The "First Independent Conference on Multinational Studies"
at
The CNL / Anne and Henry Paolucci International Conference Center
March 25, 2000
COUNCIL ON NATIONAL LITERATURES
Anne Paolucci, President
* The CNL ANNE AND HENRY PAOLUCCI INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE CENTER
* 68-02 METROPOLITAN AVENUE * MIDDLE VILLAGE * NEW YORK 11379
COUNCIL ON NATIONAL LITERATURES HOLDS ITS FIRST INDEPENDENT CONFERENCE AT
THE NEWLY ESTABLISHED "CNL ANNE AND HENRY PAOLUCCI INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE CENTER"
AND HONORS THREE EDUCATORS AT ITS AWARDS DINNER ON
SATURDAY, MARCH 25, 2000
On Saturday March 25 2000, Council on National Literatures sponsored its first independent conference on multinational studies and its first annual awards dinner honoring college and high school faculty who have done exceptional work in the classroom and in their writings to promote literatures not in the traditional mainstream. The honorees were chosen as a result of a national competition.
The multifaceted conference featured a discussion panel on ways and means for expanding high school curricula; papers on Indian fiction, presentations on integrating emergent and neglected literatures into the mainstream, on middle eastern sources of Puccini's "Turandot" and on the need for restructuring the Humanities..
Also included in the Conference program were
"Songs of Japan" by Sakura (Japanese Women's Chorus)
~ AND ~
the presentation of a New York State Senate Citation by Senator Serphin R. Maltese to artist Sirena, who recently donated her series of 13 Columbus paintings to the CNL ANNE AND HENRY PAOLUCCI INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE CENTER.
The dinner, which followed the all-day Conference, honored the recipients of the first "CNL: Anne and Henry Paolucci Awards in Multinational Studies". The winnners of the college/university faculty award were:
Professor Constance M. Cook of Lehigh University ~ and ~Professor Robert Viscusi Executive Officer of Ethyl Wolfe Institute for the Humanities and member of the Engish Department, Brooklyn College of the City University of New York. Professor Cook was singled out for bringing to courses and syllabi of the Department of Modern Foreign Languages and Literature the rich culture of China; Professor Viscusi was chosen for exceptional work in redefining the Humanities and expanding them into new areas. Each of the two winners received checks for $2,000. Dr. Anne Paolucci, President of CNL, and Dr. Allen Sessoms, President of Queens College, CUNY, presented the awards.
Joel Coleman, Ph.D., a teacher at Riverside Military Academy in Gainsville, Georgia, was the recipient of the CNL high school faculty award. Dr. Coleman has been instrumental in revising syllabi in English Literature to include South African, Korean, Chinese, Cuban, Vietnamese and American minority writers, as well as Russian, Bulgarian, Irish, and German texts in the context of European literary history. A check for $1,000 was presenteed to Dr. Coleman by Dr. Paolucci and Dr. Irene Impellizeri, a member of the New York City Board of Education.
Five Seniors at Christ the King Regional High School each received an award of $100 for essays written in connection with a special competition within the school. These are: Cassandra Manos, Kerry Pompeo, Ugne Ulozeviciute, Heather Zabrocki, and Anna Zymunt. Dr. Paolucci and Elizabeth Lawler, Principal of Christ the King Regional High School, presented the student awards.
Commenting on the inclusion of faculty and student awards on the high school level, Dr. Paolucci said :"I am a firm believer in the 'seamless transition' from high school into college. In this age of global awareness, all of us, but especially educators, should encourage the exploration of ethnic diversity in all its aspects. We have a committment to do so, both as citizens and as educators."
Queens Borough President Claire Shulman, New York State Senator Serphin R. Maltese, New York City Council member Tom Ognibene, Dr. Giorgio Radicati, Consul General of Italy in New York, were among the dignitaries who brought greetings to the assembeled dinner guests. Keynote speaker was Dr. John Gillespie, President of Gillespie Global Group and an expert in Japanese drama.
The "CNL / Anne and Henry Paolucci Conference on Multinational Studies" marked CNL's 25th anniverary.
The non-profit educational foundation was launched in 1975 as "a forum for scholars and teachers concerned with the comparative study of the established, emergent and neglcted national literatures that make up the written and oral artistic legacy of the diverse contemporary peoples of the world."
CNL publishes Review of National Literatures, an annual series which provides "overviews" of literatures not in the traditional European-based mainstream, and, since 1985, CNL/World Report, a second annual series featuring the continuing dialogue, among scholars and students of the world's literatures, on ways and means of integrating single literatures into multicomparative literary studies.
CNL member libraries are in the US, Canada, Mexico, Japan, Korea, Vietman, China, India, Malaysia, Australia, Norway, Sweden, countries in Europe, Africa, the Carribean, and Latin America.
