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SOURCE: Carol Traynor, Marketing and Media Relations, 407-299-5000, ext. 1017; ctraynor@valenciacc.edu Noted Author and Sociologist Earl Shorris Redefines Povertyand Ways to Conquer It in Upcoming Talk at ValenciaOn May 9 at 7 p.m., nationally recognized author and lecturer Earl Shorris will speak at the East Campus Performing Arts Center of Valencia Community College. Author of Riches for the Poor: The Clemente Course in the Humanities [W.W. Norton 2000] and New American Blues: A Journey Through Poverty to Democracy [W.W. Norton 1997], Shorris will speak on life as the poor experience it, and will address his thesis that an education in the humanities could be the solution to multigenerational poverty. Shorris’ revolutionary idea first came about through his research for New American Blues, where he collected personal stories from those who are poor and living in such varied places as the South Bronx, Oakland, rural Tennessee and northern Florida. Through the narrative he asks readers to consider his premise that “if the poor are human, and if the cultivation of their humanity benefits both society and the poor themselves, then why not teach them the humanities as the basic tools of citizenship?” In 1995, Shorris put to the test his so-called “Clemente Course” in a school he started on the Lower East Side of Manhattan. He enlisted friends to help him teach logic, poetry, art and moral philosophy to a group of young people comprised of poor immigrants, ex-convicts, single mothers, recovering addicts, homeless people and a person dying of AIDS. His experiment yielded extraordinary results: of the 31 who started the course, 17 completed it, and six months after graduation only one of the students was not enrolled in college, working full-time or both. Now in its sixth year, the Clemente course is offered in 17 locations throughout the U.S., Canada, Mexico and France. Valencia hopes to obtain funding to bring a Clemente course to Orlando, which the college will implement in partnership with The Ripple Effect, an Orlando non-profit that helps the homeless, and Best Cleaners. Shorris’ articles and essays have appeared in Harper’s Magazine, The Nation, The Atlantic Monthly, The New York Times and The Los Angeles Times, as well as on National Public Radio. He has lectured extensively, most notably at the Smithsonian Institution, the National Archives and the National Endowment for the Humanities. For further information, call (407) 299-5000, ext. 1468, or visit www.valenciacc.edu/clemente. Signing services for the hearing impaired are available upon request (please make request no later than five days prior to the event). Shorris’ appearance is made possible through a grant from the Florida Humanities Council and the National Endowment for the Humanities, 599 Second Street South, St. Petersburg, Florida, 33701-5005. # # #
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