CIVIL WAR READING AND DISCUSSION PROG RAM BEGINS AT MORRISTOWN LIBRARY
\nFirst part of series scheduled to take place Thursday\, Feb. 7\, from 6-8 p.m.\ , focusing on “Imagining War”
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Morristown\, Tenn. – Beginning Thursday\, F eb. 7\, Morristown-Hamblen Public Library will host Making Sense of th e American Civil War\, a scholar-led reading and discussion program. This program is organized as a five-part series of conversations that aim to get below the surface of familiar stories about the Civil War battles t o explore the complex challenges brought on by the war. The discussions w ill be lead by Dr. Nancy Schurr\, professor of history at the University o f Tennessee.
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The conversation begins with Geraldine Broo ks’ novel March\, a meditation on America as it faces the plague of war. Brooks tells its story through the characters of Louisa May Alcott ’s beloved Little Women\, but shifts the attention to th e father of these famed sisters\, Reverend March. The novel compares ficti on and firsthand testimony from Alcott herself to illuminate the challenge s war presents to individuals’ beliefs.
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Through the eyes of Reverend March\, we will begin to understand the confusion and the tur moil facing individuals amongst the nation’s chaos\, as they are thrust in to battle both on the field and with themselves. Both the fictional story of March and the non- fictional accounts detailed from Alcott’s diary unra vel the dramatic impact the war had in molding personal experiences.
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“Imagining War” is part of a five-part series that will dive into truly making sense of the breadth and depth of the American Civil War . Other towns which have hosted the ten-week series include Chattanooga\, Memphis\, and Clarksville.
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The series will be available at the Morristown-Hamblen Public Library on the following topics and dates :
\nFeb. 21: Choosing Sides – The primary docum ents discussed in this conversation present the reader with the opportunit y to see through the eyes of people who were firsthand dealing with the no tions of justice\, honor\, duty\, loyalty and hypocrisy.
\nMarch 21: The Shape of War – A combination of three readings demonstrates the varying interpretati ons of the importance of Antietam then challenges the reader to shift the focus from the course of the battle and its ramifications to the suffering of the individuals and the way death was confronted.
\nApril 4: War and Freedom – This final set of readin gs focus on the experience of the immediate emancipation of four million s laves. While few at the time imagine the institution of slavery being abol ished as quickly as it was\, the selections of the conversation don’t disc redit the process and struggles of securing freedom and that the full sign ificance of the war is still not complete today.
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Making Sense of the American Civil War is p resented by the National Endowment for the Humanities and the American Lib rary Association.
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The Tennessee program is presented by Humanities Tennessee\, an organization created in 1973 that is dedicated t o developing a sense of community through educational programs in the huma nities across Tennessee. The series is part of Civil War\, Civil Right s\, Civil Discourse\, a project of Humanities Tennessee that seeks to equip Tennesseans to think deeply about the context of social and politic al divisions from the Civil War to the present.
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All disc ussions will be held in the Magazine Room of the Morristown-Hamblen Librar y from 6-8 p.m. To register for the program\, please stop by the Main Flo or Circulation Desk for a form and a book pack containing the books discus sed in the lecture series. The program will be limited to 24 participants \, due to the number of book packs available for check out. For more info rmation visit www.morri stownhamblenlibrary.org
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DTSTART;TZID=America/Kentucky/Louisville:20130207T060000 DTEND;TZID=America/Kentucky/Louisville:20130207T080000 LOCATION:Morristown-Hamblen Library SUMMARY:CIVIL WAR READING AND DISCUSSION PROGRAM BEGINS AT MORRISTOWN LIBRA RY URL:http://www.citizentribune.com/?ai1ec_event=civil-war-reading-and-discus sion-program-begins-at-morristown-library&instance_id= END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR