[240] 'Prison Writing' Spring Honors Lecture Series Continues Jan. 30

News and Media Relations contact: Randy Weiler, 615-898-5616 or
Randy.Weiler@mtsu.edu
Honors College contact: Dr. Philip Phillips, 615-898-2699 or
Philip.Phillips@mtsu.edu


‘Prison Writing’ spring Honors Lecture Series continues Jan. 30

MURFREESBORO — After a class orientation and an initial lecture by Dr. Philip Phillips on Jan. 23, the spring MTSU Honors Lecture Series continues Monday, Jan. 30.

In the series titled “Prison Writing: From Boethius to Mehdi Zana,” Phillips will bring “Boethius’s Consolation of Philosophy and Philosophy’s Consolation to the Prisoner” in the second lecture.

Lectures are held in Honors Room 106 of the Paul W. Martin Sr. Honors Building. The 55-minute lectures begin promptly at 3 p.m. and are open to the public. The 12-week series will be held every Monday except March 5 when students are on spring break.

Dr. Mark Jackson of the MTSU English department will lead one special lecture, “Lead Belly” It will begin at 3 p.m. on Tuesday, April 3. For the series lineup, visit bit.ly/MTHonorsLecturesS12.

“This semester’s Honors Lecture Series on ‘Prison Writing’ examines selected works of writers from the sixth century to the 21st century, who were imprisoned for their beliefs and who drew strength from their prison experiences to advance their respective causes and inspire others in the process,” says Phillips, interim associate dean for the Honors College and English professor.

Phillips adds that the series will progress chronologically and include such diverse writers as Boethius, Sir Thomas Malory, John Lilburne, John Bunyan, Henry David Thoreau, Louise Michel, Sue Shelton White, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X, and Mehdi Zana.

“Each author epitomizes the tradition of speaking truth to power and being willing to sacrifice physical freedom, or even life itself, in the service of that truth,” Phillips says. “Several of the authors included in the series allude to the examples of their predecessors, a practice that illustrates that many those freedoms we enjoy today are the result of the struggles of those who fought to attain them.

“It should also remind us that those freedoms that are still denied to us might yet be attained if we commit ourselves wholly to achieving them. All of the lectures in the series will provide an overview of the authors’ lives, offer a close analysis of their works, and discuss the context and significance of their representative prison writings.”

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Media welcomed.


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