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April 04, 2006
Student creations draw curious cookie-seeking crowd
Convo hour on Tuesday, March 28, was a chance for students who work in the Writing Center to show off their skills and read their own works for whomever would listen.
The pieces were both fiction and non-fiction and included a Nerf-gun Western, a reality television show premise, an account of drugs in a Minneapolis neighborhood, a history of disability legislation in the United States and France, and the experience of a support group for survivors of abuse.
A small section in and around the Writing Center in the basement of Bush Library was filled with rows of chairs, which filled up at the very last second, and there was a large enough crowd that extra chairs had to be set up as well. After setting out cookies and ice water, Julie Thompson, director of the Writing Center, gave a brief introduction to the presentation.
The five presentations took about an hour, and each was unique in both content and style. Patrick Hueller’s story “Skirmish” was about a Nerf-gun war, western style. With a reference to Clint Eastwood, and the drama of a real conflict, he engaged the audience with suspense and a little humor.
Brian Rochel read an amusing paper outlining the premise of a reality television show he imagined entitled “113.” The entire show would revolve around the adventures and misadventures of four male college students living in Osborn 113.
Graduate student Heidi Rivers read her creative non-fiction piece about drug dealers and dealing with life in Minneapolis with a roommate addicted to cocaine. It also contained stories of villages in Colombia whose main income comes from producing the coca plant that is eventually exported as cocaine that were targeted by the United States as part of a plan to decrease drug exportation.
Julie Thompson presented a piece she wrote as part of a larger group of works, “The Survivor Chronicles,” entitled ‘Hell Hath No Fury.’ She dedicated this to a 24 year old woman recently released after 10 years of being held hostage. This story was about a support group/anger management class for survivors of abuse. A very moving narrative, it gave brief glimpses into the lives of multiple women who had been victims and were now in the process of helping each other move on with their lives.
Annika Johnson read her research paper on disability legislation in the United States versus in France. Along with a history of the legislation, she also focused on the cultural context of the laws and how that affects how legislation is supported and passed in the governments.
There will be another Writing Center Showcase toward the end of April.
Posted by dwright at April 4, 2006 12:36 PM
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