Resources for Teachers and Students
We are pleased to offer the following online resources to encourage teachers and students to enhance their engagement with the Lowell Humanities Series. We encourage you to adopt our speakers' most recent book as well as shorter essays and contextual material as part of your syllabi. Additionally, the resources below can be paired or used separately to fit a single class or a longer unit. These links allow students to watch a Youtube video, or read a short essay or interview, before or after one of our events. Teachers might also consider using these resources in conjunction with evening reflection activities, or opportunities for reviews/reports during or beyond class-time. For speakers book titles, please see their bios. Articles in academic journals are available to members of the BC community through the library webpage.
Martín Espada:
Floaters and other poems
April 14, 2021
7:00 p.m. • Virtual Event
Reviews:
- Publishers Weekly: “Floaters” https://www.publishersweekly.com/978-0-393-54103-8
- LARB: “Becoming the River: On Martín Espada’s ‘Vivas To Those Who Have Failed’” https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/becoming-the-river-on-martin-espadas-vivas-to-those-who-have-failed/
- The Rumpus: “Vivas To Those Who Have Failed by Martín Espada” https://therumpus.net/2016/02/vivas-to-those-who-have-failed-by-martin-espada/
- North American Review: “‘From Life’s School of War’: A Review of Martín Espada’s Vivas To Those Who Have Failed” https://northamericanreview.org/sites/default/files/301.3_corrections_from-lifes-schoolofwar.pdf
Interviews:
- KPFA: “ Martín Espada’s ‘Floaters’” https://kpfa.org/episode/flashpoints-october-15-2020/
- Sampsonia Way: “The Writer’s Block Transcripts: A Q&A with Martín Espada” https://www.sampsoniaway.org/interviews/2015/12/11/the-writers-block-transcripts-a-qa-with-martin-espada/
- The Arts Fuse: “Poetry Review/Interview: Poet Martín Espada--Resistance is Obligatory” https://artsfuse.org/158013/poetry-reviewinterview-poet-martin-espada-resistance-is-obligatory/
- Pen America: “The PEN Ten with Martín Espada” https://pen.org/the-pen-ten-with-martin-espada/
- Latino USA: “A Conversation with Martín Espada, the First Latino Recipient of the Ruth Lilly Prize” https://www.latinousa.org/2018/05/09/a-conversation-with-martin-espada-the-first-latino-recipient-of-the-ruth-lilly-prize/
- The Cafe Review: “ Martín Espada Interview” https://www.thecafereview.com/summer-2016-interview-with-martin-espada/
Poems:
- Selected Poems From Martín Espada: http://www.martinespada.net/poems.html
David Tracy
Annual Candlemas Lecture
“On Naming God”
February 3, 2021
7:00 p.m. • Virtual Event
Reviews:
- America: The Jesuit Review: “Review: A new theology to serve a world in need of decisive action” https://www.americamagazine.org/arts-culture/2020/12/17/review-david-tracy-essay-fragments-filaments-239437
- The University of Chicago: “The Achievement of David Tracy” https://divinity.uchicago.edu/sightings/articles/achievement-david-tracy
- Commonweal: “God-obsessed: David Tracy’s Theological Quest” https://www.commonwealmagazine.org/god-obsessed
Interviews:
- Commonweal: “In Praise of Fragments” https://www.commonwealmagazine.org/praise-fragments
- Religion Online: “An Interview with David Tracy” https://www.religion-online.org/article/an-interview-with-david-tracy/
- Philosophy and Social Criticism: “An interview with David Tracy” http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.856.2005&rep=rep1&type=pdf
Videos:
- Oblate School of Theology: “Theology and Mysticism” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qDu6dlfLLt0
- The University of Chicago: “‘God as Infinite: Ethical Implications’ with David Tracy, University of Chicago Divinity School” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JkIIaayYimI
- The University of Chicago: “David Tracy’s Keynote Address at “Augustine: Theological and Philosophical Conversations” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gRHLW5jfBHM
Min Jin Lee
Fiction Days presents: Pachinko
February 24, 2021
7:00 p.m. • Virtual Event
Reviews:
- NPR: “Culture Clash, Survival And Hope In ‘Pachinko’” https://www.npr.org/2017/02/07/512910187/culture-clash-survival-and-hope-in-pachinko
- The New York Times: “July Book Club Pick: ‘Pachinko,’ by Min Jin Lee” https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/02/books/review/pachinko-min-jin-lee.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share
