with Autumn Piette! She likes to relax with magazines from the King library's periodicals section. Autumn's selections include:Rolling Stone
O: The Oprah Magazine
Martha Stewart Living
Canadian Living
Glamour
Magazines are available for 1 week loan periods. Come and check out our collection today!
9 comments:
Why is there not at least one magazine that doesn't further promote our celebrity-oriented, dumbed down, superficial culture. Of the tens of thousands of magazines out there, is this the best a college library can do? I am not a fan of Macleans but at least there is some substance to it. Why is the library feeding us junk food for the mind? Too many students are already supersized.
Thank you for your comment, we are happy that people are reading the blog and thrilled to engage in constructive dialog. Your concerns are valid and the criticism is well-taken. As an educational institution we have a responsibility to provide resources of substance not only to support our programs but for leisurely purposes as well. With this blog item we wanted to highlight lighter fare because we felt people were less likely to be aware that we offered these materials. We had leisure and relaxation in mind with these selections.
Methinks the learned Professor Model is being a tad harsh. The problem lies less with the lovely Autumn than with the paucity of informed and thoughtful magazines on display. Perhaps if subscriptions could be purchaseed for such periodicals as Canadian Dimension, Harper's (no, not Harper's Bazarre, the London Review of Books, Monthly Review and the New York Review of Books and so on, we might find more enlightening reads and more enlightened readers.
Professors Model and Doughty are really fighting an uphill battle. If the students read anything that is a good thing. The library carrying things we personally might like to read does not serve the larger community or purpose. I don't see the bulk of them grabbing up WALRUS or the New York Review of Books.
As in the classroom, the library is always working to strike a balance. I might like to have a room full of eager minds, striving for greater depth; me guiding them to enlightenment. That is not what this gig is about.
I think my job is to imbed the ideas in a story, drag as many along for the ride that I can and call it a day.
As for what is the best a College library can do? I guess it would be bringing as many students along as possible, making enlightened citizen one Opra article at a time.
DR
Howard Doughty is misguided if he believes that left-wing magazines are the only magazines that people should read. Reading time magazine is infinitely better than reader Glamor even if its content is skewed. It's a starting point.
As for leisure time reading, encouraging students to read celebrity/glamor/looks-type magazines is simply reinforcing all the superficial and artificial values in our culture. These magazines are not neutral.
In addition, I think it is a huge mistake to set your sights to low with respect to students. It's amazing what they will read with a little motivation. I speak from personal experience.
Well, I never thought that I would find myself defending Howard Doughty, let alone writing this blog repeatedly, but life is strange. Professor Doughty is a lot of things, but I rather doubt that misguided is amoung them. He is certainly more intellectually sophisticated than Professor Model's lefty comment would suggest.
Regardless, the fact remains that the vacuous cultural landscape is the landscape we have. Filling the library with right minded periodicals will not change a thing. That job is the stuff of our classrooms. Bring it to them there boys.
DR
Gentlemen:
Well, we have certainly started some kind of conversation, though I suspect we may be the only ones paying attention.
To Professor Model, let me say that I dissent from your implication that the periodicals I suggested are uniformly "left-wing."
Canadian Dimension and Montly Review certainly fit that description, but Harper's defies easy allocation to any ideological category, and the New York Review of Books is nothing if not "middle-of-the-road." The London Review of Books, in the alternative, is decidely right-wing by any standard ... the Weekly Standard, for example.
Moreover, while I admit that Time and Maclean's are marginally better than nothing, surely there are more ennobling and edifying intellectual targets to which our students might reasonably aspire.
With respect to Professor Ryan's comments, I am gratified by his support (and would expect no less!). I do think, however, that his perspective is a trifle pessimistic. I agree that sparks must be struck in the classroom, but it is essential to have some kindling at hand if there a robust flame is to follow.
Too often, I have recommended an article from one of the journals I mentioned (and many others as well), only to have to disappoint eager students by saying that they will have to go to a public library or, perhaps, to the Newnham Campus to find the pertinent material. Hence, a "teachable moment" is too often lost.
In the past, of course, I have photocopied an occasional item for an exceptional student. No more! Management's "penny wise and pound foolish" approach to alleged budgetary restrictions now make such contributions to students' education impossible.
Howard is correct in saying that not all his suggestions are left-wing although Harper's Magazine clearly is very left. I know both the publisher and editor and they are very left which is reflected in the articles in the magazine. My point is that reading news magazines that at least are well-written and do present a version of the truth is better than reading Glamor. At least they would know that Darfur existed and was considered genocide. Better to know that than to know about the status of Brad Pitt's and A. Jolie's marriage.
I concur with Howard that students can be inspired to read quality articles.
Well, as always, Howard is right. Nobody else is paying any attention to this, save we three old farts. So let us leave this rest.
I am sure that access to anything of quality enhances the lives of those exposed.
I am not pessimistic; rather I fancy myself as a depressive realist.
Bringing forth one great light is, well, great, but brothers, see the light. Inching along the entire gang is a far greater good.
David Ryan
Post a Comment