Kingston speaks at SAS Dean's Forum

Members of the Class of 2002 may recall the fuchsia-colored novel The Woman Warrior which appeared in their mailboxes last August as part of the Penn Reading Project. The book's author, Maxine Hong Kingston, a creative writing professor at the University of California at Berkeley, spoke at the School of Arts and Sciences' 16th annual Dean's Forum yesterday after taking part in several other events around campus earlier in the day. At the forum, SAS Dean Samuel Preston honored undergraduate and graduate students as Dean's Scholars, after which Kingston spoke to the audience about how her novels relate to war and peace. "It provided for a more interesting afternoon with Kingston speaking, rather than only presenting us with awards," Dean's Scholar and College senior Deepak Sampathu said. University Trustee Natalie Koether, who has been chairperson of the SAS Board of Overseers for the past nine years, was also honored with the first-ever Dean's Medal in recognition of her extraordinary service to SAS and her leadership. Immediately following the award presentation, Kingston lectured on "The Woman Warrior and Beyond." She addressed the audience by doing what she does best -- telling stories. Kingston mentioned that she recently found out that The Woman Warrior was being taught in one of the most unusual places she had ever heard of, the United States Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs. When she visited the institution to find out why the students were reading her book, she learned they were doing so because the novel was an inspiring myth that gave support to the female soldiers at the Academy. This first "talk story" was Kingston's way of introducing a discussion on war and peace. She explained that she meant to make Warrior a nonviolent piece of writing. "Unbelievably enough, I never tied war and peace into the actual novel so strongly," said College freshman Amy Timmerman, a Daily Pennsylvanian staff member. "To hear [Kingston] talking about the novel and identifying it in the context of war makes me think that I should go back and read it again." Kingston mentioned how she decided several years ago to write an addition to the three sacred Chinese books of peace which suggested tactics on how to end war and make peace. She was going to invent a fourth book of peace that would fit herself and modern times. But the fires that struck Berkeley, Calif., several years ago burned down Kingston's house and with it, her work. It was then that Kingston realized she was going about writing the book the wrong way. She said she knew that to write about peace and harmony she should be around those elements, not alone in her attic. "I had to create a community first before I could write about one," Kingston told the crowd of a several hundred people. And that is exactly what she did. She gathered together a group of homeless war veterans eight years ago and since then the group has continued to meet regularly to write, eat and relax together. They even share their writing pieces with one another. "It's not fair if I do all the work and all you do is read it," Kingston said. "A perfect community happens when you talk back to me." Prior to Kingston's speech, Preston named 20 students Dean's Scholars for their exceptional academic performance, rigorous course loads and extracurricular pursuits. The honored College students included sophomores Sofya Malamud and Kai Ouye; juniors David Boncarosky, Kristina Herbert and Andrew March; and seniors Christopher Cutie, Beth Ann Griffin, Sampathu and Anastasia Schulze. In the graduate division, Dean's Scholar recipients were History and Sociology of Science student Joshua Buhs; Sara Davis, Asian and Middle Eastern Studies; John Harding, Religious Studies; Matthew Hart, English; Stephen Hock; Heidi Kuehne, Biology; Carlos Norena, Ancient History; Julia Shear, Art and Archaeology; Andrey Schevchenko, Economics; Patricia Stern, Sociology; and Isabel Taube, Art History. Additionally, College of General Studies graduate student Patricia Scott was named a Dean's Scholar. Earlier in the day, Kingston lectured to English Professor Mark Chiang's class, where students had the opportunity to ask her about her follow-up novel to The Woman Warrior, China Men, which they had previously read in class. In addition to giving advice to aspiring writers in that class, Kingston also held a writing workshop with 15 selected Penn students at Kelly Writers House later yesterday the afternoon.

Please note All comments are eligible for publication in The Daily Pennsylvanian.