- The Guardian: “Pachinko by Min Jin Lee review-rich story of the immigrant experience” https://www.theguardian.com/books/2017/mar/15/pachinko-min-jin-lee-review
- Irish Times: “Pachinko review: a masterpiece of empathy, integrity and family loyalty” https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/books/pachinko-review-a-masterpiece-of-empathy-integrity-and-family-loyalty-1.3165406
- Japan Times: “‘Pachinko’ author Min Jin Lee on how Japan’s ethnic Koreans keep beating the odds” https://www.japantimes.co.jp/culture/2017/03/04/books/book-reviews/pachinko-author-min-jin-lee-japans-ethnic-koreans-keep-beating-odds/#.XgIttS9MG-o
Interviews:
- The Atlantic: “What Writers Can Take Away From the Bible” https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2017/12/min-jin-lee-by-heart/548810/
- The Guardian: “Min Jin Lee: ‘History has failed almost everybody who is ordinary’” https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/aug/02/min-jin-lee-interview-frederick-douglass-200
- Sampsonia Way: “Doing it Wrong: An Interview with Min Jin Lee” https://www.sampsoniaway.org/literary-voices/2018/06/21/doing-it-wrong-an-interview-with-min-jin-lee/
- Asian American Writers’ Workshop: “We Are Family: An Interview with Min Jin Lee” https://aaww.org/we-are-family-an-interview-with-min-jin-lee/
- Writer’s Digest: “Min Jin Lee: Finding Story Ideas That Truly Provoke Your Passions” https://www.writersdigest.com/editor-blogs/writers-perspective/off-the-page-author-interview-series/pachinko-author-min-jin-lee-talks-finding-story-ideas-that-truly-provoke-your-passions
Op-Eds/Writing Excerpts:
- The New York Times: “Breaking My Own Silence” https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/20/opinion/confidence-public-speaking.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share
- “Motherland” https://www.minjinlee.com/writing/2007-03-01-motherland/
- Excerpt from ‘Pachinko’ http://www.bu.edu/khc/files/2019/01/PACHINKO-excerpt-KHC-1.pdf
Videos:
- “Min Jin Lee: 2018 National Book Festival” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2b-q6bRpwHs
- “Writers Speak|Min Jin Lee in conversation with Claire Messud” Harvard University https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gH3vgL4lDCQ
Lauret Savoy
Trace: Memory, History, Race, and the American Landscape
March 17, 2021
7:00 p.m. • Virtual Event
Reviews:
- EcoLit Books “Book Review: Trace by Lauret Savoy” https://www.ecolitbooks.com/2016/09/book-review-trace-by-lauret-savoy/
- Colorado Review: “Book Review: Trace: Memory, History, and the American Landscape” https://coloradoreview.colostate.edu/reviews/trace-memory-history-race-and-the-american-landscape/
- Los Angeles Review of Books “Toward a Wider View of ‘Nature Writing’” https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/toward-a-wider-view-of-nature-writing
- Kirkus Reviews: “TRACE” https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/lauret-savoy/trace-memory-history/
Interviews:
- Vela Magazine: “Rock and a Hard Place: An Interview with Lauret Savoy” https://velamag.com/rock-and-a-hard-place-an-interview-with-lauret-savoy/
- Terrain: “Being Made by Sun and Sky: Interview with Lauret Savoy” https://www.terrain.org/2016/interviews/lauret-savoy/
- High Country News: “A Way of Unforgetting” https://www.hcn.org/articles/a-way-of-unforgetting
- Writer’s Voice: “Trace: Memory, History, and the American Landscape” (audio) https://beta.prx.org/stories/173199
- Edge Effects: “The Land Doesn’t Hate: A Conversation with Lauret Savoy” (audio w/transcript) https://edgeeffects.net/lauret-savoy/
Op-Eds:
- Terrain: “Letter to America” https://www.terrain.org/2018/currents/letter-to-america-savoy/
- National Parks Conservation Association: “Placing Washington, D.C.” https://www.npca.org/articles/1284-placing-washington-d-c
- Travel & Leisure: “Untold Stories of the National Parks” https://www.travelandleisure.com/trip-ideas/national-parks/missing-voices
- The Aldo Leopold Foundation: “Honoring MLK Day: Recognizing the Ties of Race and Place” https://www.aldoleopold.org/post/ties-of-race-and-place/
Video/Audio:
- Writer’s Voice: “Lauret Savoy Reads From TRACE & Talks About Geoscience” http://www.writersvoice.net/2016/03/lauret-savoy-trace-geoscience/
- Bay Area Book Festival: “Memory, History, Race, and the American Landscape” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1NtRjhbWcdk&feature=emb_imp_woyt
- Humans and Nature: “What are Women’s Gifts & Responsibilities in the Work against Carbon Catastrophe? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9iQw6FT1fzQ&feature=emb_imp_woyt
Ijeoma Oluo
“So You Want To Talk About Race?”
