Combining festivities with class

The Los Angeles Times Festival of Books is not the first place
most UCLA professors go to find material for their research or the
classes they teach. Some may casually look through the shelves with
their families, but others avoid them altogether.

“I don’t browse the booths. That’s something I
can do anywhere,” said Reed Wilson, director of the
Undergraduate Research Center of Humanities and Social Sciences.
“Aficionados of the festival come for the speakers and
panels.”

But a minority of professors have found a way to incorporate the
Festival of Books into academia. Wilson is among a very small group
of UCLA professors who promote the Festival of Books as part of
their curriculum. As part of his Fiat Lux seminar, “National
Poetry Month ““ and Beyond,” Wilson requires his
students to attend at least four poetry readings at the Festival of
Books, fill out a “reading/event worksheet” for each,
then discuss the readings in class.

“It’s a fabulous way to experience different poets
over the course of two days,” Wilson said. “It’s
hard to get around in Los Angeles. If you want students to attend
something that’s not part of the weekly grind, it’s
difficult. What’s nice about (the festival) is that
it’s here.”

Past years have seen UCLA professors like Jared Diamond, from
the geography department, speak and sign at the Festival of Books.
This year, at least six faculty members will either speak or have
books available at the festival. Walter Goldschmidt, professor
emeritus of anthropology, will sign his books; Harryette Mullen,
associate professor of English and African American studies, will
read her poetry; and Joyce Appleby, professor emeritus of history,
will be a panelist.

While some professors have embraced the festival, others have
found it difficult to incorporate into their curriculum.

“It’s hard to make an assignment for something that
you have to get a ticket for, and it’s possible that you
can’t get

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into,” said Larry Grobel, lecturer in the English
department. “I can’t ask students to get in line at
three in the morning and hopefully get a ticket to go hear Joan
Didion.”

Like Wilson, Grobel has promoted the Festival of Books to each
of his classes as an aspect of holistic learning that includes
reading the works of authors in class and then hearing them speak
at the festival.

“I don’t use it as an assignment in the sense that
anybody’s going to be graded for it,” Grobel said.
“What I do is encourage my students to go hear Joan Didion,
go hear Gay Talese ““ two of the best nonfiction writers
America has ever produced.”

While Grobel acknowledged professors may not use the festival
because they are not on campus on weekends or their curricula are
already filled for the quarter, he said, “It’s a
failing of a lot of professors not to look beyond what
they’re doing and not to incorporate this kind of festival
into their thinking as far as assignments go.”

Wilson noted that while professors don’t need to
incorporate the Festival of Books into their teaching, it could
play a larger role in academics.

“It’s just that people don’t think of it. …
It’s one of those things that you don’t really know
what it is until you get there,” he said.

Grobel suggests at least one way professors can use the festival
for their classes if their schedules don’t allow the
time.

“One of the things that the Festival of Books does is film
the panels,” Grobel said. “It’s possible that
even if (professors) can’t get into one of them, they can get
ahold of the cable show (broadcasting the panel) and put it on in
class if it’s relevant.”

To some, the Festival of Books may seem like an event for the
humanities and social science departments. But since the festival
encompasses much of the campus, South Campus professors and
students are also exposed to and welcomed to the event.

“Mathematicians, scientists, they still have to worry
about the state of the world,” Grobel said. “They still
have to worry about the price of oil and things that books are
dealing with. So the Festival of Books is one of those things that
brings everybody together. And books still do that.”

All faculty members interviewed agreed, however, that the
Festival of Books could be used more widely among UCLA professors
as a teaching tool if future festival organizers make efforts to
build stronger relations with both the faculty members and the UCLA
Library. Musicology Professor Elisabeth Le Guin hesitates to use
the Festival of Books because the UCLA library system does not play
such a large role in the festival’s presence on campus.

“The ball is in the court of the (Festival of Books) to
make this change,” Le Guin said.

With midterms following the Festival of Books for many students,
most professors will encourage their classes to study this weekend,
but at some point students will likely need a break.

“Maybe you’re studying for your midterms and the one
question that eludes you could be answered by that very (speaker or
panelist),” Wilson said.

Whether professors decide not to use the extracurricular
festival for class, this should not stop students from
attending.

“I don’t think that students should go to school for
grades only. And if that is the case, then it’s a sad
thing,” Grobel said. “You go for knowledge. You go for
experience. You go to expand yourself. You go for the oxygen that
such an event can bring you. Spend a full day walking around. Your
feet will be tired, and your mind will be enriched.”