English Department Colloquium Series features Dr. Matthew Batt Friday
UST students, staff and faculty are invited to the 2008-09 English Department Colloquium Series. The third lecturer in the series is Dr. Matthew Batt, assistant professor of English at UST, who will present "This Little Knife of Mine: Ritual Pageants of Emasculation and Other Follies of Home Renovation."
Matthew Batt
The event will be held from 3:30-5 p.m. Friday, Feb. 20, in the O'Shaughnessy Room, Room 108, of the O'Shaughnessy-Frey Library Center. Light refreshments will be served.
Batt will read from Sugar House, a memoir of rebuilding a home, a marriage and a life. Work on his project began when his father, grandfather and grandmother all died within a year. Doctors found a malignant mass on his mother's back and diagnosed his surviving grandfather with prostate cancer. His best friend was about to have a baby while carrying on an affair at the same time.
Though things looked bleak all around Batt's family, instead of giving up, he and his wife dug in and bought what was once likely a crack house and began renovating it themselves. They tore up toxic carpet, laid down slate tile, peeled off cheap paneling, fixed the foundation, patched the walls and called it home. They stripped years of veneer on their hands and knees, sanded and sealed once hidden hardwood floors, and in doing so brought more than maple floors back to their original shine.
Questions about the colloquium series can be directed to the English Department, (651) 962-5600.
