Please join us for a beautiful, spring weekend in Tempe, Arizona, and the opportunity to meet fellow HMU students, alumni, faculty, and members of the Humanities Advisory Council.
Schedule of Events:
Friday, March 1st – Harrison Middleton University
4 – 6pm – Welcome reception and introductions. Appetizers and drinks will be served. Dinner on your own.
Saturday, March 2nd – Harrison Middleton University
10 – 11:30am – Music, Poetry, and Ways of Being—a conversation with Joseph Coulson, HMU President.
In the making of poems, why is music—from Homer to Ginsberg, Sappho to Sexton—central to the writer’s prosody? Is tension the necessary arbiter between form and improvisation? Is verse ever free? Did the emergence of American jazz change the way we read, write, and think? What does all this have to do with American exceptionalism, individualism, and freedom? We’ll explore and discuss these and other questions as we try to understand the connections between music, words, and cultural beliefs.
11:30am – 12:30pm – Lunch provided.
1 – 3pm Inquiry-based group discussions led by HMU alumni over the following reading selections:
Short Story: James Baldwin, “Sonny’s Blues”
https://sfponline.org/Uploads/372/sonnysblues.pdf
Poems by Rita Dove
“American Smooth”
https://poets.org/poem/american-smooth
“The Spring Cricket Considers the Question of Negritude”
https://poets.org/poem/spring-cricket-considers-question-negritude
“I Have Been a Stranger in a Strange Land”
https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poetrymagazine/poems/41628/i-have-been-a-stranger-in-a-strange-land
Poem by Willa Cather
“Eurydice”
https://poets.org/poem/eurydice
Sunday, March 3rd [Optional Events]
8:00 – 10:30am – Visit the Desert Botanical Garden (dbg.org)
The Desert Botanical Garden is a 140-acre living museum of over 50,000 plants representing more than 4,000 different species of cactus, agave, and other desert plants of the Sonoran Desert and the world.
Noon – 4:30pm – Spring Training Baseball Game
Join us for a spring training game between the Arizona Diamondbacks and the Milwaukee Brewers at Salt River Fields. Spring training is a fun opportunity to see Major League Baseball teams play new and existing players before the regular season.
RSVPs, Hotel, and Transportation
Registration
Event registration is closed. Please contact HMU for any registration requests.
Questions? Please contact us at In*********@*mu.edu or call 877-248-6724.
Hotel
A room block at a rate of $289/night is available at the Westin, which is located in the heart of Tempe. Access the room block at this link: The Westin Tempe – Harrison Middleton University. A limited number of rooms is available, so book your room as soon as possible.
Transportation
Transportation will be provided for registered attendees between the Westin Tempe and the event locations. The shuttle will leave the hotel at the following times:
Friday, 3/1:
Shuttle leaves at 3:45pm to go to the Friday reception at HMU.
Saturday, 3/2:
Shuttle leaves at 9:45am to go to the Saturday program at HMU.
Sunday, 3/3:
Shuttle leaves at 8:00am to go to the Desert Botanical Garden.
Shuttle leaves at Noon to go to the Spring Training Baseball Game.