Glenn Ligon: Narratives

The exhibition on display at Schmucker Art Gallery, a suite of nine prints entitled Narratives by prominent contemporary artist Glenn Ligon, has been made possible by a generous gift to Gettysburg College by Dr. Kimberly Rae Connor ’79. Ligon’s works have been exhibited widely at major museums, and Gettysburg College is fortunate to have the opportunity to engage with work that examines issues of race, sexuality, history and representation. The artist is well known for his use of quotations and texts from a variety of literary writers and cultural critics such as James Baldwin, Frantz Fanon, bell hooks and Ralph Ellison, in his continuously successful examination of the critical place of slavery, oppression and freedom in African-American history and identity. In Narratives, Ligon’s emphasis on the text takes the place of a traditional image. He includes quotations from Hilton Als, Josephine Baker and Derek Walcott, but the story is his own. The format and font of these prints mimic the title pages of mid-nineteenth-century slave narratives. Not only does Ligon borrow the typographic style of these historic title pages, he also adopts a particular nineteenth-century vernacular. In the act of reading and seeing Ligon’s late twentiethcentury prints, the viewer must also consider the context and history of the original, personal, heart-wrenching, realistic and persuasive accounts of slavery. Slave narratives bolstered the abolitionists’ movement, often reached wide audiences and gained considerable popularity among northern readers, such as Frederick Douglass’s narrative, which sold 30,000 copies between 1845 and 1860. While Douglass was the author of his own book, many of the slaves were illiterate. Their horrific stories of abuse, familial separation, severity of the workload and dreadful living conditions were recorded by white abolitionists. Regardless of who transcribed the stories, the books often emphasized the veracity and authenticity of the author’s accounts. Correspondingly, Ligon tells of his own life and stresses the truth of this kind of honest and suggestive autobiography. [excerpt]https://cupola.gettysburg.edu/artcatalogs/1013/thumbnail.jp

“Traveling Up and Down”: Reading The Sum of Us

Kimberly Connor analyzes and recognizes similarities between Heather McGhee’s The Sum of Us and The Narrative of the Life of Sojourner Truth. Similarities include styles of composition, reforming inspiration, and social impact aimed at recognizing diversity as a “superpower.

A Way of Proceeding: Ethical Decision-Making for Management Students at Jesuit Colleges

This textbook includes assignments (group and individual) suggested readings, and lectures for a 7 week course in Ethical Decision making. Although it was designed for an MBA program, the content has been adapted for other students and programs. Also included in the appendix is the full text for Management Exercises, a professional and spiritual development formation program based on the Spiritual Exercises that accompanies students and can be offered as a co-curricular or for credit. The content is designed to be built online on a Canvas platform. Kimberly Rae Conner is a Professor of Ethics in the School of Management at the University of San Francisco. She has a PhD in religion and literature and has published widely on African American religious life and cultural production, multicultural pedagogy, and Ignatian Spirituality. This work was made possible by the Open Education pilot grant at Gleeson Library | Geschke Center.https://repository.usfca.edu/faculty_books_2020/1006/thumbnail.jp

A Way of Proceeding: Ethical Decision-Making for Management Students at Jesuit Colleges

This textbook includes assignments (group and individual) suggested readings, and lectures for a 7 week course in Ethical Decision making. Although it was designed for an MBA program, the content has been adapted for other students and programs. Also included in the appendix is the full text for Management Exercises, a professional and spiritual development formation program based on the Spiritual Exercises that accompanies students and can be offered as a co-curricular or for credit. The content is designed to be built online on a Canvas platform. Kimberly Rae Conner is a Professor of Ethics in the School of Management at the University of San Francisco. She has a PhD in religion and literature and has published widely on African American religious life and cultural production, multicultural pedagogy, and Ignatian Spirituality. This work was made possible by the Open Education pilot grant at Gleeson Library | Geschke Center.https://repository.usfca.edu/faculty_books_all/1059/thumbnail.jp

The Management Exercises: A Way Forward with Purpose

This paper outlines the Management Exercises, a co-curricular program that reflects the more — the magis — to better prepare students as future leaders and citizens. The Management Exercises seek to further orient students toward a life of questioning and engagement as students learn to exercise discernment, to build character, and to enact citizenship. The four modules that comprise the Management Exercises are outlined in conjunction with the implementation of the Management Exercises into the school’s MBA program

