"What's in a brain?"

Norman D. Stevens, Director of University Libraries Emeritus at UConn, is, among other things, an amateur library historian with an interest in such subjects as the image of the librarian, library humor, and what he defined as librariana. In his book A Guide to Collecting Librariana (1986), he identified that term as “Those artifacts, including but by no means limited to printed materials, that depict any aspect of librarians, librarianship, and/or libraries; such artifacts, which are most typically of an ephemeral nature, may be those produced or used by librarians or libraries as well as those produced and used by others; they include, in particular,representations of librarians, librarianship, and/or libraries in the popular culture of society.” That book grew out of his own collection of over 25,000 postcards of library buildings, and much other material, that is now housed in the Canadian Centre of Architecture in Montreal. While building that collection, Dr. Stevens developed a broader interest in postcards and has established contacts with numerous major postcard collectors and collections. That led him to edit Postcards in the Library: Invaluable Visual Resources (1995). As part of that process, he conducted a thorough analysis of major scholarly articles in a number of fields that were based on the use of postcards.

To talk more about this, Norman will be the featured speaker for the UConn Humanities Institute Faculty Lecture Series on Wednesday, November 4 at 4:00pm.  His presentation, located here in the Dodd Center’s John P. McDonald Reading Room, will focus on his own experiences with using postcards for research purposes, his knowledge of substantial postcard collections, and the extent to which such seemingly unimportant materials can be truly valuable research resources. The program will conclude with a short visual presentation of postcards depicting books and reading from another of his collections.

Please reserve seating by contacting (860) 486-9057 or uchi@uconn.edu

Dorothy Q. Thomas spoke to an engaged crowd at the 18th Sackler Distinguished Lecture in Human Rights last week.  The lecture, titled “Are American’s Human: An Ex-Patriot’s Guide to the Future of Progressive Politics in the U.S.” also served as the keynote to the Human Rights Institute’s conference, “Human Rights in the USA.”  

Thomas, a self-described progressive, gave the audience a personal, and at times moving look at the journey that has shaped her into the highly respected independent human rights consultant of today.   Those personal insights, coupled with her undeniable sense of humor, engaged the crowd into a conversation about what it means to be progressive in the United States.  Ms. Thomas, who often posed questions to the crowd, asked if a progressive could also be a patriot? 

She used her personal stories, including the early days of her professional career working for the civil rights movement up through today where she works on behalf of human rights in the United States, to challenge the crowd to consider what being a patriot means, how the continued struggle for human rights can be a catalyst for inclusion of differing views, and whether those with progressive views will be able to find friendlier times ahead where they are not to be made to feel like traitors to their own land.  At the end of the lecture, a first year law school student who is also serving in the military, thanked Ms. Thomas for her views.  As a member of the military, he said, it is difficult to be progressive and still be accepted by your peers.

Join us Thursday, October 22 when Dorothy Q. Thomas joins us as the 17th Raymond & Beverly Sackler Distinguished Lecturer. 

Ms. Thomas is a 2008 visiting fellow at the London School of Economics’ Centre for the Study of Human Rights. She is a 1998 MacArthur Fellow and a 1995 Bunting Fellow of the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard University. In 1998 she received the Eleanor Roosevelt Human Rights Award from President Bill Clinton.

Until January 2007, Thomas was the senior program advisor to the U.S. Human Rights Fund, a collaborative grant making initiative that supports domestic human rights work in the United States. From 1990 – 1998, she served as the founding director of the Human Rights Watch Women’s Rights Division. She is a member of the Board of the Ms. Foundation for Women and sits on the advisory boards of the ACLU Human Rights Project, the American Constitution Society Human Rights Working Group and the Human Rights Watch U.S. Program. Thomas speaks frequently on human rights in the United States and has published widely on the topic, including most recently “Against American Supremacy: Rebuilding a Culture of Respect for Human Rights in the United States,” in Bringing Human Rights Home , Praeger, (2008). Other speeches and publications include “Ain’t I American?: Women’s Rights, Human Rights and US Identity in the 21 st Century,” The Helen Pond McIntyre Lecture, Barnard College, October 30, 2007.

Ms. Thomas is a graduate of Georgetown University, which awarded her an honorary doctorate in 1995.

William R. Davis Courtroom
Starr Hall
UConn Law School
4:00pm

In addition to the Sackler Lecture, this is also the keynote address for this year’s Human Rights Institute Conference “Human Rights in the USA”.  More information on the conference.

Bill Berkson

Join us tomorrow, October 14, at 4:00pm for a reading by poet, critic, small press publisher and sometime curator Bill Berkson.  The event marks a recent addition of Berkson manuscripts and personal papers to the Dodd Research Center’s literary collections and Berkson’s recently published book of poetry Portrait and Dream: New & Selected Poems (Coffee House Press, 2009). 

The Dodd Research Center holds the comprehensive archive of Bill Berkson’s papers, including literary manuscripts, letters, records of his small press Big Sky, photographs, broadsides, and rare publications.  The archive spans from 1960 to the present day and documents the poet’s remarkable body of work, his collaborations in and among the realms of visual art, media, and literature, and his affinities with poets and poetics of the New York School.

