Campus Read Essays Due Today - December 1, 2008

Is your essay ready? The deadline is today -- Monday, December 1, 2008.

This is your chance to win a $500 scholarship from the BSC Foundation for the Spring 2008 semester.

Essays can be submitted electronically to Kitty Netzer or hand-delivered to the BSC Library front desk.

Guidelines

• Submit your best work of 600 words or more. The topic may be anything related to your consideration of The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-time Indian.
• Essays must be typed and must be a polished, finished product.
• Essays will be judged anonymously, so include your name on a separate cover page with the title of your essay.
• The winning essay will be published in The Mystician.

Essay Contest - Deadline Coming up!

A reminder ... the deadline for the CampusRead essay contest is soon here. Submissions are due on Monday, December 1, 2008.

This is your chance to win a $500 scholarship!

For all the details, check the blog posting dated September 19, 2008.

Distinguished Scholar of the Humanities Lecture

On Wednesday, November 12, Clay Jenkinson, BSC Distinguished Scholar of the Humanities, and Dr. Larry Skogen, BSC President, will present the first installment of a Distinguished Scholar of the Humanities Lecture series.

The event will be held in the Sidney J. Lee Auditorium, Schafer Hall from 7 to 9 p.m.

Clay Jenkinson and Dr. Skogen will use the BSC Campus Read novel, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-time Indian by Sherman Alexie, as a starting point for a wide-ranging discussion of white-Indian relations at the beginning of the 21st century, the role of the federal government in Indian country, Native American cultural resurgence, the future of the dual sovereignty concept in Indian America, and appropriation of Indian cultural motifs by non-Indians.

You are invited to attend! This lecture series is free and open to all.

Laughing with the Erdrich Sisters

Heid and Lise Erdrich's visit to campus was great fun! Their writing is terrific and it was a surprise (at least to this writer) to discover how funny both sisters are. Lise, especially, is a natural comedian. The Missouri Room was filled with laughter on Monday night (November 3). The sisters also took their show on the road and visited BSC classrooms on Tuesday, November 4.

The BSC Library owns several works by the Erdrich sisters, including:

• Fishing for Myth: Poems by Heid Erdrich
• The Mother's Tongue by Heid Erdrich
• Sister Nations: Native American Women Writers on Community edited by Heid Erdrich and Laura Tohe

• Bears Make Rock Soup and Other Stories by Lise Erdrich
• Night Train: Stories by Lise Erdrich
• Sacagawea by Lise Erdrich

A new book by Heid, National Monuments, will be available soon and the library will get a copy.

Another sister, Louise Erdrich, is also a well-known, award-winning writer. Check out her books at the BSC Library, too!

The BSC Library's catalog, ODIN, is your gateway to finding these books.

Sherman Alexie on the Colbert Report

This just in! Sherman Alexie will appear on the October 28th edition of the Colbert Report on Comedy Central, which airs at 11:30 p.m. Eastern and will be rebroadcast 4 times throughout the day on October 29th. Check your local listings, or watch online.

AND ... The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-time Indian has won another award -- a 2008 Washington State book award, the Scandiuzzi Children's Book Award, for middle grades and young adults.

Read more about it in the Seattle Times.

Heid and Lise Erdrich at BSC

Authors and sisters Heid and Lise Erdrich will be on campus November 3 and 4.

On November 3, at 7:30 p.m., Missouri Room, Student Union, they will read from their work and also discuss Sherman Alexie's book. On November 4, they will make classroom visits.

Heid E. Erdrich is the author of three collections of poetry: The Mother's Tongue, National Monuments, and Fishing for Myth, as well as co-editor of Sister Nations: Native American Women on Community. She co-founded the Turtle Mountain Writing Workshop with Louise Erdrich, her sister. Her books have each been nominated for the Minnesota Book Awards and her writing has received numerous grants and honors. Her degrees are from Dartmouth and Johns Hopkins.

Lise Erdrich, is the author of Night Train, her first collection of short fiction. She has also published Bears Make Rock Soup and Sacagawea, two books for children. A member of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians, she was born in Minnesota, lives in Wahpeton, North Dakota, and has been occupied in the fields of Indian Health Service and Indian Education for twenty years.

The Erdrich sisters’ appearance is part of the Visiting Writers Series sponsored by the English Discipline of the Arts and Communications Department at Bismarck State College, and funded in part by a grant from the Bismarck State College Foundation.

What's Up with the Juvenile Wall?

Are you wondering about the “Juvenile Wall” on the first floor of Schafer Hall? Wonder no more ...

The "Juvenile Wall" is a place where students, faculty, and staff can put drawings (or photos) of themselves at the age of 14 (the same age as Arnold, the lead character in The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-time Indian). Some of the drawings that are already on the wall came out of the "Campus Conversation" events held earlier this week. Others came out of class activities related to Campus Read.

This is YOUR invitation to add your own self-portrait at age 14 (or thereabouts) to the wall. What did you look like then? How did you feel?

