Reunions are entirely about people, in relationship to one another, to peers and professors, and to place. What startles even the most recent reuning class, '93, is how much this place has changed. New buildings stand in their memory's sightlines. Associate professor of English Deborah Knuth compared film clips from recent film adaptations of Jane Austen's novels with textual passages and led her students in a discussion of what is lost in the translation and other questions. Not all the classes are held by faculty.
Alumni take the podium and offer an equally eclectic sampling.
Filmmaker Joe Berlinger '83 screened his Paradise Lost , a gripping and award-winning documentary about Arkansas's most notorious murder case ever. Following a faculty panel on the wide-ranging effects of World War II, former congressman Peter Peyser '43 lent a legislative point of view and Ozzie Wales '43, who led a platoon for 100 days on Okinawa, shared his perspective. Mel Damski '68, Hollywood veteran and director of Fox TV's Ally McBeal , talked about breaking new television ground and creating art in 45 minutes of air time. Still, the schedule bulges. After opening dinners for '48 and '73, reunion picks up steam on Friday.