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(05/09/19 9:58am)
After brainstorming different phrases that encapsulate personal power and potential growth, Julian Lopez ’19 decided upon the French word “illimité” for the name of his recently-launched company. Illimité, which is a clothing and novelty item brand, was created by Lopez in 2019 as a platform to support entrepreneurs in developing countries across the world. For every Illimité product purchased, profit goes toward supporting these business owners.
The name of the company reflects this idea, as it translates to “unlimited,” which Lopez says represents the unlimited potential of the entrepreneurs that he is supporting.
So how does it work? When you buy merchandise through the Illimité online store, the proceeds are invested through Kiva.org and used to aid entrepreneurs in the form of micro-loans. When the loans are repaid, the money is put back into the company to break even and then reinvested further. Online, Illimité merchandise ranges from t-shirts and hoodies, to iPhone cases and beach towels.
“For the most extravagant shoppers I even have a giant beanbag in stock,” laughs Lopez.
The products are designed with a simple red and black logo, which is reminiscent of the style of popular brand Supreme.
The idea for this company grew from Lopez’s previous experience as an entrepreneur, designing and selling t-shirts through Redbubble, a platform that enables artists to sell their creations without overhead costs. Like these t-shirts, all Illimité merchandise is similarly produced on-demand.
During the same time Lopez was designing Redbubble t-shirts last year, he was also enrolled in a class learning about the lack of capital markets in developing countries and the way this hinders entrepreneurs from creating successful businesses and earning a living. After combining these two experiences, the socially-conscious brand was born.
“My idea really started to take form after learning about the fact that there are companies out there called ‘drop-shippers’ that let you sell items on the spot without having overhead costs, and people in developing countries could really benefit from loans in order to get started or continue running their businesses,” says Lopez.
At its core, Illimité is a creative way to give back and support others, allowing all those benefiting to have the opportunity to develop their potential in a life-changing way.
When asked about his future as an entrepreneur, Lopez responded, “I definitely would like to start another project at some time. Hopefully one that is actually profitable, given that Illimité is really more of a personal project. As for Illimité, I’ll probably keep running it as long as I can keep breaking even and it continues to actually help people.”
(04/18/19 9:58am)
“Most Middlebury kids are going to hike, but are they ever going to go out and hold a salamander?” mused Oscar Psychas ’21, co-president of The Wild Middlebury Project, a new and quickly growing environmental club on campus.
The answer to this question, for many students, would most likely be “no.” While hiking and exploring are celebrated activities, the ability to traverse less advertised elements of Vermont may be harder to come by. What about visiting vernal pools or helping amphibians migrate at night? Students who may be interested in engaging intimately with the environment might just not know where to start. It is because of this need to engage more deeply with the natural world and to become familiar with Vermont that Psychas and Jacob Freedman ’21 launched The Wild Middlebury Project.
The club was officially brought to life in Sept. 2018, and it has quickly grown to include 30 active and enthusiastic members. The focus of The Wild Middlebury Project is building a connection with place and rooting people through a relationship with the natural environment.
“This can be done through an activist, educational or hands-on approach,” Psychas said. “We are trying to bring all these elements together to create meaningful experiences for people in the outdoors as well as encourage the protection of our natural lands.”
The club hosts about two events per week, which range from animal-tracking excursions to learning the science behind creating maple syrup. Most recently, The Wild Middlebury Project co-hosted a wilderness survival event with the Community Friends Club. Members and Community Friend mentees built tree forts and made s’mores. Again, the goal was to connect students and young people with their local environment and to deepen their appreciation for nature.
Over the rainy weekend of April 12, the club facilitated a night trip to help aid salamander migration. During this event, club members were able to meet other fellow environmentalists from the community. The participants played a role in helping salamanders safely cross to downhill breeding sites by picking them up and placing them out of the way of passing cars.
While truly a unique hands-on experience, the event is also an example of the emphasis The Wild Middlebury Project places on fostering relationships between environmentalists at the college and environmentalists in the larger community.
“Engaging with people is a big part of this. One of the key parts of our mission is using the things we do outdoors to connect with people in the community — both kids and retirees,” club member Myles Stokowski ’21 said.
In the near future, upcoming events will include a BioBlitz that will take place on April 27. For those unfamiliar with this event, it is a conservation-focused activity during which participants survey an area and record the number of species found in it for a set duration of time. During this BioBlitz, iNaturalist technology will be used — an app that allows users to upload pictures of their discoveries and to connect and discuss the implications of these findings.
