WUMB Welcomes Charles Shields To The UMass Boston Campus As part of WUMB’s Big Read initiative in celebration of To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee biographer Charles Shields will be coming to the UMass Boston campus on Wednesday, March 12th. The Big Read is an initiative of the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) designed to restore reading to the center of American culture.
Shields interviewed more than 600 people researching Lee’s struggle to complete her only novel To Kill a Mockingbird. The book became one of America’s most popular and bestselling novels of all time, but the author remained somewhat of a mystery. In a lecture at the Campus Center Ballroom at 1:00pm Shields will discuss his research into Truman Capote’s papers, the papers of Harper Lee’s agent, and the archives in the courthouse and historical museum in Lee’s hometown of Monroeville, Alabama. He will take us from Lee’s beginnings as an Alabama tomboy, to her novel’s beginnings as a handful of stories, to a rough draft called Atticus, to its present form as one of the most popular books of the 20th century. This event will be open to the public and free of charge. Reservations can be made at 617-287-6900 and more information about the Big Read of Eastern Massachusetts is available at www.wumb.org/thebigread.
Alternative Sexuality Awareness Conference Comes to UMBThis Saturday March 8,UMass Boston will be host to a conference on Alternative Sexuality Awareness sponsored by the Wellness Center, Queer Student Center and the New England Leather Alliance (NELA). Many presenters from NELA will be giving workshops on such subjects as Bondage/Sadism/Masochism/Dominance (BDSM) 101, basic bondage safety, and BDSM on a limited budget.
The conference will be held in the Ryan Lounge on the third floor of McCormack from 10am-5pm. Registration will end at 10:45am on the day of the conference, although those interested in attending are strongly encouraged to pre-register by sending an email to [email protected]. Admission to and registration for the event are free and open to everyone and lunch will be served. The event is open to anyone over the age of 18 who wishes to attend and if you require any special accommodations please contact the Queer Student Center at 617-287-7983.
Nation’s Largest Community College System to Raise TuitionPhoenix, AZ-The nation’s largest community college system is considering a 9% tuition hike that could go into effect in the coming school year. The increase would push the full-time yearly cost for students taking 30 credits at Maricopa Community Colleges to $2,130. The district has 10 of the 2-year colleges and 220,000 students. The district board is likely to vote in March. (USA Today).