The event is free and open to the public.  Students, faculty and staff are welcome.  An exhibit of materials from the Berkson papers will be on display.  Refreshments immediately following.  Contact Melissa Watterworth, Curator of Literary Collections, for more information.

Did you miss Monday’s ceremony to award the 4th Thomas J. Dodd Prize in International Justice & Human Rights to the Committee to Protect Journalists?  You can view it until the end of October at 

http://hwcdn.net/b2v2d4x3/wms/34172/34172.wmv.asx

What a wonderful day!  Today the Committee to Protect Journalists received the fourth Thomas J. Dodd Prize in International Justice and Human Rights.  We were honored to have Joel Simon, Executive Director and Michael Massing, Co-Founder of the Committee to Protect Journalists join us for a day of discussions around freedom of the press and its importance to all of us.  Other special guests that shared in the day’s program included author and journalist Mariane Pearl, author Terry Gould, and Nina Ognianova, CPJ’s  Europe and Central Asia Program Coordinator.

All of our guests were so accommodating, taking the time to talk to students, faculty, staff, members of the press, and friends of the Center.  The festivities began with a breakfast for students, where they got the opportunity to have an informal conversation with our guests, with topics ranging from the state of journalism today to the role of the press in the struggle for human rights. 

The award itself was given to CPJ by Senator Christopher Dodd, with UConn President Mike Hogan as our master of ceremonies.  The crowd of over 250 guests were told of the suffering that journalists from around the globe have endured for their passion to report the news for those who are otherwise not heard, and in many cases the ultimate sacrifice that they paid.  We heard of the work that CPJ does on behalf of journalists worldwide and most importantly we heard hope.  Hope from the belief that deep down we all share a common value, that we are all entitled to basic rights and freedoms and when those are violated the rule of law prevails.  This is something that Senator Thomas J. Dodd championed for and that hope continues to bring us all together to make our world a better place.

Stay tuned for pictures of the event!

Books geared for children are often the most challenged.  Today’s blog entry is In The Night Kitchen, #25 on ALA’s top 100 list of challenges between 1990-1999.   In this case, beloved children’s author Maurice Sendak has raised eyebrows when the stories’ main character Mickey enters the surreal world that Sendak is known for, and loses his pajama bottoms. 

The focus of the book is how brave and resourceful young Mickey is when he falls into a mixing bowl full of cake batter and is accidentally baked.  By celebrating creative dreams and facing fears,  Sendak takes a scary experience for children (spooky sounds from downstairs) and turns it into a wonderfully delightful story for children of all ages.   And for the naked boy in the story, is there anybody who has had a little boy that doesn’t run around the house naked now and then?

Some libraries have drawn pants, diapers, fig leaves and even used White Out to cover the parts of the booked deemed offensive.  An unaltered copy of the book can be found in the Northeast Children’s Literature Collection – come judge it for yourself.

Archives are often full of banned and challenged books, offering great resources for research.  So in honor of Banned Books Week 2009, Celebrating The Freedom to Read, we will offer you a week long look into some of those books.

Daddy's Roommate written by Michael Willhoite, 1990

Dangerous Assignments, the newsletter for the Committee to Protect Journalists. From the Laurie S. Wiseberg and Harry Scoble Human Rights Internet Collection at the Thomas J. Dodd Research Center

On October 5, 2009, the fourth Thomas J. Dodd Prize in International Justice and Human Rights will be presented to The Committee to Protect Journalists. The ceremony will take place on the plaza of the Dodd Research Center at 11 AM.

The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) works to promote press freedom worldwide. CPJ takes action when journalists are censored, jailed, kidnapped, or killed for their efforts to tell the truth. In their defense of journalists, CPJ protects the right of all people to have access to diverse and independent sources of information. CPJ has been a leading voice in the global press freedom movement since its founding in 1981.

CPJ’s staff of experienced journalists and human rights researchers investigates press freedom abuses in more than 120 countries, from authoritarian regimes like Cuba and Burma to fragmented states like Iraq and Somalia. They respond to attacks against the press through five regional programs: Africa, the Americas, Asia, Europe and Central Asia, and the Middle East and North Africa.

In 2008, CPJ carried out research and advocacy missions in Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Mexico, Venezuela, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Russia, Egypt, Iraq, Tunisia, Burma, China, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand, Mozambique, and South Africa. CPJ runs an International Program Network with five consultants based around the world: in Mexico City, São Paolo, Cairo, Johannesburg, and Bangkok. IPN staffers conduct on-the-spot investigations into serious abuses, organize emergency missions, and provide direct support to journalists who have suffered violence and incarceration.

“Mankind will know that no crime will go unpunished because it was
committted in the name of a political party or of a state, and that no crime
will be passed by because it is too big, that no criminal will avoid
punishment because they are too many.” – Senator Thomas J. Dodd

As we look forward to the awarding of the 4th Thomas J. Dodd Prize in International Justice & Human Rights, we look back at the legacy of Thomas J. Dodd and his service in the name of justice and human rights for all mankind.  Take a moment to watch this short, but very moving 7 minute video titled “Thomas Dodd and the Legacy of Nuremberg”, narrated by Walter Cronkite.  We look forward to seeing you on October 5 where we will honor the Committee to Protect Journalists, for their work toward press freedom.