It is through this range of activities offered by The Wild Middlebury Project that a new kind of outlet for environmentalism is offered. Here, a sense of self, engagement with others and a love for nature all intricately intersect.
“It is so important for your place in the environment to be more than just shuffling between classes and the dining hall,” said Psychas. “But rather, a way to think about the life around you and the community around you — something that really grounds you.”
If you are interested in learning more about The Wild Middlebury Project, event information is available on their Facebook page which can be found at go/wildmidd. The club meets weekly at 8:30 p.m. on Tuesdays in Coltrane Lounge, and all are welcome.
(03/21/19 9:58am)
Stonecutter Spirits teemed with life on Thursday, March 14 during the launch of the SheFly Apparel crowdfunding campaign. Faculty, students and town members gathered to celebrate and support the emerging business, which is moving into its next phase following years of hard work from founders and colleagues Georgia Grace Edwards ’18, Bianca Gonzalez ’17.5 and Charlotte Massey ’19. Funds from donations and pre-orders made during and following the launch will help carry the team through their next steps of production.
If you aren’t familiar with the product, here’s what you need to know. SheFly Apparel is a female-founded company that has created a line of layerable women’s outdoor pants with a longer zipper spanning the crotch that makes answering nature’s call safe, efficient and easy. Rather than risking exposure to the elements, dehydration or a pit stop on unsafe terrain, SheFly offers an effortless solution to peeing outdoors.
And people are catching on to the idea. Online, donations and pre-orders of the pants appear to be increasing by the hour, and the campaign has nearly 5,000 shares on social media. As of Tuesday, SheFly had reached 91 percent of its $15,000 funding goal.
The idea came to Edwards in 2016 when she was working as a glacier guide in Alaska. She faced a serious disadvantage compared to her male co-workers when she needed to use the bathroom. Exposing her body to the elements left her cold for hours and felt like a waste of energy — so much so, that she even resorted to drinking less water on the job so she wouldn’t have to pee. Taking this risk is not uncommon for female outdoor adventurers.
Edwards eventually united with Gonzalez and Massey, who shared her same passion and struggle. Since then, four more students have joined on their mission, expanding their team of female leaders.
Members of the team were thrilled with the success of Tuesday night’s event.
“We are very happy with the turnout!” Massey said. “Friends and supporters from around Vermont turned out for our raffle and to see the pants, including professors, mentors and even a woman we met on a prototype testing hike last year!”
“I’m abroad right now, but I received so many messages commenting on the awesome turnout from friends and mentors who attended the event and consequently had to do a little celebratory dancing all the way over here in the Czech Republic!” said Edwards, who is currently working abroad on a Fulbright scholarship.
For the past year, SheFly has worked hard to perfect its product, which is almost ready for market. For its crowdfunding campaign, the team is pre-selling two pairs of hiking pants, with about only 250 units left available. Pant options include the “Stealth Pee,” a style with black fabric and black zipper, and the “Bold Pee” which has black fabric highlighted with a colorful zipper.
Throughout the launch, a prototype was on display and available for people to interact with and ask questions about. People were surprised by the inconspicuous nature of the zipper, which is hidden beneath a flap in the pants. On both variations of the product, wearers can choose to hide or show off their fly, regardless of the color of the zipper.
Those attending the event also had access to the online fundraising page, where they could scroll and read through the company’s story. It was here that many visitors read about SheFly’s manufacturing partner Visible Clothing, a Fair Trade and zero-waste clothing facility in India. Whatever excess scraps are wasted during the production of the pants are turned into a pulp that can be used by a refugee organization to make notebooks.
The venue was bursting with a sense of pride and excitement for SheFly, a sentiment that was strengthened by the multitude of outside businesses and companies that pitched in. MiddCakes and Flatbread donated food and the raffle table was filled with unique art pieces, gift cards and skincare products from local Vermont vendors. And, of course, Stonecutter served guests drinks.
“We were especially excited about partnering with Stonecutter Spirits because they are a fellow local, women-led business that actively supports other organizations and companies helping women in the Vermont community, such as WomenSafe,” Edwards said.
Looking ahead, the SheFly team says that it has upcoming plans to sell the pants direct-to-consumer through its online store. In the future, it hopes to expand into retail. In May, Edwards and Massey will deliver a TEDx Talk at TEDxStowe.