The James Webb Space Telescope Mission

Twenty-six years ago a small committee report, building on earlier studies, expounded a compelling and poetic vision for the future of astronomy, calling for an infrared-optimized space telescope with an aperture of at least $4m$. With the support of their governments in the US, Europe, and Canada, 20,000 people realized that vision as the $6.5m$ James Webb Space Telescope. A generation of astronomers will celebrate their accomplishments for the life of the mission, potentially as long as 20 years, and beyond. This report and the scientific discoveries that follow are extended thank-you notes to the 20,000 team members. The telescope is working perfectly, with much better image quality than expected. In this and accompanying papers, we give a brief history, describe the observatory, outline its objectives and current observing program, and discuss the inventions and people who made it possible. We cite detailed reports on the design and the measured performance on orbit.Comment: Accepted by PASP for the special issue on The James Webb Space Telescope Overview, 29 pages, 4 figure

Adding 6 months of androgen deprivation therapy to postoperative radiotherapy for prostate cancer: a comparison of short-course versus no androgen deprivation therapy in the RADICALS-HD randomised controlled trial

Background Previous evidence indicates that adjuvant, short-course androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) improves metastasis-free survival when given with primary radiotherapy for intermediate-risk and high-risk localised prostate cancer. However, the value of ADT with postoperative radiotherapy after radical prostatectomy is unclear. Methods RADICALS-HD was an international randomised controlled trial to test the efficacy of ADT used in combination with postoperative radiotherapy for prostate cancer. Key eligibility criteria were indication for radiotherapy after radical prostatectomy for prostate cancer, prostate-specific antigen less than 5 ng/mL, absence of metastatic disease, and written consent. Participants were randomly assigned (1:1) to radiotherapy alone (no ADT) or radiotherapy with 6 months of ADT (short-course ADT), using monthly subcutaneous gonadotropin-releasing hormone analogue injections, daily oral bicalutamide monotherapy 150 mg, or monthly subcutaneous degarelix. Randomisation was done centrally through minimisation with a random element, stratified by Gleason score, positive margins, radiotherapy timing, planned radiotherapy schedule, and planned type of ADT, in a computerised system. The allocated treatment was not masked. The primary outcome measure was metastasis-free survival, defined as distant metastasis arising from prostate cancer or death from any cause. Standard survival analysis methods were used, accounting for randomisation stratification factors. The trial had 80% power with two-sided α of 5% to detect an absolute increase in 10-year metastasis-free survival from 80% to 86% (hazard ratio [HR] 0·67). Analyses followed the intention-to-treat principle. The trial is registered with the ISRCTN registry, ISRCTN40814031, and ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT00541047. Findings Between Nov 22, 2007, and June 29, 2015, 1480 patients (median age 66 years [IQR 61–69]) were randomly assigned to receive no ADT (n=737) or short-course ADT (n=743) in addition to postoperative radiotherapy at 121 centres in Canada, Denmark, Ireland, and the UK. With a median follow-up of 9·0 years (IQR 7·1–10·1), metastasis-free survival events were reported for 268 participants (142 in the no ADT group and 126 in the short-course ADT group; HR 0·886 [95% CI 0·688–1·140], p=0·35). 10-year metastasis-free survival was 79·2% (95% CI 75·4–82·5) in the no ADT group and 80·4% (76·6–83·6) in the short-course ADT group. Toxicity of grade 3 or higher was reported for 121 (17%) of 737 participants in the no ADT group and 100 (14%) of 743 in the short-course ADT group (p=0·15), with no treatment-related deaths. Interpretation Metastatic disease is uncommon following postoperative bed radiotherapy after radical prostatectomy. Adding 6 months of ADT to this radiotherapy did not improve metastasis-free survival compared with no ADT. These findings do not support the use of short-course ADT with postoperative radiotherapy in this patient population

Duration of androgen deprivation therapy with postoperative radiotherapy for prostate cancer: a comparison of long-course versus short-course androgen deprivation therapy in the RADICALS-HD randomised trial

