On May 9 at 7 p.m.,
Mr. Earl Shorris will speak
at Valencia on "Making the Poor Dangerous: I Found My Job through the Apology
of Plato." Mr. Shorris is a noted author of over one dozen books
including 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] and creator
of Bard College's Clemente Course in the Humanities. He will discuss how the
course leads its participants out of poverty to pursue higher education. His
presentation will include the philosophy behind the project, its history,
development, structure, content, and success rate. 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 imigrants,
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.
Following his presentation,
attendees will be given the opportunity to ask questions and dialogue with Mr.
Shorris on the topic. This event will be held at Valencia's East Campus
Performing Arts Center (PAC). With seating for 558 people, the PAC can handle the large
audience anticipated for this event.
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.