The team is currently asking supporters to follow and subscribe to @sheflyapparel on social media and to sign up for their monthly newsletter on the SheFly website. Subscribers will have access to early deals and one-time special announcements. Stay tuned to see what mark this “zipper revolution” makes on the world.
(03/14/19 9:55am)
“Rep Yourself” is the mantra of the new lifestyle clothing brand, PatchyTee, which was developed by three Middlebury sophomores this past summer. The start-up specializes in custom, embroidered patches that are designed by various local artists. Over the past few months business has grown exponentially, and they are not only filling campus-wide orders, but are responding to requests for PatchyTees from across the country.
The company’s co-founders are three best friends, Will Brossman, Ryan Feldmann and Marshall Cummings, all ’21. This “Patchy Teem,” as they call themselves, make and sell comfortable wash-faded t-shirts with iron-on patches. The boys pride themselves on the ability to provide people with unique, high quality products with a retro vibe and a reasonable price. With thick Custom Color shirts and detailed patches, they definitely deliver on this promise.
“One of my favorite aspects of what we are doing here is how versatile the shirt is, how comfortable it is,” said Brossman. “You can dress it up, wear it to a formal; we’ve seen people skiing in them, people wearing them as pajamas; there’s no limit to what you can do in them.”
The idea behind the business was born in August of 2018, in co-founder Ryan Feldmann’s backyard after the boys noticed a growing popularity in iron-on patches.
“When Will and Marshall were traveling down the east coast for work over the summer,” Feldman said, “we noticed the patches were becoming a trendy thing — after talking, we thought about making our own custom patches at an affordable price and putting them on shirts to sell ourselves.”
“Put three friends together for the first time in a couple months, and good things will happen,” said Cummings. “Will told us about his new infatuation with patches, and from then on we’ve been rolling.”
To test out their idea, the boys ordered 100 grey and black shirts, and printed 150 patches that were designed by a local artist and friend in Marin, California.
By September, the Patchy Teem arrived at Middlebury and hit the ground running, filling orders for these shirts both on campus and off. Only a few months later the boys filled their first group order, designing patches for the Harvard vs. Yale game at Fenway Park.
“This game was a ton of fun! We got the patch designed by an artist out of UVA, and ordered 200 shirts to sell at a table outside of the stadium,” said Feldmann. “We got there and quickly found out the Harvard SGA was giving out free shirts right near the stadium too… But we did end up selling over half the shirts we brought and had a blast. This first large order definitely taught us a few valuable lessons.”
In January, the Patchy Teem was enrolled in Midd Entrepreneurs, a J-term class specifically designed to help guide young entrepreneurs in creating businesses or non-profits. The class was co-taught by Dave Bradbury and Sam Roach-Gerber of the Vermont Center for Emerging Technologies. Each week, speakers from local start-ups visited to give advice or answer questions about developing small businesses. At the end of the course, each participant presented in a final pitch competition, with a chance to advance to the LaunchVT collegiate pitch competition and win funding.
“Midd Entrepreneurs was super helpful for the growth of our company,” said Feldmann. “We were able to get our website built, build a pitch deck for grant competitions and really nail down what we want to represent with our brand. We were also introduced to many other student-entrepreneurs that taught us some valuable lessons that they learned during the making of their own companies.”
During their participation in the class this J-term, the boys also released their new hat line, adding three suede ball caps with patches to their online store. To date, online inventory has expanded to include two styles, “The Shortie” and “The Longie,” which are available in four different colors. Patch options are updated based on availability, and are not restocked after their release, making each design limited edition. The Pray4Pow, Biking Bears and Pink Grapefruit patches are all currently available online, and can be bought individually as well as on shirts and hats. These patches were designed by Middlebury student and artist, John Henry Hanson ’20.5.
“We want people to have a shopping experience that merges fashion with affordability and fun,” said Brossman. “Our mission is to get good local artists out there and have fun in the process.”
You can find PatchyTee on Instagram at @patchytee or online at www.patchyt.com.
If you are a student-entrepreneur looking to connect with other makers at Middlebury, stop by the Innovation Hub for advising, information on entrepreneur-focused classes or opportunities for work spaces on campus.
(12/07/17 12:46am)
Last weekend, the Middlebury College Department of Theatre presented Middletown, a play written byWill Ano and directed by Alex Draper ’88. The play centers on a generic small town and the interlocking lives of its inhabitants. Each character considers what it means to be happy in the world and understand their relation to the people and places around them.