Let's Talk! Campus Conversations

• Wh0: YOU
• What: Campus Conversations
• When: Wednesday, October 22, noon and 3 p.m.
• Where: Prairie Room, Student Union Building
• Why: To get together with others from across campus to talk about Sherman Alexie's book, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-time Indian

Hope to see you there!

Native American Writers

In today's presentation, A History of Native American Writers: Where Does Sherman Alexie Fit?, Dr. Brian Palecek focused on two main ideas:

1. The oral tradition meeting a print and writing tradition


2. An American Indian renaissance since the 1960s

Brian also talked about several writers and their works, including:

• William Apess
• Black Hawk
• Geronimo
• Buffalo Bird Woman
• Pretty Shield
• Black Elk
• Gertrude Bonnin (Zitkala-Sa)
• Luther Standing Bear (Ota K'te)
• Charles Eastman (Ohiyesa)
• D'Arcy McNickle
• N. Scott Momaday
• Leslie Marmon Silko
• James Welch
• Louise Erdrich
• Michael Dorris
• Joseph Bruchac
• Joseph M. Marshall III
• Vine Deloria, Jr.
• Sherman Alexie

The BSC Library has works by all of these Native American writers. Check them out!

Where Does Sherman Alexie Fit?

Dr. Brian Palecek of United Tribes Technical College will give a presentation entitled A History of Native American Writers: Where Does Sherman Alexie Fit? in the Prairie Room, Student Union Building, on Wednesday,October 15, at 10 a.m. and again at noon.

A Full House ... and Then Some!

Sherman Alexie packed the house last night. In fact, there were more people than seats! He didn't want to turn anyone away, so people with more "flexible butts" (Sherman's words) were invited to sit on the stage with him.

Sherman Alexie's performance was both funny and brilliant.

As Drake Carter, BSC's Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs, said, If you missed it, I can only say that I'm sorry and better luck next time. :o)

Sherman Alexie at Belle Mehus!

Sherman Alexie, author of The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-time Indian, will be speaking at the Belle Mehus City Auditorium on Thursday, October 9, at 7:30 p.m.

Don't miss it! He's been at BSC before and is an amazing speaker. You will laugh and you will have a good time.

The Belle Mehus Auditorium is located at 201 North 6th Street in Bismarck, three blocks from the Bismarck Civic Center on the corner of North 6th Street and Broadway. There are parking spaces surrounding Belle Mehus Auditorium as well as two parking ramps. There is a small fee for parking in the ramps.

Campus Read 2008 Events Schedule

Put these dates on your calendar!

• September 29 ... Showing of Smoke Signals, 7 p.m., NECE Auditorium
• October 9 ... Sherman Alexie speaks, 7:30 p.m., Belle Mehus City Auditorium
• October 10 ... Showing of The Business of Fancy Dancing, 2 p.m., Sidney J. Lee Auditorium, Schafer Hall
• October 15 ... Dr. Brian Palecek speaks about Native American writers, 10 a.m. in classrooms, locations to be announced; and at Noon in the Prairie Room, Student Union
• October 22 ... Campus conversations: Book discussion, noon and 3 p.m., Prairie Room, Student Union
• November 3 ... Authors Heid and Lise Erdrich read from their work and discuss Alexie's book, 7:30 p.m., Missouri Room, Student Union
• November 4 ... Authors Heid and Lise Erdrich - classroom visits, locations/times to be announced
• November 12 ... Humanites scholar Clay Jenkinson speaks on themes from Alexie's book, 7-9 p.m., Sidney J. Lee Auditorium, Schafer Hall
• December 1 - Deadline for Campus Read Essay Contest submissions

Essay Contest -- Win a $500 Scholarship!

An announcement to all BSC students ...

You're already reading, discussing, and writing about Sherman Alexie's The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-time Indian. Shape up those ideas and submit an essay to the Campus Read Essay contest. The student with the winning essay will be awarded a $500 scholarship from the BSC Foundation for the Spring 2008 semester.

Guidelines

• Submit your best work of 600 words or more. The topic may be anything related to your consideration of The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-time Indian. For example, a critical response to the book, or a narrative essay relating your own experiences that relate to the theme of the book. These are only examples. Don't be afraid to be creative!
• Essays must be typed and must be a polished, finished product.
• Essays will be judged anonymously, so include your name on a separate cover page with the title of your essay.
• The submission deadline is Monday, December 1, 2008. Essays may be submitted electronically as an attachment and e-mailed to Katherine.Netzer@bsc.nodak.edu, OR hand-delivered to the BSC Library front desk.
• The winning essay will be published in The Mystician.

BSC Campus Read 2008

Welcome to BSC Campus Read 2008!

The selection for the 2008 BSC Campus Read is The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-time Indian by Sherman Alexie, the 2007 National Book Award Winner for Young People's Literature.

We look forward to posting information about 2008 Campus Read events and getting your comments about this book.