SAVE THE DATE — MARCH 26, 2019: The NEA Big Read in Fort Smith will be hosted by by UAFS thanks to a $15,000 grant from the National Endowment for the Arts. The community reading program includes activities centered around this year’s selected book, “Station Eleven,” a best-selling novel by Emily St. John Mandel. Activities will take place throughout October 2018, February and March 2019, and will culminate with a visit from Mandel. Mandel will give a craft talk from 2:30-3:30 on March 26, 2019, in the Windgate Theatre in Windgate Art & Design on the UAFS campus. At 7 p.m. that evening, she will give a talk to the public and a book signing will follow, with this event taking place in the Stubblefield Center.
Set 20 years after a flu pandemic destroys most of civilization, “Station Eleven” tells the story of a woman who moves between the settlements of a devastated world with a small troupe of actors and musicians until they encounter a violent prophet who threatens the existence of the group. The novel received mass acclaim when it was published in 2014, winning the Arthur C. Clarke award and receiving nominations for the PEN/Faulkner Award and the National Book Award.
A native of Canada, Mandel now resides in Brooklyn, N.Y.. She is the author of four novels and is currently a staff writer for The Millions, an online literary magazine.
UAFS was one of 79 nonprofit organizations to receive a grant for the NEA Big Read, which showcases a diverse range of contemporary titles that reflect various voices and perspectives, aiming to inspire conversation and discovery.
For more information on the UAFS Big Read, contact Dr. Ann-Gee Lee, co-chair, at Ann-Gee.Lee@uafs.edu or Dr. Cammie Sublette, UAFS English, Rhetoric and Writing department head, at Cammie.Sublette@uafs.edu.
"This honor doesn’t just reflect the work happening on the UAFS campus, but demonstrates the NEA’s desire to invest in Fort Smith.” Dr. Christian Gerard, assistant professor of English.
Kickoff event and Old Tech Museum
February 16, 2019 • 1-3pm
Reynolds Room/ Smith Pendergraft Campus Center (UAFS Campus)
Sustainable Living Talk
February 18, 2019 • 2-3pm
Garden House by RAWC (UAFS Campus)
525 N 51st Street
Pandemic and Disease Preparedness Talk: Dr. David McClellan
February 19, 2019 • 6-8pm
Latture Conference Center, Business Institute/Flanders Building (UAFS Campus)
Trading Tales Throughout History & Lions Trading Post Talk: Dr. Tom Wing
February 21, 2019 • 6-8pm
Smith-Pendergraft Campus Center 129A/B (UAFS Campus)
Spoken Word/Slam Poetry Performance and Reading: Dr. Christian Gerard and Students
February 26, 2019 • 6-8:30pm
Bookish
Station Eleven Faculty and Student Read Aloud
February 27, 2019 • 11am-1pm
Smith-Pendergraft Campus Center, Fireplace (UAFS Campus)
Instrument Building Presentation and Discussion: Dr. Dennis Siler
March 1, 2019 • 2pm-3pm
Latture Conference Center, Business Institute/Flanders Building (UAFS Campus)
Comic Book Design Art Contest Winners Exhibition
March 4, 2019- March 8, 2019
Don Lee Student Art Gallery- Windgate Art and Design Building, Second Floor (UAFS Campus)
Music and National Trauma Talk: Dr. Elizabeth Momand and Students
March 11, 2019 • 5-6pm
Breedlove 105 (UAFS Campus)
How to Survive a Zombie Apocalypse Presentation: Dr. Nicki Reamer
March 11, 2019 • 6:30-8pm
Boreham Library, Room 122 (UAFS Campus)
Recycled Art Contest Exhibition
March 11-15, 2019
Don Lee Student Art Gallery- Windgate Art and Design Building, Second Floor (UAFS Campus)
Self-Defense Workshop with Thompson Academy
March 13, 2019 • 7-8pm
Thompson Defense Academy
Author reading and book signing with Emily St. John Mandel
March 26, 2019 • 7-8pm
Stubblefield Center (UAFS campus)