Main characters Mary Swanson and John Dodge bond over their similar loneliness. The characters remark about their lives, what makes them anxious in the middle of the night and what they think of their futures. Through their relationship the audience can see what life in Middletown is truly like and what goes on behind closed doors.
A wide array of supporting characters add to the story of these two characters, such as a police officer, played by Connor Wright ’18, who opens the show with a horrible example of police brutality and an upbeat librarian, played by Shannon Gibbs ’18, who is simultaneously wise and unaware. Additionally, a character listed as The Mechanic speaks with many characters throughout the play and acts as the perceptive outsider in every moment he appears.
“It’s intended to provoke thought about life, death,” said cast member Stephanie Miller ’20 when asked about the play’s message. “[It’s meant] to make people think about their own lives… their perspectives and the cycles of everything.”
Life and death certainly rest at the center of the play as John Dodge attempts suicide on the same day that Mary Swanson goes into labor with her first child. The other characters of the play serve to display the moments between those two large life events and the various trials and tribulations that a person can experience during that time.
The fact that Middletown was founded on land originally inhabited by Native Americans also provides a significant foundation to the play. Various characters mention this fact and brush it off nonchalantly, but it calls the audience to see the faults in these characters’ thinking. The company note mentions that, “since many such communities have been wiped off of maps and out of history books, and since little is taught on the reality of the Native American, we wanted to make sure we were respectful in the way we approached the material relating to the history and culture of the original inhabitants of our community here at Middlebury.”
Towards the end of the play, The Mechanic wears traditional Native American clothing and performs a dance. In preparation for this part of the play, the company worked with Dancing Earth Creations, a dance group that aims to “support Indigenous dance and related arts.” Additionally, the cast, “had the privilege of working with Chief Don Stevens, of the Nulhegan Abenaki Tribe, who shared his knowledge and experience, and granted [them] permission to be on the land of his ancestors.”
Costume designer Iram Asghar ’18 worked on this play for her 700 credit. She conducted research in the town of Middlebury by interviewing and photographing townspeople in order to ensure that her designs “came from a real place rather than one of stereotypes and assumptions.”
Asghar noted that her work for this play “necessitated navigating cultural appropriation and bridging the diverse backgrounds of the actors with the history and cultures represented in the play.”
In the costume designer’s note, Asghar details how Chief Don Stevens and Teresa Le Maitre helped her “understand their culture.” Additionally, she thanked them for creating traditional jewelry for the performances.
Middletown represents the multi-faceted nature of many American towns. In viewing the relation that the characters have to their history and each other, members of the Middlebury community were encouraged to think about their surroundings and how they interact with their neighbors.
(12/07/17 12:40am)
The International Students’ Organization’s 2017 Show on Dec 2 featured dance, music and poetry acts representing countries and regions from all over the world, such as the Ukraine, Vietnam, Korea, South Asia, parts of the African continent, Brazil and many more. The performances were vibrant, exciting and inspiring and matched the cosmopolitan nature of the school.
Photos by Silvia Cantu
(12/07/17 12:32am)
Literatures and cultures librarian Katrina Spencer is liaison to the Anderson Freeman Center, the Arabic department, the French department, the Gender Sexuality & Feminist Studies (GSFS Program), the Language Schools, Linguistics and the Spanish & Portuguese departments. These affiliations are reflected in her reading choices. “While I am a very slow reader, I’m a very critical reader,” she says.
Pages: 43
The What
“Peluda” is a book of poems written by a young woman who is of both Guatemalan and Colombian descent, according to the narrative voice of her poetry. Lozada-Oliva uses body hair as a medium to talk about a slew of fraught topics: origin, immigration, self-love/hate, harmful and exclusionary beauty paradigms, interracial romance, the discrepancies between intergenerational values, socioeconomic class and more. Hers is free verse, so if you’re looking for rhyme and meter in your poetic preferences, this will not be the place to go. But if you are looking for metaphor, subversion of popularly accepted behavior and stories that center around brown-skinned people, you have got a winner. Reading her work is like reading Sandra Cisneros’ 1984 “The House On Mango Street,” but in the 21st century and for a contemporary audience.
