Alexandra The Great and her Aweseome Blog!

Note: THIS IS NOT FACTUAL! This is for a class assignment!! but, Terry Tempest Williams is really coming to hamline to speak about her new book. not her battle with cancer.

Finding Beauty in a Broken World, Terry Tempest Williams

World renowned author, Terry Tempest Williams will be joining us at Hamline University April 20th and 21st to speak about her latest book Finding Beauty in a Broken World.

On Tuesday, April 20th, 2010 Terry Tempest Williams will be speaking at the annual Mahle lecture. Williams will be speaking about her journey, growing up Mormon in Utah, and her struggle with cancer. She will be reading passages from her latest book Finding Beauty in a Broken World, which addresses environmental issues as well her views of life and where it is taking her.

This event will be hosted by Hamline University at, Hamline United Methodist Church at 1514 Englewood Ave. at 7:30 P.M. This event is open to the public, and free parking is available on site.

Terry Tempest Williams, like many of the women in her family, is a cancer survivor. It is through this experience that she is able to share with us how she was able to find her beauty amongst the shards that her life had become.
Willaims is also known her other literary works, Refuge: An Unnatural History of Family and Place; An Unspoken Hunger; Desert Quartet; Leap; Red: Passion and Patience in the Desert; and The Open Space of Democracy. In all of her writing She is able to paint a vivid picture of what she is seeing and you feel as if you are there.

For additional information about the Mahle Lecture, contact Alexandra Roetman, or visit www.hamline.edu. You can also find Terry’s books at most book stores.

Terry Tempest William’s visit is being made possible with the help of Hamline University, the Wesley Center for Spirituality, Mahle Endowed Fund for Progressive Christian Though, as well as the Mahle Scholars.

For more information contact, Alexandra Roetman, Mahle Scholar at Hamline University 352-650-7814.

War Made Easy, a film that clearly shows how the government uses media and propaganda as a way to persuade the public into thinking that going into war is the right thing to do.

After seeing the movie War Made Easy I was amazed at the language and tactics used by the government to engage the public into thinking that war is the right thing to do in any situation. It is sad to say that I have been so blinded by the media, that I was a victim to their propaganda tactics. I shocked myself with how much I did not know.

I found this video very important. After seeing War Made Easy i have completely changed how I read news and what I take in. I am taking the Introduction to Critical Media Studies class; watching this film has integrated what i am learning here as well as in that class. I wish that more people could see these films to open their eyes and see a close up of what messages are really being spread.

One of the things that I found most surprising was the continuous use of certain phrases. It almost felt like I was watching “media brain washing revealed”. During parts of the film where it is brought to our attention that politicians are using these words and phrases insisting that there is going to be right or wrong, that people are patriotic or unpatriotic, and that the wars we engage in are about good or evil. I felt like the use of these tactics was to make us feel one way in order to support his/her motions in bringing us to war with countries that we do not have business being in.

I do not think that people realize how much the media gets into our heads, but this video really opened that up for me. The film also challenged me to look deeper into what i read and see in the media. I changed how I view what is being said to me and to make sure that I REALLY pay attention and do not become another victim of media overload.

*edited final copy