Dr. Tracy Floreani has been the director of the Center for Interpersonal Studies through Film and Literature since the beginning of the academic year. Now the center is enacting its spring events under the English professor’s lead.
The organization, which was led by Dr. Harbour Winn, film professor, uses film and literature to reach students and contribute to the liberal arts environment at OCU.
The center, which is sponsored by OCU and the Oklahoma Humanities Council, hosted events for 18 years, though it remained alongside the film institute for all 35 years of its existence.
“It’s really about the power of storytelling to help us understand the world better,” Floreani said. “It’s to have people exposed to interesting stories and to talk with each other about them and connect with each other through them.”
After Winn retired last year, he resigned from being the head of the center. Floreani was interviewed by the advisory committee along with others before being selected by the dean’s office as the center’s new director in Spring 2016.
Though she intends to keep the organization’s customs relatively unaltered, Floreani said she plans to increase campus awareness of the center through social media and advertised events.
“I’ve committed to keeping the center’s first year very much like it is, just to prevent too many sudden changes,” Floreani said. “But what I’ve been focusing on is getting more students involved, because there’s not too much awareness of it on campus.”
The center organizers brought poet Andrea Gibson to visit campus in November and are planning spring events.
U.K. poet Simon Armitage will visit campus April 5 for the annual celebration of National Poetry Month to discuss his creative process. The visit will be divided into two sessions, one at 10 a.m. at which he will answer questions, and one at 8 p.m. at which he will read his poetry.
“The overall mission is, quite explicitly, to bring literature, poetry and movies to a greater spectrum of people,” said Matthew Hester, film production senior. “And that includes both students of OCU as well as the greater Oklahoma community.”
The center began its annual “Let’s Talk About It Oklahoma” series on Jan. 10 that will run biweekly through Spring Break. The series fosters literary discussion, and the center partnered with them to host some of these discussions at OCU. This year’s subject is crossover fiction, a form of fiction that blends elements of adult and young adult fiction.
“Let’s Talk About It Oklahoma” series events are at 7 p.m. every other Tuesday in Room 151 in Walker Center for Arts & Sciences.
An international film series began Jan. 22. It is a series of discussions on the French film, The Last Metro. The series events take place regularly at 2 p.m. Sundays in Kerr-McGee Auditiorium in Meinders School of Business.
All events are free for entry and open to all students.
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