The Why
My Facebook feed introduced me to this poet, specifically a post via Button Poetry (as was the case with Blythe Baird’s “Give Me A God I Can Relate To”). As a hirsute woman (TMI), the title of the work, “Hairy,” called to me. I have had a mustache since before I can remember and more struggles with hair than I care to mention here. In a
world that keeps telling me that what my body does naturally and without provocation is wrong and undesirable, the idea that a writer would publicly acknowledge her “private” contentions feels awe-inspiring. These conversations are often had in dark corners and hushed tones. I am impressed by the bravery and the many ways in which such a benign and common topic can be used to meaningfully forward discussions of gender politics.
Rating: 4/5 cardigans
Lozada-Oliva’s work demonstrates multiple moments of sheer brilliance and uncanny insight. She is an author to watch; I trust her writings will continue to evolve and expand and I will not be surprised when her name appears on a best-seller’s list. However, some of the poems included in this collection are so fantastic, in the literal sense of the word, that they are inaccessible. As the author continues to publish, I trust she will be more exacting in excluding excesses that make the compilation longer but do not necessarily advance the piece’s themes, potency and goals. See her read her poetry on YouTube in “Yosra Strings Off My Mustache.”
(11/30/17 12:19am)
Literatures and cultures librarian Katrina Spencer is liaison to the Anderson Freeman Center, the Arabic department, the French department, the Gender Sexuality & Feminist Studies (GSFS Program), the Language Schools, Linguistics and the Spanish & Portuguese departments. These affiliations are reflected in her reading choices. “While I am a very slow reader, I’m a very critical reader,” she says.
Pages: 128
The What
“Um sábado qualquer” (“Any Given Saturday: God Behind the Scenes”) is a piece of graphic literature from Brazil. It offers a vision of a god that is precarious, infantile, fallible and almost entirely objectionable. Ruas’s collection employs biblical narratives and motifs, adding an alternative history of what happened “behind the scenes” during creation, ultimately painting Judeo-Christian mythology as haphazard and coincidental. For example, his God character creates many globe-like prototypes for Earth before having to present one, mostly complete, to his father for “publication.” The work is simultaneously humorous and blasphemous and can be found in our language-based browsing collection.
The Why
I grew up with consistent exposure to biblical teachings and learned to question them around the time I was in college. I enjoy this author’s cheekiness in presenting a God character created in man’s image: indulgent, moody and hedonistic. It is fun to reimagine a well known story and to fill in the gaps that were left behind. José Saramago does this as well in his work, “Cain.”
Rating: 4/5 cardigans
Original, creative, quirky but manages to be misogynistic in its satire as it includes easy, archaic jokes against women.
(11/09/17 12:52am)
Literatures and cultures librarian Katrina Spencer is liaison to the Anderson Freeman Center, the Arabic department, the French department, the Gender Sexuality & Feminist Studies (GSFS Program), the Language Schools, Linguistics and the Spanish & Portuguese departments. These affiliations are reflected in her reading choices. “While I am a very slow reader, I’m a very critical reader,” she says.
Pages: 16
The What
“My Mom Loves Fatoush” is a children’s story that recounts one of the ways in which a Levantine family gathers to spend intimate time together. The story is beautifully illustrated, featuring full-color drawings of the narrator’s family. The work is short, although its brevity should not be automatically equated with simplicity. For novice learners of Arabic like myself, the opportunity to read a children’s story with vowelled consonants and extraordinary visual aids is valuable, as texts for advanced readers are less likely to have diacritics written in for vowel pronunciation or any illustrations at all. What’s more, the reader will serendipitously encounter a recipe for fatoush, a bread salad dressed with lemon juice, when paging through the book.
The Why
Back when I was studying at the University of Illinois, I took Arabic for two semesters and my instructor, Fahima, gave students the healthy challenge of reading this story out loud and recording it as an extra credit assignment. I struggled so much so that I had to record it twice. In the process, I learned new vocabulary for food and sequencing that was only partially introduced in my textbook. This work will always hold a special place in my heart since it was the first book I read in a non-Romanized script, something I never expected to do.
Rating: 5/5 cardigans
(11/09/17 12:48am)
On Saturday, Nov. 8, the Evolution dance crew performed in their annual Halloween showcase in front of a full audience in Wilson Hall. Performing to music from Childish Gambino, Kendrick Lamar, French rapper MHD, and others created an electrifying atmosphere amd appreciation of the skill and energy of the performers.
(11/01/17 10:53pm)
Literatures and cultures librarian Katrina Spencer is liaison to the Anderson Freeman Center, the Arabic department, the French department, the Gender Sexuality & Feminist Studies (GSFS Program), the Language Schools, Linguistics and the Spanish & Portuguese departments. These affiliations are reflected in her reading choices. “While I am a very slow reader, I’m a very critical reader,” she says.