March 24, 2021
7:00 p.m. • Virtual Event
Reviews:
- The National Book Review:“REVIEW: An Incisive Look At Race--And How We Should Be Talking About It” https://www.thenationalbookreview.com/features/2018/2/1/pzq0lfjcpd3klmi89d5qinpawx15tr
- Washington Independent Review of Books: “So You Want To Talk About Race” http://www.washingtonindependentreviewofbooks.com/index.php/bookreview/so-you-want-to-talk-about-race
- Kirkus Reviews: “So You Want To Talk About Race” https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/ijeoma-oluo/so-you-want-to-talk-about-race/
- The New York Times: “In America, Is Power in the Hands of Too Many ‘Mediocre’ White Men?” https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/01/books/review/mediocre-ijeoma-oluo.html
- Entropy Magazine: “Review: Mediocre: The Dangerous Legacy of White Male America By Ijeoma Oluo” https://entropymag.org/mediocre-ijeoma-oluo/
Interviews:
- The Washington Post: “Ijeoma Oluo’s ‘Mediocre’ dissects white supremacy in America. She’d rather be writing about something else.” https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/books/ijeoma-oluos-mediocre-dissects-white-supremacy-in-america-shed-rather-be-writing-about-something-else/2020/12/02/5e8e43e4-34b5-11eb-b59c-adb7153d10c2_story.html
- Vox: “‘Be wary of the things that are purely symbolic’: How to join the conversation on race” https://www.vox.com/2020/6/9/21285062/ijeoma-oluo-interview-talk-race-book-george-floyd-protests
- The Daily Show with Trevor Noah: “Ijeoma Oluo: ‘Mediocre and Examining White Male Supremacy” (video) http://www.cc.com/video-clips/5xad5h/the-daily-show-with-trevor-noah-ijeoma-oluo----mediocre--and-examining-white-male-supremacy
- Crosscut.: “Ijeoma Oluo dissects white male America in ‘Mediocre’” https://crosscut.com/culture/2020/11/ijeoma-oluo-dissects-white-male-america-mediocre
Op-Eds/Excerpts:
- The Guardian: “White supremacists ‘swatted’ my home to silence me. I will not be silent” https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2019/aug/30/ijeoma-oluo-essay-swatting-hoax-white-supremacists
- LitHub: “The Conversation I’ve Been Dreading: Ijeoma Oluo Talks About Race with Her Mom” https://lithub.com/the-conversation-ive-been-dreading-ijeoma-oluo-talks-about-race-with-her-mom/
Emma Donoghue
The Pull of the Stars
April 7, 2021
7:00 p.m. • Virtual Event
Reviews:
- NPR: “1918 Flu Inspired Donoghue’s ‘The Pull Of The Stars’--A Disquieting Pandemic Novel” https://www.npr.org/2020/07/20/892279658/1918-flu-inspired-donoghues-pull-of-the-stars-a-disquieting-pandemic-novel
- The New York Times “Don’t Believe History Repeats Itself? Read This Book” https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/21/books/review/the-pull-of-the-stars-emma-donoghue.html
- The Washington Post: “‘The Pull of the Stars’ sets a gripping story in the midst of the 1918 pandemic” https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/books/emma-donoghues-the-pull-of-the-stars-sets-a-gripping-story-in-the-midst-of-the-1918-flu-pandemic/2020/07/21/10a43968-cb5b-11ea-bc6a-6841b28d9093_story.html
- The Guardian: “The Pull of the Stars by Emma Donoghue review--beauty amid horror” https://www.theguardian.com/books/2020/aug/02/the-pull-of-the-stars-by-emma-donoghue-review-beauty-amid-horror
- Kirkus Reviews: “The Pull of the Stars” https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/emma-donoghue/the-pull-of-the-stars/
