Extra Credit on Shelley and his Circle (Spring 2012):  

The purpose of this extra credit it to encourage you engage with scholarship about Romanticism, and the cultural life of New York. This extra credit is NOT required; it is entirely optional and restricted to the following lectures.


Directions: Visit one of the following talks this semester at the New York Public Library (5th Ave. and 42nd St.) or the Mid-Manhattan Library (5th Ave. and 40th St.), write at least a page (250 words not incl. citation) about the talk, and cite the lecture according to the MLA method.


Your summary will be scored 1 (okay), 2 (fine), 3 (good/very good) or 4 points (great/excellent), which will be added to your lowest-scoring assignment at the end of the semester. Excellent responses might also tie the lecture to a visit to the accompanying exhibition, Shelley's Ghost: the Afterlife of a Poet.


The last day to turn in the extra credit is in class on Tuesday, April 17th as a hard copy to the instructor. Please also post your summary to Assignments > Extra Credit so that other students can read about the lecture (and maybe exhibit) you experienced. 


Choose 1 of the following talks to attend & write about:

 

Tuesday 21 February, at 6:00 in the Berger Forum (Room 224) Stephen Hebron, curator of Shelley's Ghost and author of the companion volume of the same title, will give an illustrated talk called "Shelley Displayed." He will have just flown in from Oxford for the opening. Take the elevator to the second floor and the Berger Forum is just across the hallway.

 

Friday 9 March, at 1:15 in the South Court Auditorium, Kathleen Lubey of St. John's University will speak on  "Late Eighteenth-Century Feminisms: Mary Wollstonecraft and her Contemporaries." Take the South Court elevator, just past the Wachenheim gallery and through the glass door, to level A.


Friday 9 March, at 7pm at Celeste Bartos Forum, New York Public Library, Occupy Rousseau: Inequality and Social Justice, 455 5th Ave. (5th Ave. & 34th St.--2 ave.s from Penn Station), $15 w/student i.d.: roundtable w/notables incl. Eliot Spitzer, Simon Schama

 

Wednesday 13 March, at 6:30 on the 6th floor of Mid-Manhattan Library (Fifth Avenue and 40th Street), Elizabeth Denlinger will give a talk entitled "Sparks and Ashes: the Afterlife of a Poet, his Widow, and his Manuscripts."

 

Friday 16 March at, 1:15 in the South Court Auditorium, Eric Eisner of George Mason University will speak on "Romantic Fandom."

 

Thursday 22 March, at 1:15 in the South Court Auditorium, Ashley Cross of Manhattan College will speak on "Vindicating the Writing Woman: Mary Robinson in Dialogue with Godwin and Wollstonecraft."


Wednesday 28 March, at 1:15 in the South Court Auditorium, Matthew Rowney of the CUNY Graduate Center will speak on "Mary Shelley’s Last Man: Sibylline Leaves."


How to get to the New York Public Libraries from Montclair State University via Public Transportation:


- via bus: take Decamp bus #66 or #66R (look on Commuter Services > Schedules and Routes > W. Orange to NY Rt. 66 for Montclair State University bus stop). The campus stop is in front of the Red Hawk Deck. The driver only takes exact change ($7.40).


When you arrive at Port Authority, walk 2 blocks east to Bryant Park, and walk through the Park to the library (or farther past the main Research Library to get to the Mid-Manhattan branch library).


When returning to Montclair, follow signs to gate 412 (double check sign on gate: 66 or 66R), on the top floor. However, you must have already purchased your ticket to board the bus. Tickets can be purchased on the first floor (past the commercial stores, towards 9th Ave.). The DeCamp office is next to the Academy bus line ticket office.


Pros of taking the bus: It can be quick (25 min.), but you need to really watch for it to arrive at MSU. This is the most direct route to NYPL, and you don't need to take a subway.


Cons of taking the bus: Don't take the bus between 4 and 6pm, when traffic is heavy. I don't know how heavy the traffic is returning from NYC in the evening rush hour. You need exact change for the outgoing fare, and to buy your ticket in NYC ahead of time.  


- via train: see the Montclair-Boonton (Midtown Direct) train schedule at http://www.njtransit.com Don't forget to buy your ticket before you board the train.


Once you arrive at Penn Station, walk 10 blocks north to Bryant Park, or take any uptown orange-line train (B, D, F, M) to 42nd St./Bryant Park from 6th Ave. after you exit the station. Then walk through the Park to the library (or farther past the main Research Library to get to the Mid-Manhattan branch library). Or take a red-line train (1, 2, 3) from inside Penn Station to 42nd St., and walk one block east to Bryant Park.


Pros of taking the train: The train arrives at reliable times, and I find it more conducive for getting work done (reading). Traffic does not affect train rides.


Cons of taking the train: It takes longer than the bus (at least 45 min.). You'll need to get from 33rd St. up to Bryant Park, either by walking or taking the subway. You need to buy both your tickets ahead of time.