Background Previous evidence supports androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) with primary radiotherapy as initial treatment for intermediate-risk and high-risk localised prostate cancer. However, the use and optimal duration of ADT with postoperative radiotherapy after radical prostatectomy remains uncertain. Methods RADICALS-HD was a randomised controlled trial of ADT duration within the RADICALS protocol. Here, we report on the comparison of short-course versus long-course ADT. Key eligibility criteria were indication for radiotherapy after previous radical prostatectomy for prostate cancer, prostate-specific antigen less than 5 ng/mL, absence of metastatic disease, and written consent. Participants were randomly assigned (1:1) to add 6 months of ADT (short-course ADT) or 24 months of ADT (long-course ADT) to radiotherapy, using subcutaneous gonadotrophin-releasing hormone analogue (monthly in the short-course ADT group and 3-monthly in the long-course ADT group), daily oral bicalutamide monotherapy 150 mg, or monthly subcutaneous degarelix. Randomisation was done centrally through minimisation with a random element, stratified by Gleason score, positive margins, radiotherapy timing, planned radiotherapy schedule, and planned type of ADT, in a computerised system. The allocated treatment was not masked. The primary outcome measure was metastasis-free survival, defined as metastasis arising from prostate cancer or death from any cause. The comparison had more than 80% power with two-sided α of 5% to detect an absolute increase in 10-year metastasis-free survival from 75% to 81% (hazard ratio [HR] 0·72). Standard time-to-event analyses were used. Analyses followed intention-to-treat principle. The trial is registered with the ISRCTN registry, ISRCTN40814031, and ClinicalTrials.gov , NCT00541047 . Findings Between Jan 30, 2008, and July 7, 2015, 1523 patients (median age 65 years, IQR 60–69) were randomly assigned to receive short-course ADT (n=761) or long-course ADT (n=762) in addition to postoperative radiotherapy at 138 centres in Canada, Denmark, Ireland, and the UK. With a median follow-up of 8·9 years (7·0–10·0), 313 metastasis-free survival events were reported overall (174 in the short-course ADT group and 139 in the long-course ADT group; HR 0·773 [95% CI 0·612–0·975]; p=0·029). 10-year metastasis-free survival was 71·9% (95% CI 67·6–75·7) in the short-course ADT group and 78·1% (74·2–81·5) in the long-course ADT group. Toxicity of grade 3 or higher was reported for 105 (14%) of 753 participants in the short-course ADT group and 142 (19%) of 757 participants in the long-course ADT group (p=0·025), with no treatment-related deaths. Interpretation Compared with adding 6 months of ADT, adding 24 months of ADT improved metastasis-free survival in people receiving postoperative radiotherapy. For individuals who can accept the additional duration of adverse effects, long-course ADT should be offered with postoperative radiotherapy. Funding Cancer Research UK, UK Research and Innovation (formerly Medical Research Council), and Canadian Cancer Society

Redeeming the Age in Which We Live: Ignazio Silone’s The Story of a Humble Christian

This essay explores Ignazio Silone’s seldom considered book, “The Story of a Humble Christian.” Part memoir, history, and theatre, this book tells the story of Pope Celestine V, the first, and until Benedict XVI, the only pope to resign. The book lends itself to an interpretation that applies a consideration of Silone’s recently revealed and complicated biography with a reflection on the current occupant of the papacy, Pope Francis, as a way to articulate how flawed humans can experience transcendent and transformative possibilities when they lead with humility

More Heat than Light: The Legacy of John Brown as Portrayed in Cloudsplitter

Russell Banks prit une voie nouvelle lorsqu’il publia Cloudsplitter, un roman à propos de John Brown et ce, principalement parce qu’il s’agissait d’un roman historique avec des implications dans le présent. Il commença le roman avec les faits tels qu’ils furent établis par les deux parties. Mais il comprit qu’en tant qu’écrivain il fallait partir des faits et écrire sur ce que l’on ne savait pas. Le personnage d’Owen peut alors faire pour John Brown ce que l’histoire n’a pas su faire. C’est cet homme moderne qui parle d’un autre siècle qui est créé par Banks pour répondre aux questions posées par les expériences comparées de Clinton et de Brown. Pourquoi seul un homme blanc moderne semble-t-il digne d’être reçu au panthéon des Noirs et comment se fait-il que les critères de la négritude restent inchangés