UT Tyler Office of Marketing and Communications

UT Tyler Muntz Library to Host Virtual Symposium for Banned Books Week

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September 28, 2015

Media Contact:  Hannah Buchanan
Editor/Writer–Strategic Communications & Media Relations
Marketing and Communications
The University of Texas at Tyler
903.539.7196 (cell)

September 28, 2015

The University of Texas at Tyler will host a public virtual symposium marking the opening of an exhibit, “Robert Cormier: Censorship and Intolerance,” in celebration of Banned Books Week, Jeanne Standley, Robert R. Muntz Library executive director, announced.

The virtual symposium will be presented 11 a.m. – 4 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 1 in the UT Tyler Muntz Library, room 202. For a complete symposium schedule or to reserve a seat for a particular presentation, email Alma Ravenell, Muntz Library head of public services, aravenell@uttyler.edu.

“The symposium will address interesting and important features of the corresponding virtual exhibit such as censorship, founding of an archive and ways that historical archives can hold relevance for contemporary interests,” said UT Tyler assistant professor of literacy Dr. Annamary L. Consalvo, who created the exhibit with colleagues from Fitchburg State University.

To view the virtual exhibit, visit https://cormiercensorship.omeka.net/. Those who are unable to attend the symposium may view it at their convenience beginning on Monday, Oct. 5 through the exhibit link.

“In order to create this virtual exhibit on Robert Cormier and censorship, we assembled novel typescripts, essay drafts, letters, speeches, photographs, student artifacts and historical news coverage of Robert Cormier’s work as it pertains to censorship and the importance of reading for young adults,” Consalvo said. “We paid particular attention to his three most often taught and censored novels The Chocolate War, I Am the Cheese and Fade. Also featured are Cormier’s processes and maxims as a writer visible in the drafts of his letters, speeches and chapters.

“We are particularly excited about the accessibility that a digital exhibit such as this affords to scholars, students, teachers and interested persons.”

For more information about the virtual exhibit, contact Consalvo, 903.565.5576 or aconsalvo@uttyler.edu.

Backed by the American Library Association, Banned Books Week is a worldwide event celebrating the freedom to read.

For additional information, call Ravenell, 903.566.7314.

One of the 15 campuses of the UT System, UT Tyler features excellence in teaching, research, artistic performance and community service. More than 80 undergraduate and graduate degrees are available at UT Tyler, which has an enrollment of more than 8,500 high-ability students. UT Tyler offers courses at its campuses in Tyler, Longview and Palestine as well as a location in Houston.