- The Irish Times: “Emma Donoghue’s The Pull of the Stars: Story of a nurse during 1918 pandemic is eerily prescient” https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/books/emma-donoghue-s-the-pull-of-the-stars-story-of-a-nurse-during-1918-pandemic-is-eerily-prescient-1.4308861
Interviews:
- The Atlantic: “Emma Donoghue Talks About Her New Novel, The Pull of the Stars” https://www.theatlantic.com/books/archive/2020/05/emma-donoghue-interview-the-pull-of-the-stars-the-blood-tax/610828/
- Kirkus: “Emma Donoghue Talks New Novel” (video) https://www.kirkusreviews.com/news-and-features/videos/video-interview-emma-donoghue/
- The Guardian: “Emma Donoghue: the lockdown lessons she learned from writing Room” https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/may/11/emma-donoghue-the-lockdown-lessons-learned-from-writing-room
- Financial Times: “Emma Donoghue: ‘It’s so hard to talk about religion in interviews without looking smug or creepy’” https://www.ft.com/content/21dfbcb3-5951-4cd9-8167-40f8f9ea2c8b
- France 24: “What Emma Donoghue’s pandemic novel ‘The Pull of the Stars’ can teach us” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HENJ7vDN7C8 (begins at 5:22)
- Irish America Magazine: “Emma Donoghue The Pull of the Stars Interview” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q1DvnG31Vck
Excerpts:
- The Oprah Magazine: “Read An Excerpt of Room Author Emma Donoghue’s New Pandemic Novel” https://www.oprahmag.com/entertainment/books/a32825423/emma-donoghue-novel-pull-of-the-stars-excerpt/
- The New York Times: “‘The Pull of the Stars,’ by Emma Donoghue: An Excerpt” https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/22/books/review/the-pull-of-the-stars-by-emma-donoghue-an-excerpt.html
- The Atlantic: “The Blood Tax” https://www.theatlantic.com/books/archive/2020/05/emma-donoghue-the-pull-of-the-stars-excerpt/610816/
Martín Espada:
Floaters and other poems
April 14, 2021
7:00 p.m. • Virtual Event
Reviews:
- Publishers Weekly: “Floaters” https://www.publishersweekly.com/978-0-393-54103-8
- LARB: “Becoming the River: On Martín Espada’s ‘Vivas To Those Who Have Failed’” https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/becoming-the-river-on-martin-espadas-vivas-to-those-who-have-failed/
- The Rumpus: “Vivas To Those Who Have Failed by Martín Espada” https://therumpus.net/2016/02/vivas-to-those-who-have-failed-by-martin-espada/
- North American Review: “‘From Life’s School of War’: A Review of Martín Espada’s Vivas To Those Who Have Failed” https://northamericanreview.org/sites/default/files/301.3_corrections_from-lifes-schoolofwar.pdf
Interviews:
- KPFA: “ Martín Espada’s ‘Floaters’” https://kpfa.org/episode/flashpoints-october-15-2020/
- Sampsonia Way: “The Writer’s Block Transcripts: A Q&A with Martín Espada” https://www.sampsoniaway.org/interviews/2015/12/11/the-writers-block-transcripts-a-qa-with-martin-espada/
- The Arts Fuse: “Poetry Review/Interview: Poet Martín Espada--Resistance is Obligatory” https://artsfuse.org/158013/poetry-reviewinterview-poet-martin-espada-resistance-is-obligatory/
- Pen America: “The PEN Ten with Martín Espada” https://pen.org/the-pen-ten-with-martin-espada/
- Latino USA: “A Conversation with Martín Espada, the First Latino Recipient of the Ruth Lilly Prize” https://www.latinousa.org/2018/05/09/a-conversation-with-martin-espada-the-first-latino-recipient-of-the-ruth-lilly-prize/
- The Cafe Review: “ Martín Espada Interview” https://www.thecafereview.com/summer-2016-interview-with-martin-espada/
Poems:
- Selected Poems From Martín Espada: http://www.martinespada.net/poems.html