When Thomas and his family move to a new home and he has to start at a new school, he just wants to fit in. That becomes more difficult when his pregnant mother is hospitalized and his father puts him in charge of his autistic older brother Charlie. Thomas struggles with the responsibility since he both loves and is sometimes embarrassed by his older brother. Will the support of his family and new girlfriend be enough to help Thomas fit in and accept his often chaotic family life?
Director Elissa Down drew on her experiences growing up with two autistic brothers, and she offers a realistic and sympathetic look at a family with an autistic teenager. The Black Balloon is in English and stars Rhys Wakefield, Gemma Ward and Toni Collette.
Please join us on Wednesday May 4th at 7 p.m. in Room 305 of the Weinberg Memorial Library for this free event. Professor Allison Lai will lead a discussion following the film.
This event is open to faculty, staff, students, and the public. Please email sharon.finnerty@scranton.edu for more information.
Set in Los Angeles in the not-too-distant future Her leaves the viewer with plenty to think about and discuss. It tells the story of Theodore a lonely writer who is having trouble accepting the break-up of his marriage. When he purchases a new operating system, OS1, which is advertised with the words “It’s not just an operating system; it’s a consciousness,” his life begins to change. Before long Theodore comes to depend on “Samantha,” the voice of his constantly evolving operating system. When the relationship becomes intimate, it leaves both of them wondering if a romance between a human being and a cyber consciousness can be sustained.
Directed by Spike Jonze, Her is in English and stars Joaquin Phoenix and Amy Adams.
Please join us on Wednesday April 13th at 7 p.m. in Room 305 of the Weinberg Memorial Library for this free event. Professor Donna Witek will lead a discussion following the film.
Please note: This film portrays adult situations and language.
This event is open to faculty, staff, students, and the public. Please email sharon.finnerty@scranton.edu for more information.
Please join us on Friday March 11, 2016 at 7 p.m. in Room 305 of the Weinberg Memorial Library for a free presentation of the Belgian drama “Illegal.”
Film Movement describes the film as the story of Tania a former teacher from Russia, living illegally in Belgium with her son, Ivan. One day she is stopped for a routine check by the police and is arrested. Separated from Ivan, who manages to escape, she is placed in an immigration detention center for women and children. While utterly refusing to face expulsion, Tania begins a fight to preserve her dignity, identity and humanity, as well as find her son.
Directed by Olivier Masset-Depasse, “Illegal” is in French and Russian with English subtitles. Dr. Marzia Caporale will lead a discussion following the film.
This event is open to faculty, staff, students, and the public. Please email sharon.finnerty@scranton.edu for more information.
Visit the fifth floor Heritage Room of University of Scranton’s Weinberg Library to view a collection of bookbindings created by local bookbinder and printer, Don Rash.
The exhibit is free and open to the public. It can be viewed during normal library hours. For more information, please contact Special Collections Librarian, Michael Knies. Michael.Knies@scranton.edu, (570) 941-6341.
On Tuesday, November 3 at 6pm the Weinberg Memorial Library will host a reception for “We Teach Wherever the Mails Reach,” an exhibit celebrating the 125th anniversary of the International Correspondence Schools of Scranton (ICS). This event is free and open to the public.
Professor William Conlogue of Marywood University, and author of Here and There: Reading Pennsylvania’s Working Landscapes and Working in the Garden: American Writers and the Industrialization of Agriculture, will talk about the history of ICS at the reception for the exhibit in the fifth floor Heritage Room of the Weinberg Memorial Library.
Founded in 1890, ICS originally grew out of a question and answer column written by Thomas J. Foster, publisher of Colliery Engineer and Metal Miner. Foster’s column helped mine workers, many being recent immigrants with limited English, to pass required mine safety exams. The column proved so successful that Foster created a correspondence course on coal mining.
Over the years ICS expanded into a variety of technical fields as well as providing basic courses in English. The company has been a leader in career-focused distance and blended learning for over 125 years. More than 13 million people have enrolled in their programs to further their education and learn advanced skills to better position them for life success.
ICS has changed names a number of times since 1996. The ICS location is currently operated by Penn Foster Career School, which is a regionally and nationally accredited post-secondary distance education school and considers ICS to be its predecessor.
In 2002, the Weinberg Library was given a collection of ICS materials by the company. These materials, primarily from the ICS marketing department, are the focus of this exhibit celebrating the history of the company.
The exhibit will be on display in the Weinberg Library’s fifth floor Heritage Room through Friday, December 11, 2015. For more information, please contact Special Collections Librarian Michael KniesMichael.Knies@Scranton.edu (570) 941-6341.
Please join us on Wednesday November 18, 2015 at 7 p.m. in Room 305 of the Weinberg Memorial Library for a free presentation of the Taiwanese comedy “Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow?”
Film Movement describes the film as a lighthearted comedic romp, where introvert Weichung begins to question his marriage to Feng when she signals she’s ready to have another baby, and an unexpected encounter with a friend from his past awakens long-dormant emotions. It all sets him off on a quest for true romance and desire.
Directed by Arvin Chen “Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow?” is in Mandarin with English subtitles. Dr. Ann Pang-White will lead a discussion following the film.
This film is open to faculty, staff, students, and the public. Please email sharon.finnerty@scranton.edu for more information.
