The Eckerd FYE class \u201cQuest for Justice\u201d took their learning to the next level in celebrating World Book Day with \u201cblind date with a book\u201ds, stickers, and other activities in the James Center on April 23rd. A truly notable date,as\u00a0 it celebrates the author of Don Quixote, Miguel de Cervantes, the birth and death day of William Shakespeare and St. George\u2019s Day, which is Valentine’s Day in Catalonia, Spain.<\/p>\n
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The Literary Love Fest, held on World Book Day (April 23), boasted several activities: sticker collecting, a blind book swap, a raffle for cheese and books, and a special appearance by Don Quixote and Freston themselves.<\/p>\n
Photo by Mia Henrich<\/p>\n
The class of nine students, taught by Professor Cristina Delano, an assistant professor of Spanish at Eckerd College, has a special appreciation for World Book Day as they spent the semester reading all of Don Quixote, a 900 page novel. Delano\u2019s Early Modern Spanish Literature course assisted in the festivities, the class well versed in the themes.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cReading a long book is sort of a super power\u2026 a novel, like Don Quixote, requires long sustained attention and engagement,\u201d said Delano. In a world where AI is developing and social media promotes short attention spans, reading a long, hard book can be considered antiquated. Especially the first modern novel of Don Quixote, written over 400 years ago.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s really brought me into a place where I can question the meanings of truth, justice and the common good and how they can get very muddy when it comes to differences in people and their experiences,\u201d said William Alvarado, a freshman in philosophy. He selected the course by chance after his first choice filled up, and it has required reflection in a way he didn\u2019t expect.<\/p>\n
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A poster was hung up on the James Center wall, inviting students to share their favorite books. Answers ranged from the sci-fi Project Hail Mary to plays by Shakespeare.<\/p>\n
Photo by Mia Henrich<\/p>\n
Students passing by wrote their favorite books on the wall, picked up book themed stickers and added their names to the raffle for Manchego cheese and a vintage copy of Don Quixote. The class started an Instagram page to promote the event, posting their own \u201cDon Quixote” adventuring around Eckerd College. Each of the students contributed to planning the day, running the Instagram page, acting as\u00a0different characters and manning the table.<\/p>\n
The event ended in a duel between the Sorcerer Freston and Don Quixote, with the Lady Dulcinea looking on from the sidelines.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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Students portraying fictional characters Don Quixote (left) and Freston the Sorcerer (right) faced off in the James Center lobby.<\/p>\n
Photo by Mia Henrich<\/p>\n
\u201cAs much as I like it, I don\u2019t think just anyone can pick it up,\u201d said Alvaro, \u201cI think it requires a lot of deep thinking. Even to the point where, I won\u2019t realize things until my professor points them out.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI think reading literature, whether it\u2019s in English, Spanish, French, or any of the languages that our faculty teach literature is a fundamental part of the liberal arts education, and it\u2019s a fundamental part of an accurate education,\u201d said Delano.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Eckerd FYE class \u201cQuest for Justice\u201d took their learning to the next level in celebrating World Book…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":249577,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[1209,202,204,203,199,201,200],"class_list":["post-249576","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-st-petersburg","tag-culture","tag-st-pete","tag-st-pete-headlines","tag-st-pete-news","tag-st-petersburg","tag-st-petersburg-headlines","tag-st-petersburg-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/249576","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=249576"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/249576\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/249577"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=249576"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=249576"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=249576"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}