Fulbright scholar speaks at JSU

By: Chris Pittman

Posted: 11/16/06

Fulbright Scholar Dr. Said Mentak of Morocco spent three weeks on JSU's campus as part of the Council for International Exchange of Scholars program.

Mentak delivered a lecture entitled "Postmodernist American Fiction: A Reading of Kurt Vonnegut." The lecture was part of the English Department Lecture Series and took place on Wednesday, Nov. 8 on the 11th floor of the Houston Cole Library.

"Everyone has been very friendly to me during my stay," Mentak said. "People will greet me as I walk down the hallways, even though they do not know who I am. That is very different then other places."

Mentak began by talking about the country of Morocco, from its location to how there are little more than ten universities.

Another point of discussion in Mentak's lecture was the differences between the English department at his school and those of American universities. He elaborated by mentioning how cultural misunderstandings can make it difficult on students when they are learning about foreign authors.

Postmodernism was also a key element of the lecture. He expressed some of the difficulties in teaching the material to his students, saying how difficult it is to explain and how you must use different terms in order to provide more clarity.

Mentak then gave the audience a detailed explanation of postmodernism with examples to make it a little bit easier to understand.

According to Mentak, postmodernists believe that a human being goes through phases, and views will change as the phases change. These phases are based upon various elements such as time, setting and state of mind.

The focus then shifted to Kurt Vonnegut, whose work Mentak encourages his students to read.

Vonnegut's style of fiction mixed with reality was very well-received. Mentak read several small passages from some of Vonnegut's stories "Cat's Cradle," "Slaughterhouse-Five" and "Breakfast of Champions."

Mentak was very pleased with the JSU campus. He talked about how nice the JSU staff and students have been to him during his three-week stay.

Professor of English Randall Davis was one of many in attendance. He was also fascinated to see the same material that he teaches presented in a different manner.

"It was very interesting to hear the students' reactions on the topic of Vonnegut's works," Davis said.

Associate Professor of English Dr. Teresa Reed has been part of the English Department Lecture Series since her arrival at JSU in 1996.

"Our goal is to have at least one English presentation every semester," Reed said.

The department tries to schedule multiple events a semester if possible. The next lecture in the series will be provided by JSU assistant professor Andrea Porter. Porter's lecture is entitled "Failure of the the Vietnam Myth."

The current date for the presentation has not been set as of yet.