{"id":57210,"date":"2021-08-12T11:26:49","date_gmt":"2021-08-12T15:26:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.bu.edu\/cas\/?post_type=r_cas_magazine&p=57210"},"modified":"2021-09-08T12:13:10","modified_gmt":"2021-09-08T16:13:10","slug":"class-notes-digest-21","status":"publish","type":"r_cas_magazine","link":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/cas\/arts-sciences\/fall-2021\/class-notes-digest-21\/","title":{"rendered":"Class Notes Digest \u201921"},"content":{"rendered":"

Roy Perkinson\u2019s Sunset on the Road to Morse\u2019s Pond<\/em> was included in Fountain Street\u2019s TENacious: A Reunion exhibition. Courtesy of Roy Perkinson<\/p>\n

Gallery: Alumni Art<\/h2>\n
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Gabriel Sosa\u2019s public art project, No es f\u00e1cil\/It ain\u2019t easy<\/em>, was a bilingual series of text-based billboards on view in Boston neighborhoods. \u00a9 Iartiza Menjiva<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Gabriel Sosa (CAS\u201907)<\/strong> is an artist, a linguist, and an educator. His recent public art project, No es f\u00e1cil\/It ain\u2019t easy<\/em>, was a bilingual series of text-based billboards on view in Boston neighborhoods from July 2020 through January 2021. \u201cThese works subvert an iconic consumerist medium to bring messages of comfort, reflection, and solidarity to communities most impacted by the pandemic, many of which include high concentrations of Spanish-speaking immigrants,\u201d Sosa wrote in December, adding that the billboard texts drew upon sayings from his Cuban American upbringing in Miami and the poetry of William Carlos Williams. Billboards went up in Roslindale (\u201cIt ain\u2019t easy, but keep going\u201d), Dorchester (\u201cEsta vaina no es f\u00e1cil, pero no te atormentes\u201d), and Roxbury (\u201cIt ain\u2019t easy, but hold on\u201d). No es f\u00e1cil\/It ain\u2019t easy<\/em> was created with the support of the Now + There public art accelerator program. Learn more about the project at nowandthere.org\/no-es-facil<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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Sunset on the Road to Morse\u2019s Pond<\/em>. Courtesy of Roy Perkinson<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Roy Perkinson (GRS\u201970)<\/strong> had two oil paintings, On the York River<\/em> and Sunset on the Road to Morse\u2019s Pond<\/em>, included in Fountain Street\u2019s TENacious: A Reunion exhibition. The exhibition celebrated the Boston gallery\u2019s 10th anniversary. Perkinson says On the York River<\/em> was inspired by a trip to Maine, while Sunset on the Road to Morse\u2019s Pond<\/em> (above) has roots closer to his Wellesley, Mass., home. \u201cThat painting resulted from preliminary paintings in pastel, and it reminds me that ideas for paintings can come from right under your nose\u2014even Rembrandt virtually never left his hometown.\u201d See more of his work, including a video about the evolution of On the York River<\/em>, at royperkinson.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Your Books<\/h2>\n

Featured Book<\/h3>\n
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Jhumpa Lahiri\u2019s Whereabouts<\/em> was one of the most anticipated books of 2021. Cover courtesy of Knopf; portrait: Elena Seibert<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Jhumpa Lahiri (GRS\u201993, UNI\u201995,\u201997) wrote her third novel, Whereabouts<\/em>, in Italian as Dove mi trovo<\/em> and translated it into English. One of the most anticipated books of 2021, Whereabouts<\/em> tells the story of an unnamed narrator\u2014the novel contains no proper nouns\u2014who feels lonely and lost in life.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs always, Lahiri writes with subtlety and delicacy,\u201d said Heller McAlpin of NPR. \u201cThere is movement in her prose that reflects the subtle movement in her narrator\u2019s life. Whereabouts<\/em> is the literary equivalent of slow cooking; it demands patience.\u201d<\/p>\n

The book is Lahiri\u2019s first novel since 2013\u2019s best-selling The Lowland<\/em>, which was shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize.<\/p>\n

Fiction:<\/h4>\n

Joel S. Gopen<\/strong> (DGE\u201957, CAS\u201959, SSW\u201961), The Rain Barrel<\/em>; Joyce (Consolino) Gatta<\/strong> (CAS\u201964), In Hugger-Mugger: Dark Secrets and Forbidden Love in Renaissance England<\/em>; Amy Weintraub<\/strong> (CAS\u201973), Temple Dancer<\/em>; Jennifer Anne Moses<\/strong> (GRS\u201983), The Man Who Loved His Wife<\/em>; Becky Bronson<\/strong> (GRS\u201986,\u201986), When North Becomes South<\/em>; Elizabeth McCracken<\/strong> (CAS\u201988, GRS\u201988), The Souvenir Museum<\/em>; Edward Schwarzschild<\/strong> (GRS\u201999), In Security<\/em>; Kelly Fumiko Weiss<\/strong> (CAS\u201903), The Stories We Choose Not To Tell<\/em>; Brittney Morris<\/strong> (CGS\u201911, CAS\u201913), The Cost of Knowing<\/em>; Lisa Taddeo<\/strong> (GRS\u201917), Animal<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Nonfiction:<\/h4>\n