The Weinberg Memorial Library and Scranton Reads: One City, One Book Initiative present a free screening of “Rebel Without a Cause”. This landmark film about alienated youth follows the tormented central characters during a single tumultuous night. James Dean, Natalie Wood and Sal Mineo star as the angst-filled teens.
Join us for this classic film on Friday October 9, 2015 at 7 p.m. in Room 305 of the Weinberg Memorial Library. Kevin Norris will lead a discussion following the film and refreshments will be provided.
This screening is held in conjunction with the Albright Memorial Library and is open to the public.
“Like Water for Chocolate” (Como Agua para Chocolate) is an internationally popular Mexican film that focuses on Tita, a young woman who discovers that her cooking has magical effects on others. Tita is the youngest of three daughters who is bound by tradition to remain unmarried so she can cook and care for her aging mother. When Tita falls in love with the handsome Pedro, her mother forbids their marriage. To remain close to Tita, Pedro agrees to marry her sister, Rosaura. This, of course, complicates life for everyone and Tita’s feelings are transferred to the delicious meals she creates.
Directed by Alfonso Arau this award-winning Mexican film is in Spanish with English subtitles.
Please join us on Thursday October 1st at 7 p.m. in Room 305 of the Weinberg Memorial Library for this free event. Dr. Ileana Szymanski will lead a discussion following the film.
Please note: This film portrays adult situations and language.
This event is open to faculty, staff, students, and the public. Please email Sharon.finnerty@scranton.edu for more information.
The International Correspondence Schools of Scranton, Pennsylvania grew out of a question and answer column written by Thomas J. Foster, publisher of Colliery Engineer and Metal Miner. In 1885, Pennsylvania passed a Mine Safety Act, which required miners and inspectors to pass examinations on mine safety. Foster’s column helped mine workers, many being recent immigrants with limited English, to pass the exams. The column proved so successful that Foster created a correspondence course on coal mining. In 1890, Foster, who had relocated his publishing venture from Shenandoah to Scranton’s Coal Exchange Building, incorporated the “The Colliery Engineer Company,” creating the foundation for a formal school. In 1891, Foster and mining engineer Alexander Dick founded the “The Colliery Engineer School of Mines.” Until the International Textbook Company incorporated the school in late 1894, the names Colliery Engineer School of Mines, School of Mines, Correspondence Schools, and the International Correspondence School were used interchangeably. By early 1895, the school was officially known as the International Correspondence Schools of Scranton, Pennsylvania or ICS for short.
The first class enrolled 500 miners but within eight years, more than 190,000 students had enrolled in a variety of courses. Besides the initial classes related to mining, ICS expanded into a variety of technical fields as well as providing basic courses in English. By the first decade of the twentieth century, over 100,000 new students per year were enrolling in ICS courses; by 1910, a million cumulative enrollments had been achieved; and, by 1930, four million. By World War II, ICS’s reputation was such that it was given the War Department contract to develop the department’s training manuals. In 1916, ICS created The Woman’s Institute of Domestic Arts and Sciences in what is now the Scranton Preparatory School building. ICS was located on Wyoming Ave until 1958 when they relocated to Oak Avenue.
ICS Locations: Above- General Offices, Below- Women’s Institute (Now Scranton Prep)
ICS continued to thrive after the war but by the 1990s greater educational offerings had reduced the role of correspondence schools. ICS has changed names a number of times since 1996. The ICS location is currently operated by Penn Foster Career School, which is a regionally and nationally accredited post-secondary distance education school and considers ICS to be its predecessor.
In 2002, The University of Scranton Weinberg Library was given a collection of ICS materials by the company. These materials, primarily from the ICS marketing department, will be the focus of an exhibit celebrating the history of the company. On Tuesday, November 3 at 6:00 PM Professor William Conlogue of Marywood University, and author of Here and There: Reading Pennsylvania’s Working Landscapes and Working in the Garden: American Writers and the Industrialization of Agriculture, will talk about the history of ICS at a reception for the exhibit in the Heritage Room of Weinberg Memorial Library.
This exhibit will be on display in the Weinberg Library’s fifth floor Heritage Room through Friday, December 11, 2015. For more information, please contact Special Collections Librarian Michael Knies Michael.Knies@Scranton.edu (570) 941-6341.
How could a recently orphaned, 10-year old homeless South African boy ever be called Lucky? Over the grave of his dead mother, Lucky makes a promise to make something of himself. Leaving the security of his remote Zulu village for the big city with the hope of going to school, he arrives on the doorstep of an uncle who has no use for him. Lucky then falls in with Padme, a formidable Indian woman with an inherent fear of Africans, who takes him in as she would a stray dog. Together, unable to speak each other’s language, they develop an unlikely bond. Through an odyssey marked by greed, violence, and ultimately belonging, Lucky shows how a child’s spirit can bring out decency, humility and even love in adults struggling to survive in the new South Africa.
Directed by Avie Luthra this award-winning South African film is in Zulu, Hindi and English with English subtitles.
Please join us on Tuesday September 22nd at 7pm in Room 305 of the Weinberg Memorial Library for this free event. Jean Lenville, Assistant dean of the Library, will lead a discussion after the film.
This film is open to faculty, staff, students, and the public. Please email Sharon.finnerty@scranton.edu for more information.
