Eric Jedd
Equinox Staff
Keene State College adjunct faculty members read some of their personal writings at the Mountain View Room on Wednesday, Feb. 29.
The faculty members everyone knows here at KSC generally just care only about classes and grading papers, right?
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The answer to this question is an obvious, “No, of course not!”
However, some still look up in a daze during class and begin to wonder to themselves, “What does my professor do with his/her free time?”
The Annual Adjunct Faculty Reading is one opportunity where students can have that question answered.
The Adjunct Faculty Reading is an event that features the stylized and personal writings of adjunct faculty members.
“We’ve had a union for a couple of years, and a couple of years ago I saw that we had a lot of talented people on the adjunct faculty, but the school doesn’t really pay attention to it in any way, shape, or form.”
He went on to say, “I thought it would be good to make an event to showcase other things besides teaching. It’s a celebration of what we do,” Jeff Friedman said.
Professors and faculty reciting at the third annual reading included Professors of English Jack Bouley, Tracy L. Botting, Jack Hitchner, Ellen Moynihan, and Jeff Friedman.
Most of the participants of the reading took time before starting to briefly explain and detail what they attempted to do with their works.
Jack Bouley started right into his piece which described the events and background of a student at college studying for a test the next day and experimenting with drugs.
Bouley introduced Tracy L. Botting, giving the audience a little information about Botting’s writings.
“While she considers fiction to be her true strength, lately she has been mining the battlefield of her own life to write a powerful collection of autobiographical essays.”
Tracy considers each essay to be a postcard to the future.
Botting’s story traced memories of her brother and the trouble behind her mother and father. It told of her mother’s endangerment from her father’s drinking problem.
Jack Hitchner took the podium next, and read stories he wrote about different stages in life.
The first story depicted the thoughts of a child in church on Sunday, pondering different questions about religion and what it meant to him.
Another short story told of sports played out on his grandfather’s lawn. The next story Hitchner told explained the adolescent actions of two teenagers on New Year’s Eve.
Another piece was a narrative about internal conflict, and Hitchner’s final piece, a short poem.
Hitchner introduced Ellen Moynihan, describing her history with KSC and telling the audience about the piece she had published in an Irish magazine.
Moynihan stated that her article was written about her love and heritage in the country of Ireland, and how the country will always be a true home to her.
Moynihan introduced the final reader Jeff Friedman, mentioning his publications and variety of courses he has taught at KSC.
Friedman shared a few pieces with the audience, one on the subject of sex, one piece where he reminisces about an old job he had for about a day, and his final piece reflected religious views.
The readings ended after Friedman’s piece, and the audience applauded the professors and their work.
This writing-specific event mostly had participants and faculty from writing-heavy sections and classes.
Jack Bouley commented, “I feel very strongly, almost passionately, about what the adjunct community brings to KSC, and I think that along with overlooking our value as professional highly-skilled instructors with diverse backgrounds. We are also overlooked in how we contribute to the actual intellectual community that we’re a part of. I must stress this is pulling mostly from the pool of adjuncts who contribute through writing prose and poetry.”
Eric Jedd can be contacted at ejedd@ksc.mailcruiser.com