From the Princeton Weekly Bulletin, March 9, 1998
 

Art Museum exhibits photographs

American landscapes. "Three Small Rivers" by Joshua Cooper (left) and "Natural Drainages Outlined by Cultivation, Dry Land Wheat Farming, Near Hermiston, Oregon" by Emmet Gowin are on display at the Art Museum through March 22 as part of exhibitions of the photographer's work.


Information Technology Fair to help users

The fifth Information Technology Fair will be held from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. on March 17 in the lower lobby of Robertson Hall. The theme is "Getting More From Your Desktop Computer."

Dozens of presentations and demonstrations will illustrate progress in the area of administrative computing and library services, as well as new tools for building web pages, handling e-mail, managing documents and creating labels. You can see the latest digital cameras, palm-size computers, scanners and voice recognition technology; and there will be numerous door prizes.

For more information, access www.princeton.edu/fair.

Symposium discusses war, literature, Pan-Americanism

"1898: War, Literature and the Question of Pan-Americanism" is the topic of a symposium to be held March 27 through 29 in 1 Robertson Hall.

"The purpose of the symposium is to study the literary and intellectual implications of the war and its deeper effects on cultural and literary practices in Spain, the United States and Latin America," says Arcadio Diaz-Quiñones, professor of Romance languages and literatures.

Daytime sessions on March 27 will address the topics "Princeton University and the Academic Life of Empire," "Travels, Representation and the Origins of Nationalism," "Novels of the War: Cuba and Puerto Rico" and "Chronicles and the Politics of Writing"; on March 28, "Genealogies of Pan-Americanism," "The Making of Intellectual Discourse: Spain, Cuba and Argentina" and "Poetry, 'Raza' and the War"; and on March 29 "Politics and Culture: Rodó for a New Century?"

Evening presentations will offer readings by Antonio Benitez-Rojo, Junot Diaz, Sylvia Molloy, Ricardo Piglia and Reina Maria Rodriguez on March 27 and a modern dance performance by En la Brega of New York City on March 28, both at 8:00 p.m. in Chancellor Green Student Center.

The participants in the conference, which was organized by the Program in Latin American Studies, include scholars from Argentina, Cuba, Germany, Mexico, Puerto Rico and Spain, as well as the United States.

New understanding, definitions

"At the turn of the century," explains Diaz, "the end of the Spanish empire and the emergence of the United States as an imperial power in the Caribbean, Central America and the Pacific loomed very large on the intellectual and cultural horizons of Europe, the United States and Latin America. In particular, out of the Spanish-Cuban-American War of 1895 to 1898 came a profound and rapid change in the understanding and definitions of 'Latin' and 'Hispano-American' culture.

"The war itself stimulated all sorts of questions and controversies. In the United States, writers and commentators discussed the meaning of the nation's outward expansion, debating whether it signaled the fulfillment of American destiny or a profound crisis for the republican form of government. In Latin America, the question of Pan-Americanism as a new political identity--and as an attempt to remap cultural boundaries--became a central issue in a number of debates."

According to Diaz, "A significant number of Latin American and Caribbean writers saw the triumph of the new American empire as a major and irreversible break with the past. Since proposed interpretations had potentially fundamental consequences for literature and language, not only political figures, historians and social scientists but also many writers participated in the spate of debates and controversies which marked the times.

"There is at present a significant number of scholars whose research and writing converge around the questions of culture and imperialism. Many are investigating new forms of narrative, poetry, travel writing and journalism that emerged during the final years of the 19th century and beginning of the 20th. The symposium aims to stimulate new inquiry in these directions."

For more information, consult www.princeton.edu/plasweb.

Brown baggers discuss various work schedules

Tired of sitting in traffic? Wish you could have a four-day work week? Want to get paid for working at home?

These and other questions about alternative work schedules will be discussed at a series of brown bag lunches sponsored by the Office of Human Resources and the Standing Committee on the Status of Women from noon to 2:00 p.m. in Whig Senate Chamber March 10, 12, 17 and 19.

University League Nursery School open house

Snack time. The is hosting an open house from 3:00 to 4:00 p.m. on March 22. Accredited by the National Academy of Early Childhood Programs, the school offers a variety of programs on a cooperative basis. For information on current openings, call 924-3137.