and past events from a humanities perspective.
Most recently, Peter spoke about:Electoral Effect (10-23-12) With the presidential election fast approaching, Peter Gilbert took a look at previous elections. There he found some landslides, some extremely close races, and some very interesting stories. Books that Changed History (10-12-12) We know that books change people's lives all the time. But can books other than sacred texts also change history? Peter Gilbert says the answer is yes, and he points to events that happened and books that were published fifty years ago this year that may have changed history in ways impossible to overstate. Paramount Object (8-16-12) Peter Gilbert tells us about a famous exchange of letters between the highly influential abolitionist Horace Greeley and President Lincoln, which occurred one hundred and fifty years ago next week. Timely reflections from the archiveA World Torn Loose (9-13-11) The terrible flood damage in Vermont caused by tropical storm Irene has reminded Peter Gilbert of a poem by Robert Frost -- a poem inspired by an incident Frost witnessed during the great flood of 1927. Letting go of good things (10-26-04) With summer and most of autumn now behind us and one half or the other of the electorate about to be disappointed by the presidential election's results, poet Robert Frost and Peter Gilbert consider how to deal with loss.
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Humanities Commentaries on VPR
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Peter Gilbert Publishes Book
I Was Thinking . . . Travels in the World of Ideas
 "In what appears to be a paradox, Americans may have become more opinionated and yet less confident in their capacity to think for themselves. Could that be in part because Americans are reading less? And engaging less with the world of ideas?"So asks Vermont Humanities Council Executive Director Peter Gilbert in the introduction to this collection of over sixty lively essays adapted from his frequent commentaries on Vermont Public Radio. I Was Thinking is a perfect book for anyone who enjoys ideas and loves learning. $15.95 + shipping and handling 100% of author's earnings from the sale of this book will benefit the Vermont Humanities Council. Wind Ridge Publishing will donate 10% of net profits from the sale of this book to VHC as well. Order online from Wind Ridge Publishing or call 802.985.3091.
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The Vermont Humanities Council presents more than 1,200 events every year. Thank you for your interest in lifelong learning!
Sincerely,
Sylvia Plumb, Director of Communications
Vermont Humanities Council |
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