The Graduate Studies department is preparing a series of events to discuss the book Cold Mountain, by Charles Frazier. The book tells the story of a man’s journey home during the Civil War. It has received a number of awards, including The National Book Award, the Abbey Award, and The Weatherford Award. The book has drawn so much attention that a movie starring Jude Law, Nicole Kidman, Renée Zellweger, and Natalie Portman is due in theaters this December.
The first event, the Graduate Orientation Colloquium, took place on Wednesday, September 10, 2003, and included a panel of faculty members from an array of departments. Each panel member was given 5 minutes to discuss his or her impression of the book. A variety of departments were on hand to meet the goal of approaching the book “from different disciplinary angles: literary, historical, biological, psychological, sociological, creative.”
Dean of Graduate Studies Emily McDermott hosted the colloquium. Dean McDermott said Cold Mountain was chosen because it’s approachable for a large group of people and from many different angles. Presentations were made from five viewpoints: Contextualizing Cold Mountain, The Power of Landscape, The Nature of Knowledge, Psychological Perspectives, and the Intersection of 1860’s and 1990’s.
Michael Chesson of History and Russel Schutt of Applied Sociology led by contextualizing Cold Mountain. Professor Chesson gave a monotonously drawn out overview of Civil War history, and pointed out that Charles Frazier had done far more than a historian’s job of finding the truth – the book was fiction but every part of it is true.
Professor Schutt discussed rural social structure and how “feudalistic social ideas” acted as a barrier to economic progress with the oncoming industrial age.
Rick Kesseli of Biology and Steve Mrozowski of Historical Archaeology spoke about the power of the landscape within the novel. Professor Kesseli noted the cruelty individuals inflict upon each other and on the landscape. In one instance, the character lashes out at his surroundings, which consist of untouched old growth forest. Ironically, the same type of damage to old growth forests happened in Massachusetts in the 1850s as happened in the Carolinas. In MA, less than 0.5% is left of old growth forests. Professor Mrozowski has performed archaeological digs in 19th century farmsteads and noted how the novel portrayed the same cold feelings that he felt during his excavations.
Mari Koerner of the Graduate College of Education and Betsy Kilmasmith of English discussed the nature of knowledge. Professor Koerner hoped to inspire thought by asking a few questions such as: “Who holds the most valuable knowledge in the novel?” and “What knowledge is most valuable for each of us for our own lives?” She went on to philosophize on where knowledge comes from. One interesting observation she made was that the main character, Inman, teaches himself violin. Professor Klimasmith noted the significance of reading for the characters within the novel. She described a passage when another character, Ada, got mad at characters in a book she was reading. Ada was worried that as her life’s path became more clearly defined she would not find reading as powerful. This scene in the book made Klimasmith’s point of the influence reading can have on people.
From a Psychological Perspective, Dean McDermott outlined the parallels between The Odyssey and Cold Mountain, showing tribute to her background in the Classics. Professor Lisa Cosgrove spoke of the complexities of mental disorders, in particular post-traumatic stress disorder. She questioned the progress that biopyschiatric language has made in labeling individuals with PTSD. Professor Ester Shapiro noted the connections between the character Ada’s response to her father passing away and the responses she has from her own patients.
Discussing the intersection of the 1860’s and the 1990’s were Kevin Bowen from the William Joiner Center and Rachel Rubin from American Studies. Bowen said that he had read the book on an island off the coast of Ireland, while religious tensions were peaking, and while the War on Terror was on every television station in every café or pub. Professor Rubin concluded the panel by discussing how American Studies would approach the book in the time frame in which was published and not from the time frame in which it took place.
The series started with an open forum is scheduled to continue with such related events as the presentation of a film and a possible visit of the campus by Charles Frazier. “The idea is to bring students, staff and faculty together as a vibrant community of learners, regardless of their own particular disciplines, and in doing so to highlight both the differences and the commonalities among academic disciplines.”