TODAY IN THE LIBRARY…

2016 Literary Festival featuring Daniel Torday. 7:00 p.m. in Speakers’ Corner. Reading and talk given by Daniel Torday, one of the Literary Festival’s featured speakers. Daniel Torday is the author of the novel The Last Flight of Poxl West, a New York Times Book Review Editor’s Choice, and an Amazon.com Best Debuts of 2015. His novella,The Sensualist, won the 2012 National Jewish Book Award for debut fiction. Torday’s stories and essays have appeared in Esquire Magazine, n+1, The New York Times, The Paris Review Daily and Tin House. A former editor at Esquire, Torday serves as an editor at The Kenyon Review. He is Director of Creative Writing at Bryn Mawr College. At the event, Torday will read from his most recent novel The Last Flight of Poxl West. Questions? Contact: Alan Drew

Digital Scholarship Brown Bag Conversation. 11:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. in room 205. Digital scholarship (formerly ‘digital humanities’) is one of the most prominent trends in the humanities and social sciences in recent years. What is it exactly, and what does it mean for research and teaching at Villanova? Bring your lunch and your ideas for a conversation with Library staff about the state of the art of digital scholarship on campus. Coffee and tea will be provided. Drop in and out anytime. Questions? Contact: Nik Fogle

Happening @ ‘Nova
Be sure to check out these noteworthy events that are taking place on Villanova’s campus soon!

Residence Life Blood Drive: Today!
There is currently a critical shortage of blood products and you can help out by donating on Thursday, Feb. 11, 10 a.m.-3 p.m., in the West Lounge of Dougherty Hall. Make your appointment today at www.redcrossblood.org Sponsor Code: villanovareslife
Questions? Contact: Jennifer Liberato

Adela Dwyer-St. Thomas of Villanova Peace Award: 2/15
The Center for Peace and Justice Education is pleased to announce General Roméo Dallaire as the 2015 Adela Dwyer/St. Thomas of Villanova Peace Award recipient. His lecture “Are All Humans Human?” will be held Monday, Feb. 15, 5 p.m., Villanova room. General Dallaire commanded the United Nations peacekeeping mission in Rwanda prior to and during the 1994 genocide. His courage and leadership during this ill-fated mission have earned him recognition, affection, and admiration from around the globe. In recent years he has turned his attention to the use of child soldiers. General Dallaire will receive the 2015 Adela Dwyer-St. Thomas of Villanova Peace Award for his work to raise awareness about and eradicate the use of children as weapons of war. Questions? Contact: Sharon Discher

Centering Prayer – Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays
Our gathering times for the spring semester are Wednesdays 8:30-9 a.m. & Tuesdays and Thursdays 12:45-1:15 p.m. in the St. Rita Hall Community Room. Centering prayer is space for quiet, meditative prayer that cultivates a place of rest and attentive presence in the midst of our busy and distracted lives. We gather in a small group and sit quietly together. No previous experience with centering prayer or meditation is necessary. Questions? Contact: John P. Edwards

BOOKENDS

It might be hard to decide which book you want to browse first, Interpreting Food at Museums and Historic Sites or The Rise of Tea Culture in China. As the publisher (of both books) notes, “food is such a friendly topic that it’s often thought of as a “hook” for engaging visitors to museums and historic sites.” Interpreting Food by Michelle Moon certainly hooked us into taking a second look. And tea connoisseurs might be drawn to the book by Bret Hinsch that dispels stereotypes about the culture and meaning of drinking tea in China. Either book you choose could whet your appetite for the other.

#TBT

Feelin’ springtime vibes yet? Check out our throwback pic from the 1958 Villanova Yearbook. Students enjoyed a lively  game of horseshoes in Mendel Field.

QUOTE OF THE DAY

Octavia E. Butler (1947-2006) was an American author who challenged the status quo in the science fiction writers’ world as a female and as an African American. Her novels engaged “elements of science fiction and African American spiritualism” [source]. She was the first science fiction writer to receive the MacAuthor Fellowship, and received many Hugo and Nebula awards. You can find Butler’s novels, including Kindred, Parable of the Sower, Dawn: Xenogenesis, and Fledging, among other writings, in our collection.

“Tolerance, like any aspect of peace, is forever a work in progress, never completed, and, if we’re as intelligent as we like to think we are, never abandoned.” – Octavia E. Butler

Photograph by Joshua Trujillo/AP