Vonnegut, Anthropology, and the Cat's Cradle of Human Socio-Politics
Channel: Joshua Wells
Date: 2013-11-11

Throughout his life, Kurt Vonnegut was famous for not only his writing, but also for his political activism and humanist beliefs.

These beliefs became a framework for much of his writing. All throughout the month of February, IU South Bend's Schurz library will feature an exhibit on Vonnegut and his work as part of this year's campus theme of "Politics is Everywhere."

To kick off this exhibit, Joshua Wells, an anthropology professor at IUSB, held a presentation outlining Vonnegut's life and his connections with the field of anthropology, and the connections between Vonnegut's work and the campus theme. To go along with the theme, Wells nominated Vonnegut's book, "A Man Without a Country," to the themes reading list.

"I recommended 'A Man Without a Country' because I felt that it offered a much larger cross section of everything Vonnegut ever talked about," said Wells during his presentation "It's unlikely that a reader could encounter Vonnegut without developing a strong opinion, or at least a strong sentiment on some topic of the day.

Wells first brought up the idea of bringing the exhibit to IUSB after seeing pictures of it on the Kurt Vonnegut Memorial Library's Facebook page. IUSB was able to get the exhibit here and work it into this year's campus theme.

"The theme highlights the fact that there are political implications and influence in so many things we do, whether it's campus resources, the speeds we drive on the roads or all of the other choices we make throughout the day," said Wells. "When I saw that this was available, I suggested it. Vonnegut was a political satirist. If you're going to have the theme of 'Politics is Everywhere,' Vonnegut is a great choice because he was good at pointing out what he thought were the mistakes and missteps involved with making choices for others. And he was a Hoosier, so I figured this would be great."

*Quoted from IUSB Preface 11 February 2013* - http://www.iusbpreface.com/goodbye-blue-monday-kurt-vonnegut-exhibit-comes-to-iusb-1.2987691

*Thanks to the Kurt Vonnegut Memorial Library in Indianapolis for the exhibit loan* - http://www.vonnegutlibrary.org