Curtis Smith is a novelist and essayist who works at Etown College as the Assistant Director of Academic Advising and teaches in the English department and the First Year Seminar program. In this final episode of Season 2, Smith returns to the podcast to discuss his sixth novel, The Lost and the Blind. The novel centers on a 17-year-old boy named Mark Hayes who lives in a highly unstable family situation with a drug-addicted single mother who is often absent for long stretches of time, leaving Mark to fend for himself without many resources and very limited guidance.

Some of Smith's other recent publications include the novels The Magpie's Return and Lovepain as well as the essay collection Communion.

If you are interested in purchasing The Lost and the Blind, you can find a copy in print, ebook format, or as an audiobook from most online booksellers, including Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Bookshop.

In the March episode of the library podcast, we welcome graduating senior, Samhar Almomani, to discuss his work creating an LGBTQ+ dictionary in Arabic. The dictionary includes both terminology and spotlights notable figures and events in LGBTQ+ history in the Middle East.

Samhar is a public health major at Etown College with a special interest in addressing healthcare disparities. He recently presented on his dictionary project at the American Public Health Association conference.

In celebration of Black History Month, this episode spotlights a notable, African American Etown College alumnus, W. Miller Barbour (also known as William Miller Barbour). Hailing from nearby Middletown, PA, Barbour was one of the college’s first African American graduates, studying in the liberal arts program and graduating in 1932. He then went on to pursue a Master’s degree in social work  at the University of Pennsylvania before embarking on a career as a scholar and activist, fighting for African American rights around housing and employment through leadership positions at the National Urban League. 

A group of Etown faculty, staff, and recent alums are working together on a research project about Barbour’s life, work, and legacy. Librarian Josh Cohen speaks with some of the team, including Jean-Paul Benowitz, director of prestigious scholarships and Public Heritage Studies; Peter Depuydt, a retired librarian and archivist; Abigail Sholes '23, a History and Social Studies Education major who graduated in December; and a returning guest to the podcast, Eric Schubert '23, who has been working as a forensic genetic genealogist for the company Othram Incorporated since graduating last May. 

It was a pleasure to be able to talk with them about their research, which they hope to publish prior to the college’s 125th anniversary celebration in the Fall 2024.

This episode features a conversation with Dr. Kesha Morant Williams, Etown College’s Senior Advisor for College Diversity, Equity and Belonging. We discuss Dr. Williams’ 2021 essay, “I Can Breathe,” published in Survive and Thrive: A Journal for the Medical Humanities and Narrative as Medicine. In the essay, she reflects on a racist hate crime she experienced on the campus of Penn State Berks when she worked there in 2020. We also discuss other topics around race in the United States, including the concept of “Black respectability,” the recent Supreme Court decision on affirmative action in higher education, and her work promoting diversity, equity, and belonging at Elizabethtown College.  

In this episode of the podcast, Bruce Walsh, who teaches playwriting and acting at Elizabethtown College, talks about directing Julia Cho’s 2012 play, The Language Archive. The play focuses on the character of George, a linguist who studies and tries to preserve dying languages. Although language is his field of study, he struggles to communicate with other people, particularly with his wife, Mary, who leaves him at the start of the play.

We discuss some of the themes in the play, like the limitations of language and the struggle to communicate effectively with those we care about most, as well as Bruce’s history with the theater and his approach to directing student actors. 

The Language Archive  will be performed at Etown College’s Tempest Theatre on November 3, 4, 9, and 10 at 7:30pm and November 5 and 11 at 3:00pm at Etown College’s Tempest Theatre. Tickets can be purchased here. 

In this conversation, recorded earlier this summer, Etown music therapy student Nicole Pinnella discusses her summer research project on the benefits of providing music therapy for veterans. She is joined by her professor and faculty mentor, Emily Frantz, who  serves as Etown College's director of the music therapy program. For those listeners unfamiliar with the profession of music therapy, you will learn more about what music therapy is and how it can impact people's lives. Plus, Nicole will also discuss her passion for music therapy, how she decided on this career, and how she developed an interest in working with veterans.  

This episode features a conversation with Erica Dolson, a professor in Elizabethtown College's English department who serves as the director of our creative writing program. Erica writes creative non-fiction (which she has also taught at the college) and she has published work in Full-Stop, Critical Read, and borrowed solace among other publications. She also regularly teaches first-year writing and professional writing.

Today we’ll be discussing the topic of creative non-fiction, her writing process, as well as some of the challenges and pleasures of writing on personal topics. She will read from and discuss a couple of her essays: “Chance of Showers,” published this past December in Bright Flash Literary Review,  and  “How I Renewed My Enthusiasm for Writing,” published in Hippocampus Magazine in late 2020.

Check out the trailer for Season 2 of The JayPod: A High Library Production, featuring Etown College English professor Erica Dolson, student Nicole Pinnella, and Director of Prestigious Scholarships and Public Heritage Studies, Jean-Paul Benowitz.