At a glance
Starting at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, April 13, in Allegany Room of the Central Dining Hall, the event will spotlight Dr. John O. Hunter, Alfred State College president emeritus, speaking about his new book Reading Yeats and Striving to Be a College President.
Department of English and Humanities at Alfred State College invite the public to celebrate National Poetry Month with a program on the importance of poetry in our daily lives.
Starting at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, April 13, in Allegany Room of the Central Dining Hall, the event will spotlight Dr. John O. Hunter, Alfred State College president emeritus, speaking about his new book Reading Yeats and Striving to Be a College President.
Forum Co-chair, SUNY Distinguished Professor Emeritus Joe Flynn, says, “While ostensibly a chronicle of John’s five college presidencies, the book is suffused with deeper spiritual and intellectual currents. It is more a continuing lifetime odyssey of the heart and mind of an engaged leader driven by the warring demands of academe who is continuously inspired and renewed by poets and their lives.”
Flynn recommends a visit to Hunter’s Web site, the Love of Poetry, http://www.loveofpoetry.net/, to preview some of his work. There they will find “the always elegant Emily Dickinson whom Hunter regards as ‘… a genius alive in her poetry never to be forgotten’” and many of his “Value Notes” to students.
Presentations from Professor of Chemistry Dr. Jerry Fong, “Chemistry and Poetry: A Rage for Order;” and Flynn. “Occasions for Poetry,” will reflect on the transformational powers of poetry. The evening will include several dramatic readings of poems by Yeats and others.
SUNY Distinguished Teaching Professor of English Dr. Aniko Constantine will moderate the event. Constantine has served for many years as adviser to ERGO, the college’s literary arts magazine.
Copies of Dr. Hunter’s book will be available for purchase.
New Horizons Forum programs are sponsored by the School of Arts and Sciences to enrich the intellectual, social, and cultural life of the college by showcasing the results of recent scholarly, creative, or public service works by faculty, professional staff, students, and invited guests.