Monday, April 23, 2012

Julie Hansen Week: Af-Am Lit, Black Studies & Lovejoy Library

This week, I'm writing a few entries focused on my work with SIUE professor and humanities librarian Julie Hansen, who plans to retire in June. In the past, I've produced  weeks devoted to writers Elizabeth Alexander, Aaron McGruder, Evie Shockley, and Allison Joseph. A series on someone who, among many other contributions, has supported our reading interests and public humanities efforts offers additional ways of thinking about building knowledge in black studies.   

I met Julie when I began working at SIUE in the fall of 2003, and we've become friends and collaborators on various projects over the years. We've gotten a chance to check out and later discuss several writer visits to the university, including Nichelle Tramble, Julie Otsuka, Amiri Baraka, and Maya Angelou.

Julie and I have been having an extended conversation about authors, books, and ideas for nearly 10 years now. She made the initial introductions to many of my various connects at Lovejoy Library--a place that has become a key site for our many black studies events.

My writings this week provide a glimpse of the ways that a black studies program and someone who studies African American literature have benefited by working with a university humanities librarian like Julie Hansen.

Entries:
• April 30: Networks of Support Matter (not simply having a mentor) 
• April 29: Toni Morrison, the Major Author Course & Lovejoy Library  
• April 28: Richard Wright & Lovejoy Library 
• April 27: Kevin Young, Colson Whitehead & Lovejoy Library
• April 26: Adding the eBook of Evie Shockley's poems to our library collection
• April 25: The Barbershop and the Humanities Librarian
• April 25: Transforming a Storage Space into an Underground Reading Room
• April 24: From a Personal Library to a Public One
• April 23: Julie Hansen Week: Af-Am Lit, Black Studies & Lovejoy Library

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