Minds on the Millennium lecture series will discuss Toni Morrison’s “Beloved"

April 15, 2005

Lacey, Wash. – Toni Morrison’s best-selling novel, “Beloved,” won the Pulitzer Prize for its gripping portrayal of an African American family after the Civil War. In an April 28 Minds on The Millennium lecture, Saint Martin’s College English Prof. Jeff Birkenstein, Ph.D., will discuss Literature as History in Toni Morrison’s “Beloved.”

Birkenstein will speak at 1:30 p.m. at Panorama City’s Quinault Auditorium, 1835 Circle Lane. The lecture series, sponsored by Saint Martin's College and Panorama City, is free and the public is invited to attend.

“The winners,” we have been told, “write the history.” But what happens when that version of history is just plain wrong? Focusing on Morrison’s “Beloved” and the “true” history behind it, Birkenstein will also draw upon his own experiences in Kentucky’s Bluegrass Region – site of the horrible events depicted in the novel – to challenge the notion that history, once written incorrectly, cannot be changed. Birkenstein’s multimedia presentation will use slides, literature and personal experience to show that rewriting history can be a good thing.

Before coming to Saint Martin’s, Birkenstein taught courses at the University of Kentucky on the short story, survey of American literature, African American literature, argumentative writing/composition and business writing. His major interests are in composition, post-1865 American literature, American and world short story, the short story sequence and narrative theory. He has published several papers in academic journals, as well as book reviews, commentaries, essays and a short story. At the University of Kentucky, he coordinated English-as-a-Second-Language programming in the Writing Center and taught at Kentucky Virtual University.

For more information on Minds on the Millennium VI, please call the college at 360-491-4700.

Richard Langill
Professor, political science
360-438-4588
rlangill@stmartin.edu

Veronica Kessler
Minds on the Millennium co-director, Panorama City activities director
360-438-7557

Deanna Partlow
Media Relations Coordinator
360-438-4541
dpartlow@stmartin.edu