Pages: 144
The What
This story, told from a young Spanish woman, Meri’s, first-person voice, explores the reasons Meri develops unhealthy eating patterns; she indulges in binging on sugary, carbohydrate-heavy snacks as she seeks a release from the emotional pressures of her household. Her father carries out a traditional role as the financial provider for the family but is unable to channel his bitter emotions in healthy ways, regularly lashing out at his loved ones and/or attempting to escape home altogether. Meri’s mother, somewhat trapped within the emotionally abusive scenario, suffers and causes suffering by not being a reliable emotional support to her children. Having hardly anyone to turn to for comfort, Meri turns to food. It is through her boyfriend’s acceptance and unconditional love that she finds and nurtures a medium of self-expression that allows her to rediscover her self-esteem and to start making good choices for herself again.
The Why
I strongly believe in graphic novels as powerful tools for foreign language learning. What the reader does not capture through the text may be understood by the strong visual supports of the narrative. Moreover, for anyone seeking greater exposure to Peninsular Spanish, this work will give you all the “vosotrxs” that you want. The images and the language drew me in; however, it was the ease of the reading that kept me. For anyone having taken three Spanish courses, the story is highly accessible. Also, having lived in Spain for two years, I was happy to have any excuse to reconnect with the culture that is so far away from me now. Lastly, the variety of emotions contained in the story — shame, desire, anger — are not always encountered in one work alone. In that respect, the piece is very human.
Rating: 3/5 cardigans
I appreciate the memoir, as it takes on the sensitive topic of eating disorders and shows that a variety of motivations can catalyze unhealthy relationships with food. However, the story also “normalizes” teacher-student romantic relationships that our shared societies may not want to encourage. The full-color images are laudable, making a visually pleasing work. However, the storyline is predictable and ergo approximates itself to triteness. My favorite part, perhaps, was experiencing the language.
(10/18/17 11:36pm)
Literatures and cultures librarian Katrina Spencer is liaison to the Anderson Freeman Center, the Arabic department, the French department, the Gender Sexuality & Feminist Studies (GSFS Program), the Language Schools, Linguistics and the Spanish & Portuguese departments. These affiliations are reflected in her reading choices. “While I am a very slow reader, I’m a very critical reader,” she says.
Pages: 55
The What
Last week marked the 20th anniversary of the 1997 publication of “Brokeback Mountain” in The New Yorker. The short story tells the intimate tale of two Wyoming-based cowboys, Ennis del Mar and Jack Twist, who are isolated while working on a mountain and find a mutual love they must keep hidden. In their domestic and social lives, the lead characters are largely the epitomes of traditional masculinity: strong in body, sparse in word and dedicated to work that is physically brutal and requires the least emotional output possible. They surprise each other and themselves when intimacy develops between them, though they struggle to incorporate their love into their normal lives off the mountain. The constricting gender roles of the time and place, inherently imbued with violent homophobia, force them to maintain a clandestine relationship, despite their true desires. Set in the early 1960s, the work rings with authenticity and tragedy, leaving the reader with no doubts as to why Proulx, a University of Vermont alum who spent 30 years in Vermont, won the 1994 Pulitzer Prize for fiction.
The Why
The 2005 Academy Award-winning feature-length film adaptation of the story, starring the late Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal, caused the work to skyrocket into a new orbit of fame, and for good reason, as the duo’s stellar performances and direction are of the highest quality. I was an undergraduate when the film came out, and it reminded me much of Cormac McCarthy’s “All the Pretty Horses,” another rugged cowboy story adapted for the screen.
However, it was news to me in 2017 that the “prima materia” was ever a short form, fictional and readable narrative. I was bopping around in the stacks, as I am wont to to do, and pulled the short, thin tome from the lower level’s shelves au hasard. I read it in one go. I usually read nothing in one go. It was that good.
I am happy to have encountered the work anew and consider it a veritable classic within a canon of works treating gay rights and identities. When the movie adaptation came out, it was socially acceptable and even encouraged for people, especially young men, to publicly decry the faintest acknowledgement of intimacy between two men. In other words, it was not popular to like the film. Our discourse as a nation surrounding LGBTQ+ rights was younger and coarser then.
