8th Annual
Celebration of Literary Discussion
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Saturday, October 21
10 am - 3:30 pm |
Bayou Bend
Lora Jean Kilroy Visitor and Education Center 6003 Memorial Drive (at Westcott Street) Houston TX 77007 |
Meet & Greet
Doors open at 9:45 am
Sign in, talk to old and new friends, and meet your HGB Councilmembers.
HGBC Membership Meeting
10 - 10:15 am
Our brief official meeting of the Houston Great Books Council will begin
with President Connie Lewis giving some opening remarks
followed by a quick election of new and returning board members.
Doors open at 9:45 am
Sign in, talk to old and new friends, and meet your HGB Councilmembers.
HGBC Membership Meeting
10 - 10:15 am
Our brief official meeting of the Houston Great Books Council will begin
with President Connie Lewis giving some opening remarks
followed by a quick election of new and returning board members.
|
Morning Workshop A
10:15 am - 12:15 pm Understanding Shared Inquiry: How to Improve Our Book Discussion Skills led by Helen Cohen "Shared Inquiry promotes an intellectually stimulating interpretative discussion of a work—a group exploration of meaning that leads to engaging and insightful conversation. It helps participants read actively, articulate probing questions about the ideas in a work, and listen and respond effectively to each other. And it is based on the conviction that participants can gain a deeper understanding of a text when they work together and are prompted by a leader’s skilled questioning."
from the Shared Inquiry Handbook. We will be using the short stories "Today Will be a Quiet Day" by Amy Hempel and "A Telephonic Conversation" by Mark Twain to hone our discussion skills. This is a great session for people new to book discussion as well as for people with experience who want to get back to basics. PDFs of the short stories and the Shared Inquiry Handbook will be sent when you RSVP. |
Morning Workshop B
10:15 am - 12:15 pm Poetry of the You and the I: Narrators defined by the Other led by Wendy Wilkinson Most poems have a traditional narrator. And some poems talk to a "you" who may be the reader and who may be someone (or something) else entirely. But there are poems where that dynamic gets complicated.
We will explore this theme and more in the poems "The Love Song of J. Alread Prufrock" by T.S. Eliot, "Theme for English B" by Langston Hughes, and "I'm Nobody, Who are You?" by Emily Dickinson. We will not rely on experts to inform our reading of these poems. Please refrain from looking up any analysis of the poems. We can and will make our own opinions on the structure and beauty of these works. We welcome everyone, whether you've never read poetry or you are a dedicated aficionado! A PDF of the poems will be sent to you when you RSVP. |
Lunch & Chat
12:15 am - 1:30 pm
Lunch will be provided for anyone who attends
both a morning and afternoon session and RSVPs by October 16.
12:15 am - 1:30 pm
Lunch will be provided for anyone who attends
both a morning and afternoon session and RSVPs by October 16.
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Afternoon Workshop
1:30 pm to 3:30 pm The Supreme Court and the Constitution: A Two-Case Study led by Kent Guida and Eric Timmreck How, exactly, does the Supreme Court support its decisions in reference to the text of the Constitution? When resulting decisions (occasionally) differ significantly over time, how can this be explained in reference to the Constitution and the justices’ written opinions? Come join us in a discussion of two historically important cases with significantly different interpretations of the Constitution, different methods of analysis, and, of course, opposite outcomes.
Plessy v. Ferguson (1896) declared that the “separate but equal” approach does not violate the Constitution. Brown v. Board of Education (1954) ended racial segregation in America’s public schools. In the Great Books spirit, we’ll focus on the text of the decisions (abridged for readability) and the text of the Constitution. Two key questions will be offered for discussion:
A PDF of the reading will be sent to you when you RSVP. |
Afternoon Workshop
1:30 pm to 3:30 pm Discussion of The Fishermen and the Dragon: Fear, Greed, and a Fight for Justice on the Gulf Coast partnering with Gulf Coast Reads led by Kristen Stewart & Wendy Wilkinson The Fishermen and the Dragon: Fear, Greed, and a Fight for Justice on the Gulf Coast by Kirk Wallace Johnson is a gripping, twisting true crime investigation of a small Texas Gulf Coast town set on fire by hatred, xenophobia, and ecological disaster—a story that weaves together corporate malfeasance, a battle over shrinking natural resources, a turning point in the modern white supremacist movement, and one woman’s relentless battle for environmental justice.
This book will be read and discussed as part of the Gulf Coast Reads: On the Same Page. This is an annual regional reading initiative focused on promoting the simultaneous reading or listening to a selected title by those living along the upper Texas Gulf Coast. Find more at www.GulfCoastReads.org Participants will need to procure the book on their own. Most county libraries will have copies. |
