Department of English Events Fall 2021
The Justice Sessions (ongoing)
"The Justice Sessions" is a series focusing on race, social justice, and Jacksonville history. For more information about the series and upcoming speakers, visit the Justice Sessions homepage. The Justice Sessions are free and open to all.
Word by Word Reading Series (ongoing)
A series of readings and events featuring writers from Jacksonville and the UNF community, as well as writers of national and international renown. For more information about upcoming authors and events, visit Word by Word Reading Series. Word by Word readings are free and open to all.
An Evening with Deesha Philyaw (November 9)
A reading, Q&A, and book signing featuring best-selling author (and Jacksonville native) Deesha Philyaw. This event is part of The Justice Sessions, an ongoing series focusing on race, social justice, the arts, and Jacksonville's past and present.
Deesha Philyaw is the author of the debut short story collection The Secret Lives of Church Ladies (West Virginia University Press, 2020), which won the 2021 PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction, the 2020/2021 Story Prize, and a 2020 LA Times Book Prize: The Art Seidenbaum Award for First Fiction; the collection was also a finalist for the 2020 National Book Award for Fiction. She is also the author of Co-Parenting 101: Helping Your Kids Thrive in Two Households After Divorce.
Funding for this event was provided through a grant from the Florida Humanities with funds from the National Endowment for the Humanities. Any views, findings, conclusions or recommendations expressed in this program do not necessarily represent those of Florida Humanities or the National Endowment for the Humanities.
Location: Lazzara Performance Hall
Time: 7:00-8:30pm
Cost: Free (register via Eventbrite)
Fighting Mis- and Disinformation Workshop (October 5)
Dr. Alice Marwick, a co-founder of the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill’s Center for Information, Technology, and Public Life (CITAP), will facilitate a Zoom workshop on the best ways of combatting mis- and disinformation through research and public discourse. Dr. Marwick is a co-creator of CITAP’s “Critical Disinformation Studies” syllabus, which emphasizes the surprisingly long history of disinformation and its disproportionate impacts throughout U.S. history on marginalized groups. Participants will learn of ways to promote greater equality at UNF and in society as they confront mis- and disinformation.
Join via Zoom
Time: 3:30-4:30 p.m.
Cost: Free and open to all
The Committee screening and filmmaker Q&A (October 6)
The UNF Film Studies program, LGBTQ Center, and Digital Humanities Institute present The Committee, a documentary screening and Q&A with the filmmakers Dr. Robert Cassanello (UCF) and Dr. Lisa Mills (UCF) as part of LGBTQ History Month at UNF.
The Committee is a documentary short film about the little-known Florida Legislative Investigative Committee of the State Legislature from 1956-1965. Florida Senator Charley Johns chaired the committee, and its aim was to root out communist and homosexual teachers and students from state universities. It was successful in either firing or expelling more than 200 suspected gay and lesbian citizens. The screening will be followed by a discussion with the filmmakers about the making of the documentary, Florida LGBTQ history, and why this history is relevant today.
Location: Register via Zoom
Time: 4:00-5:00pm
Cost: Free (registration required)
The Power of Imagination in Stories of Disability & Family: Chris Gabbard & Emily Michael (September 9)
Chris Gabbard and Emily K. Michael will read from their recently published books. Michael will read from her poetry collection, Neoteny (Finishing Line Press), and Gabbard from his memoir A Life Beyond Reason: A Disabled Boy and His Father’s Enlightenment (Beacon Press), which won UNF’s 2020 STARS Award.
In-person capacity is limited to 25; others may view a live-stream via Zoom. Registration is required: register via Eventbrite.
Location: UNF Gallery of Art, livestream via Zoom
Time: 6-7pm
Cost: Free (registration required) and open to all