Sanford N. Katz<\/strong> (CAS\u201955), Family Law in America: Third Edition<\/em>; John Torday<\/strong> (CAS\u201968), The Singularity of Nature: A Convergence of Biology, Chemistry and Physics<\/em>; Tom Nichols<\/strong> (CAS\u201983), Our Own Worst Enemy: The Assault from within on Modern Democracy<\/em>; Rachel Carnell<\/strong> (GRS\u201989,\u201995), Backlash: Libel, Impeachment, and Populism in the Reign of Queen Anne<\/em>; Jack David Eller<\/strong> (GRS\u201991), Trump and Political Theology: Unmaking Truth and Democracy<\/em>; Julia Mayer<\/strong> (CAS\u201910), Painting Resilience: The Life and Art of Fred Terna<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Memoir:<\/h4>\n

Sayre Sheldon<\/strong> (GRS\u201961), Berkeley Street Cambridge: Stories from the Sixties<\/em>; Peter Guralnick<\/strong> (CAS\u201967, GRS\u201968), Looking to Get Lost: Adventures in Music and Writing<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Poetry:<\/h4>\n

B. Amore<\/strong> (CAS\u201964), Journeys on the Wheel<\/em>; Christine Lund<\/strong> (CAS\u201970), Me and Her Shadow<\/em>; Jacob Strautmann<\/strong> (GRS\u201900), The Land of the Dead Is Open for Business<\/em>; Chloe Martinez<\/strong> (GRS\u201907), Corner Shrine<\/em>; Emily Mohn-Slate<\/strong> (GRS\u201908), The Falls<\/em>.<\/p>\n

On Screen<\/h2>\n

Alex Lo<\/strong> (CAS\u201920, Pardee\u201920) was a producer on Sky Blossom<\/em>, a documentary film that explores the care that young adults are required to provide for their wounded military parents after they return home from service. Other BU alums involved in the project included Elena Bernstein<\/strong> (CAS\u201920, Pardee\u201920), Catherine Devlin<\/strong> (CAS\u201922), Simone Migliori (COM\u201920), and Adrien Solano (Questrom\u201920).<\/p>\n

Samir Desai<\/strong> (CAS\u201996), Hyung Soo Pak<\/strong> (CAS\u201996), and Van Ditthavong (Questrom\u201996) worked on the 2020 film All Roads to Pearla<\/em>. Desai and Pak were executive producers and Ditthavong was the writer and director.<\/p>\n

Diversifying Museums and Libraries, Preserving Literary History<\/h2>\n

Emma Kalff (CAS\u201915)<\/strong> and Sandra Soto (Wheelock\u201916) cofounded Libraries for Liberation in 2020. The organization purchases books that raise awareness of systemic racism from BIPOC-owned bookstores and distributes them to communities across the United States through a network of volunteers. They hope the books that they distribute will facilitate community conversations that lead to connection, healing, and liberatory action. Visit librariesforliberation.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Melanee C. Harvey (GRS\u201917)<\/strong>, an assistant professor and coordinator of art history at Howard University, Washington, D.C., has helped launch a multiyear undergraduate paid internship program that aims to make museums and other arts organizations more diverse and inclusive. The pilot program is \u201cfor students from historically Black colleges and universities and other institutions that serve populations that are underrepresented in the museum field,\u201d according to its founding partners, Howard and the National Gallery of Art\u2019s Center for Advanced Study in the Visual Arts. Harvey was the center\u2019s Paul Mellon Guest Scholar for the 2020\u20132021 academic year.<\/p>\n

Alise Perault (GRS\u201921)<\/strong> is a program associate for the National Willa Cather Center in Red Cloud, Nebr. She previously interned with the organization as part of her master\u2019s degree in preservation studies. \u201cWilla Cather wrote 12 novels, including the Pulitzer Prize\u2013winning One of Ours<\/em>,\u201d says Perault. \u201cAs program associate, I lead tours of the historic sites associated with Willa Cather\u2019s life and writing, coordinate programming for our Red Cloud Opera House, curate exhibits for our gallery, and help to organize our annual spring conference and biannual international seminar.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cheers!<\/h2>\n
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Nahum Laventhal at Bywater Brew Pub, which combines a brewery and restaurant. Photo by Josh Hailey\/Courtesy of Bywater Brew Pub<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Nahum Laventhal<\/strong> (CAS\u201977) of New Orleans, La., opened Bywater Brew Pub<\/a> in October 2020 after retiring from staff counsel at Nationwide and 38 years as a lawyer. He launched the pub, which combines a brewery with a restaurant serving a Viet-Cajun menu, with his son, Dylan. Friends can email Nahum at nahum.laventhal@gmail.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

From artists and authors to a brewpub founder, see what your classmates have been up to<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"template":"","department":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/cas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/magazine-articles\/57210"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/cas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/magazine-articles"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/cas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/r_cas_magazine"}],"version-history":[{"count":21,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/cas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/magazine-articles\/57210\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":58042,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/cas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/magazine-articles\/57210\/revisions\/58042"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/cas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=57210"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"r_cas_department","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/cas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/department?post=57210"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}