Rating: 5/5 cardigans
The written work says nothing more than it needs to, doing a stellar job of “showing and not telling.” I think it was quite daring then and even now to refuse to commit to a neat short story length or a novel length and to choose a bit of a hybrid form. The work continues to inspire new adaptations, considering the 2014 opera adaptation by Charles Wuorinen.
(10/11/17 10:41pm)
Literatures and cultures librarian Katrina Spencer is liaison to the Anderson Freeman Center, the Arabic department, the French department, the Gender Sexuality & Feminist Studies (GSFS Program), the Language Schools, Linguistics and the Spanish & Portuguese departments. These affiliations are reflected in her reading choices. “While I am a very slow reader, I’m a very critical reader,” she says.
Pages: 165
The What
Is there any conflict more charged and controversial than that of Israel-Palestine? Cartoonist Farid Boudjellal dares to treat the topic with humor in his monochromatic, comic tome, “Juifs Arabes” (“Jews Arabs”). The hardback features two neighbors, one a devout Jew and the other a devout Muslim, and the contending beliefs and philosophical debates in which they and their children engage. Their geographical proximity as neighbors on contested land and as neighbors makes the struggle an intimate one and their unbending fixedness on forwarding their own agendas make the characters curious mirrors of one another. What makes their quarrels even more wrenching and hilarious is that their children are in love. Boudjellal does a great job of honing in on the intergenerational differences that violently divide his older characters and are imposed on his younger ones.
The Why
I have been hearing about the Israel-Palestine conflict for 30 years but never really approached an understanding of it until I took a course about cinema of the region. Now, with Boudjellal’s text, I can revisit the discussions that came up during my course, practice French and ponder and laugh all at once. Without trying to resolve the conflict, Boudjellal highlights its inherent ironies and also gestures towards a hunger for peace, too.
Rating: 4/5 cardigans
Brave and politically charged; however, tells the same joke over and over.
(10/04/17 11:43pm)
Literatures and cultures librarian Katrina Spencer is liaison to the Anderson Freeman Center, the Arabic department, the French department, the Gender Sexuality & Feminist Studies (GSFS Program), the Language Schools, Linguistics and the Spanish & Portuguese departments. These affiliations are reflected in her reading choices. “While I am a very slow reader, I’m a very critical reader,” she says.
Pages: 63
The What
This is a collection of cartoons by one of Brazil’s most famous cartoonists, known mononymously as “Laerte.” The lead character of the work is Hugo, a man who, like everyone else, struggles to pay his bills, to please his partner, to accept pre-determined gender norms and, ultimately, to be himself in a society that strictly delineates acceptable behavior and is ever-changing with new technologies to which we must adapt. Hugo is an “average Joe” with a big heart and a healthy dose of consistent confusion. Published in full color, this thin volume will bring joy to lusophiles deciding to thumb its pages.
The Why
When I attended the Portuguese School in 2014, I started studying Laerte with great interest. I learned that the cartoonist is one of the most well recognized transgender people in all of Brazil. As is the case with Caitlyn Jenner, Laerte gained fame and status before transitioning and, as a public figure, ran a great risk in terms of social stigmatization, having chosen to transition publicly. Aside from creating work that is funny and clever that allows me to practice Portuguese, I admire Laerte’s bravery in subverting social norms.
Rating: 3/5 cardigans
“Hugo para principantes” features curious drawings with enigmatic character but has no real plot destination.
(10/04/17 11:30pm)
The Danish String Quartet will bring their internationally-acclaimed talents to the Mahaney Center for the Arts’s Robison Hall on Saturday, Oct. 7. The much-anticipated performance will begin at 8 p.m., following a pre-performance dinner in MCA Lower Lobby (tickets for which are sold separately). Concert tickets are $6 for students.
The program will feature both classical songs as well as Nordic folk tunes from the quartet, whose roots run deep. They met at summer camp when they were teenagers.
“Our friendship has allowed us to enjoy life as a string quartet quite a bit, and we believe that music thrives when musicians are happy, confident and enjoying each other’s company on and off the stage,” the quartet has said.
The Campus spoke to Allison Coyne Carroll, director of the Performing Arts Series, about the upcoming concert.
The Campus: Why is this event relevant to Middlebury?
Allison Coyne Carroll: The Danish String Quartet have been on my radar for quite some time as one of a handful of strong, rising-star quartets today. I’ve been trying for a couple of years to bring them to Middlebury, but despite planning one to two years in advance, we either could not get a date on their busy US tour schedule, or their tour fell during one of our academic break periods.
