November 29, 2001
Jocelyn Chadwick Visits the White House to Speak on Race, Censorship
and Teaching Mark Twain
Assistant Professor Jocelyn Chadwick will visit the White House today
to participate in the Salute to American Authors Series, which gathers
scholars and educators around discussions of the country's great writers.
Mark Twain is the subject of this symposium.
Chadwick will join documentary filmmaker Ken Burns, Connecticut governor
John G. Rowland, University of Texas at Austin professor Shelly Fisher
Fishkin, and Pulitzer Prize-winning author Justin Kaplan as they discuss
Twain's life, his works, and their historical significance with high school
students and teachers. New York Times children's editor Eden Lipson will
moderate the discussion.
Chadwick, an expert on the issues of censorship and race in education,
will speak on the role of race in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and
Pudd'nhead Wilson. She has published several books and articles on the
way Twain's interpretations of race should be taught to today's schoolchildren,
including The Jim Dilemma: Reading Race in Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
and "Uncle Tom: the Stereotype, the Man-Jim in Adventures of Huckleberry
Finn." She currently is working on a new book, Chained Voices: Growing
Up a Slave in the Nineteenth Century.
Ken Burns has directed and produced award-winning documentaries on such
varied topics as Thomas Jefferson, baseball, and the history of jazz.
His next documentary, which focuses on the life and works of Mark Twain,
will air January 14 and 15 on PBS. Chadwick contributed to the film and
wrote a chapter for its related book, Mark Twain: An Illustrated Biography.
First Lady Laura Bush established the Salute to American Authors Series
to promote reading and literacy. The symposium on Mark Twain is the first
in the series.
C-SPAN will broadcast the symposium at 8:00 p.m. on Saturday, December
1.
For More Information
Contact Margaret R. Haas at 617-496-1884