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River Campus Libraries
3 'Serious' Questions with Emily Bernard
The Nashville-born author talks about being alone in the
pandemic, Zoom intrigue, and Fisk University.
September 30, 2020
Author: Cook, Matthew
Since early March, Black lives have been at the
forefront of many Rochester minds, grappling with
the deaths of Breonna Taylor, George Floyd, and
most recently, one of their own community
members, Daniel Prude. These events, and
subsequent demonstrations and protests held
across the country, have been catalysts for new
conversation on and examination of the Black
experience. River Campus Libraries’ next Neilly
Series author, Emily Bernard, explores the subjects
of race and being Black in America in her memoir
Black Is the Body: Stories from My
Grandmother’s Time, My Mother’s Time, and
Mine.
Inspired by a random stabbing in a New Haven café, Black Is the Body covers Bernard’s experience growing
up Black in Nashville, her marriage to a white man, and other topics rooted in race through 12 essays. On
October 14, Bernard will share what she’s learned about American race relations, the difference between a
situation and a story, and the relationship between resilience, writing, and healing in a virtual Neilly Author
Series lecture.
In advance of her talk, Bernard was kind enough to tackle three “serious” questions from Tower Talk Editor
Matt Cook.
To cope with the pandemic, people have picked up new hobbies, baked a year’s worth of bread, invested
in home gyms, and streamed hundreds of hours of television. What have you been doing to help you
weather the current norm?
�This may sound strange, but I am learning how to be alone. Now, I share my house with my husband, two
daughters, as well as our dog and cats. So, I am rarely alone in a literal way, but all of this togetherness has
actually forced me to confront how much my sense of self is bound up in my connections with others. I am
working to cultivate stillness; even though I am trapped in the house as much as anyone else, I still find
myself inclined to fill up my days with lots of activity. Being in a situation in which I am stripped of options and
the large variety of company that I, in ordinary times, seek out, has taught me that what I actually need is less
of everything that anyone else can give me, and more of what I can provide for myself.
Although the University of Vermont has reopened its campus, you, as the Julian Lindsay Green & Gold
Professor of English, have undoubtedly had your share of Zoom meetings and classes. What is your
biggest Zoom pet peeve?
I have done approximately one billion Zoom/Instagram/FaceTime interviews, book groups, readings, and
discussions since the beginning of the COVID-19 crisis. Even after all of these months, I still find the paradox
of remote intimacy mostly intriguing. When it comes to the classroom, Zoom meetings mean that we are
inches away from each other, much closer than we would ever be in real life (this is particularly true for oneon-one meetings). At the same time, because most of these students I have never seen in real time, I have
no idea how tall they are, or even really what they look like. I mean, I can see their faces, but knowing what
someone looks like requires being able to see something other than their features. But as much as I miss
getting to know my students in real time, I remain interested in this new way of relating. A few weeks ago, I
might have responded to this question by saying, “I hate it when my students keep their cameras off and I
can’t see their faces.” But a few weeks in, I’ve learned to accept this and find myself concentrating much
more on the beauty of the writing I am teaching as opposed to the reactions of my students.
Nashville, Tennessee is perhaps most known for being a sort of Mecca for country music fans. As
someone who grew up there, is there something else it should be known for instead?
Nashville is the site of some of the earliest important lunch-counter sit-ins and protests during the civil rights
movement, spearheaded by Diane Nash and John Lewis, who were both students at Fisk. To me, Fisk
University is the shimmering treasure of Nashville, one of the nation’s oldest HBCUs and the locus of layers
of black political thought and creative innovation. I’m biased, maybe, because my parents both attended
Fisk, and I grew up on their stories about all of the artists, writers, and leaders that it produced. They are my
creative ancestors; all of my writing is just about trying to live up to the example they set. ∎
For more information on Emily Bernard’s lecture or the Neilly Author Series, contact Amy Reichman at
amy.reichman@rochester.edu. Enjoy reading about the University of Rochester Libraries? Subscribe
to Tower Talk.
�
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Neilly Author Series
About Andrew H. and Janet Dayton Neilly
In a wonderful millennium gift, Life Trustee Andrew H. Neilly and his wife, Janet, established a
named, endowed library position at the University of Rochester with a $1 million gift. The Andrew
H. and Janet Dayton Neilly Dean of River Campus Libraries Endowment is used by the dean to
support library programs designed to contribute to the intellectual life of the University and to
enhance the libraries' collections related to academic initiatives. With this purpose, the Neilly
Series was established in 2001.
The libraries have been the focus of Andy Neilly's interest at the University for many years. During
the University's Campaign for the '90s, Andy and his co-chair and good friend, Jack Keil, raised
several million dollars in support of the libraries.
A graduate of the Class of 1947, Andy had a distinguished career in the field of publishing, serving
as president, CEO, and vice chairman of the board of John Wiley & Sons in New York City before
his retirement in 1995. Both he and Janet grew up in Rochester. Janet attended William Smith
College and Northwestern University. She is a founder of Connecticut Hospice.
Andy has noted on many occasions, "The library is the key to the University. It is the center for
everything else that happens here."
2019-2020
Dani Shapiro
Date: Monday, October 14, 2019
Time: 6:00p.m.
