News > November 29, 2007

By Haowei Tong | Contributing writer

Tribble’s Ammons lounge was host to the first of a new lecture series entitled “The Hot Seat,” sponsored by the English Student Alliance. This series features university English professors speaking on their current works in progress in informal forums.

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Associate Professor of English Dean Franco discusses his ongoing work, which addresses multicultural politics and human rights. (Andrew Imboden/Old Gold & Black)

“This endeavor was an effort to get the student body more involved and to allow students to see what it is like to be an English teacher,” said coordinator junior Brett Noble. Associate Professor of English Dean Franco described his ongoing work to be published fall 2008, titled Race, Recognition, and Rights in Contemporary Jewish American Literature. He expressed a desire for his book to be read, as it addresses multicultural politics and civil and human rights.

“I would appreciate feedback from anybody here.” Franco said. “I am going to talk my way through a series of images and ideas.” He introduced Sharbat Gula’s photogaph, taken by Steve McCurry, an image too commonly tied to National Geographic. He also mentioned Judith Butler’s essay, “Giving an Account,” a dissertation on the difficulty of pinpointing an individual’s identity.

Franco’s talk, however, focused primarily on his analysis of Tony Kushner’s play, Homebody/Kabul. The play tells the story of a woman who abandons her family and London home to move to Kabul, Afghanistan, and the journey her daughter takes to find her. “You want to be a passive audience member, but the woman, the homebody, questions you directly,” Franco said.

The work imparts a didactic message and tackles familial failure, societal structure, gender equality and religious freedom. Franco said of the play, “beyond its spectacular overlap of history itself, Kushner is able to help us think.” He also stated that the three works presented similar themes. “We are addressing a justification of the Iraq war, liberating Iraqi women from the burka, from patriarchal households and from tyranny.”

Additionally, Franco said, “The exposure of (Gula’s) photograph is deeply problematic. The National Geographic is pretty condemnable.” He was critical of the photographer, whose signature appears on the bottom of the poster, though her identity is excluded.

“I really enjoyed the discussion’s relating of the play, popular culture and theory to an important and current issue in our foreign policy,” Senior Darren Lindamood said

After providing a comprehensive answer to another question involving Kushner, the Iraq War and Butler’s philosophy, Franco asked, “What do you think?”

Prepare yourself for the hot seat.