The University of Silesia in Katowice, Metropolis GZM and Silesian Library encourage to participate in seminars for students and open lectures conducted by Prof. John Matteson from the City University of New York (CUNY), a Pulitzer Prize winner.
The events will be held under the project “Metropolis for Metropolis, or the New York Pulitzer Prize winner for Silesia and Zagłębie” carried out as part of Metropolitan Science Support Fund programme of Metropolis GZM.
About the lecturer:
Prof. John Matteson is one of the most acclaimed biographers of our times, as proven by the Pulitzer Prize which he was awarded in 2008. He is a graduate of Princeton University (Department of History), Harvard University (Harvard Law School) and Columbia University (Department of English and Comparative Literature). He works as Distinguished Professor at the English Department of John Jay College of Criminal Justice City University of New York.
The present shape of New York has been (and still is) determined by the dynamics of multiculturalism. Having recognised that the Upper Silesia and Zagłębie Dąbrowskiie have also been historically formed under the impact of multinational and multireligious social relations, the researcher has noticed a lot of common phenomena for Metropolis GZM and New York Metropolis. The most important of them include the problems related to the coexistence within a limited space of various ethnic and religious groups whose mutual relations are frequently burdened with historic traumas. Explaining these phenomena on the American ground and in the context of literature, history and law, Prof. Matteson has also indicated potential directions for regional studies (including research on Silesia) in Poland.
About the lectures and seminars:
The open lectures with consecutive transation into Polish on Zoom platform of the Silesian Library are addressed to everyone interested in the history of culture, biographical studies, as well as history and culture of the USA.
The seminars are mainly addressed to students and doctoral students of language studies, history, culture studies and law. The seminars will be conducted remotely on the Zoom platform of the University of Silesia in Katowice.
Participation in these events does not require prior registration
Schedule and descriptions of seminars and open lectures:
OPEN LECTURES
(consecutive translation to Polish)
OCTOBER
12 October 2021, 6:00 p.m.
“Is Biography True? A Philosophical Inquiry” / „Czy biografia jest prawdą? Próba filozoficznego wglądu” – detailed information and login data
26 October 2021, 6:00 p.m
“A Novelist Under Oath: The Aesthetic of the Non-Fiction Historical Narrative” / „Powieściopisarz pod przysięgą: estetyka historycznej literatury faktu” – detailed information and login data
NOVEMBER
24 November 2021, 6:00 p.m.
“Alpha and Omega: Writing the Beginning and Ending of a Biographical Work” / „Alfa i omega: o wstępach i zakończeniach tekstów biograficznych” – detailed information and login data
SEMINARS FOR STUDENTS
(in English)
OCTOBER
11 October 2021, 6:00 p.m.
“Thomas Jefferson: The Head and Heart of the Intellectual Slaveowner” – detailed information and login data
18 October 2021, 10:00 a.m.
“The Slaveholding Jurisprudence of North Carolina Chief Justice Thomas Ruffin” – detailed information and login data
25 October 2021, 10:00 a.m.
“Melville, Douglass, and the Literature of Slave Mutiny” – detailed information and login data
NOVEMBER
8 November 2021, 10:00 a.m.
“The Quintessential American Slave Narrative: Douglass, Northup, or Jacobs?” – detailed information and login data
15 November 2021, 10:00 a.m.
“The Dred Scott Case: The Anatomy of a Legal Catastrophe” – detailed information and login data
22 November 2021, 10:00 a.m.
“Harriet Beecher Stowe and the Feminization of Abolition” – detailed information and login data
The project entitled „Metropolis for Metropolis, or the New York Pulitzer Prize winner for Silesia and Zagłębie has been co-funded by Metropolis GZM under Metropolitan Science and Assistance Support Fund for 2019–2022. The funding amount was PLN 154,541.
Graphic image promoting the lectures and seminars by Prof. John Matteson