Location: Hawkins-Carlson Room, Rush Rhees Library
What makes a person a person? What combination of heredity and environment, nature and
nurture, shapes our lives and forms our identity? After a lifetime spent writing fiction and
memoir about the corrosive power of secrets within families, Dani Shapiro stumbled upon a
massive family secret of her own: her beloved father was not her father. As she writes
in Inheritance: “I always knew there was a secret. What I didn’t know: the secret was me.”
This lecture delves into Shapiro’s own detective story as she discovers a radically different
truth than the one she had known, and shines a spotlight on the complex, ethical
ramifications of this moment in history, during which science and technology have outpaced
the human heart's capacity to contend with what we may discover.
The lecture is free and open to the public. Reserved parking is available in the Library Lot.
For more information, call 585-275-4461.
Sponsored by Andrew H. and Janet Dayton Neilly Endowments and the River Campus
Libraries.
Daniel M. Kimmel
Date: Wednesday, November 6, 2019
Time: 7:00p.m.
Location: Hawkins-Carlson Room, Rush Rhees Library
In 1818, Mary Shelley wrote Frankenstein, creating the iconic concept, and incidentally
creating modern science fiction. In 1935, Elsa Lanchester married the monster.
And now, Daniel M. Kimmel ’77 updates the myth, and tells the tale from the point of view
of the most important character: the Father of the Bride of Frankenstein.
This is not Ms. Shelley’s monster, but a dazzling urbanite, literate and thoughtful… and
Jewish?
Film critic and 2018 Skylark Award (formally known as the Edward E. Smith Memorial
Award for Imaginative Fiction) winner Daniel M. Kimmel ‘77 will speak about science fiction,
his
creative process, and his latest work, “Father of the Bride of Frankenstein.”
The lecture is free and open to the public. Reserved parking is available in the Library Lot.
For more information, call 585-275-4461.
Sponsored by Andrew H. and Janet Dayton Neilly Endowments and the River Campus
Libraries.
�Lauren Haley
Date: Tuesday, Febryary 11, 2020
Time: 6:00p.m.
Location: Hawkins-Carlson Room, Rush Rhees Library
Lauren Alexandra Haley is a violinist, pedagogy expert, and the author of Kids Aren’t Lazy:
Developing Motivation & Talent Through Music.
In redefining motivation as the learned rush of joy from conquering challenges, and talent as
the sum of current skills that makes learning new ones easier, Haley reframes the way
parents and educators understand the power of music education. With an emphasis on
communication, Kids Aren’t Lazy empowers families and teachers with breakthrough
strategies for fostering musical proficiency and cultivating healthy behavioral patterns in all
areas of study.
A violin performance graduate of the Eastman School of Music, Haley is the founder of Lauren
Haley Studios, which enrolls 50 young musicians and their families in Houston, TX.
The lecture is free and open to the public. Reserved parking is available in the Library Lot. For
more information, call 585-275-4461.
Sponsored by Andrew H. and Janet Dayton Neilly Endowment and the River Campus Libraries.
Emily Bernard
Date: Thursday, April 9, 2020
Time: 6:00p.m.
Location: Hawkins-Carlson Room, Rush Rhees Library
As a graduate student, Emily Bernard was the victim of a random stabbing in a New Haven
café. In this powerful lecture, she shares the story of her journey to ultimately make sense of
this bizarre act of violence, including what it taught her about American race relations, the
difference between a situation and a story, and the relationship between resilience, writing,
and healing. Her latest book, Black is the Body, consists of 13 powerful essays conceived while
Bernard was hospitalized after the stabbing.
Emily Bernard was born and grew up in Nashville, Tennessee, and received her PhD in
American studies from Yale University. She has been the recipient of grants from the Ford
Foundation, the NEH, and a W. E. B. Du Bois Resident Fellowship at Harvard University. She is
the Julian Lindsay Green & Good Professor of English at the University of Vermont.
The lecture is free and open to the public. Reserved parking is available in the Library Lot. For
more information, call 585-275-4461.
Sponsored by Andrew H. and Janet Dayton Neilly Endowments and the River Campus
Libraries.
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Rare Books, Special Collections, and Preservation, River Campus Libraries, University of Rochester
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2020-10-14
2020-04-09
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<p>As a graduate student, Emily Bernard was the victim of a random stabbing in a New Haven café. In this powerful lecture, she shares the story of her journey to ultimately make sense of this bizarre act of violence, including what it taught her about American race relations, the difference between a situation and a story, and the relationship between resilience, writing, and healing. Her latest book, <em>Black is the Body</em>, consists of 13 powerful essays conceived while Bernard was hospitalized after the stabbing.</p>
<p>Emily Bernard was born and grew up in Nashville, Tennessee, and received her PhD in American studies from Yale University. She has been the recipient of grants from the Ford Foundation, the NEH, and a W. E. B. Du Bois Resident Fellowship at Harvard University. She is the Julian Lindsay Green & Good Professor of English at the University of Vermont.<br /><br />Note: The initial lecture (April 9, 2020) was postponed until October 10, 2021, when the address was delivered via Zoom.</p>
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