Finally, all of the stars aligned, and we’re thrilled to be the first stop on the quartet’s North American tour this fall. We even have the quartet in Middlebury for an extra day to teach lessons to some of the string players on campus and to squeeze in some fall foliage hiking.
While the Danish play the standard classical quartet repertoire that complements Middlebury’s music history course work, their innovative programming also includes contemporary works and self-arrangements of Nordic folk music for quartet. I chose a program that includes the latter for their Middlebury performance, as it is very reminiscent of the Quebecois fiddle music prevalent here in Vermont.
They’re also very down-to-earth musicians who make chamber music more approachable — just check out some of the videos on their Facebook feed — and I hope this will resonate on campus.
(09/27/17 11:24pm)
Literatures and cultures librarian Katrina Spencer is liaison to the Anderson Freeman Center, the Arabic department, the French department, the Gender Sexuality & Feminist Studies (GSFS Program), the Language Schools, Linguistics and the Spanish & Portuguese departments. These affiliations are reflected in her reading choices. “While I am a very slow reader, I’m a very critical reader,” she says.
Pages: 311
The What:
This work is a first-person, fictional account written by a nameless woman inhabiting a dystopian society in which certain low-ranking, fertile classes of women are treated strictly as reproductive vessels in service to a religious and socially high-ranking echelon of men. Set in the general region of the the Northeastern U.S., “The Handmaid’s Tale” highlights a nation divided in which the ability to birth healthy children is increasingly rare and is newly monitored by a menacing, governing power. This book, written by Canadian author Margaret Atwood, is considered one of the early works that inspired feminist thought in the late 20th century.
The Why:
When I saw that Elisabeth Moss would take on the lead role of “Offred” in the Hulu-based adaptation of this book, I wanted to get to know the original work better. I was duly impressed by the actor’s interpretation of Peggy Olson in “Mad Men” and felt that she would certainly continue advancing the national discussion surrounding gender in this role, as she did with the former. Moreover, I want to do a comparative study of the book, the movie and the television series for “Feminist Collections” to track how the adaptations of this work have evolved over time.
Rating: 3/5 cardigans
This story is certainly one we need as a society and there is a reason some 30 years later following its publication we are re-visiting it anew. However, the writing is not great — yes, I said it. The narrator’s voice is dull, which, admittedly, mirrors the monotony of the character’s life, but lends very little pleasure to the reader. So, it is effective but difficult to move through.
(09/21/17 12:06am)
Literatures and cultures librarian Katrina Spencer is liaison to the Anderson Freeman Center, the Arabic department, the French department, the Gender Sexuality & Feminist Studies (GSFS Program), the Language Schools, Linguistics and the Spanish & Portuguese departments. These affiliations are reflected in her reading choices. “While I am a very slow reader, I’m a very critical reader,” she says.
Pages: 252
The What:
Buck is a young black man’s tale about growing up in 1990s Philadelphia with a doggedly Afrocentric father and a mother who suffers from mental illness. Between his father’s absenteeism and his mother’s psychiatric needs, Asante struggles to access the guidance and stability to thrive as a teenager en route to manhood. The work is laced with hip-hop lyrics and visits the many dangers that a number of African American boys, both expertly and falteringly, dodge on the way to becoming self-actualizing members of society.
The Why:
I met the author of this text more than 10 years ago in Los Angeles when he was working on a film degree at UCLA. I follow his career periodically and want to critically review his work for the Black Caucus of the American Library Association’s (BCALA) newsletter, “BCALA News.” This work, like Junot Díaz’s “This Is How You Lose Her,” provokes an examination of black masculinity — which is of regular interest to me and many others, particularly in light of rapper Jay-Z’s “4:44” release — and how it can be shaped by conditions and cultures found within many urban landscapes throughout the U.S.
Rating: 3/5 cardigans
The story is a unique, important and inspirational one, often left untold and/or lost to the streets. Many young black men growing up in similar environments need this narrative to know that their tales do not end at age 15. However, while the interpositions of hip-hop lyrics used to reflect the unity between the popular musical genre and the protagonist’s life ring genuine, at times, instead of serving the novel and its movement, they distract from it. Moreover, the author may have benefited from putting a greater number of years and a few additional measures of perspective between himself and his memoir. The resolutions of his problems seem trite, as those seen in afterschool television specials — the tidy deus ex machina a bit too convenient to feel real.