English in the Vibrant Twin Cities
Sophie Hilker ’20
One of the many advantages of being a student at Macalester College is the location. Close to both downtown St. Paul and Minneapolis and boasting two bus stops to major transit routes, Macalester’s location makes engagement with the larger Twin Cities area easier than ever. This month, The Words spoke with various members of the English Department to see how they took advantage of the opportunities these vibrant cities have to offer.
Department Chair and Professor Andrea Kaston Tange’s class, “Drama: Theater and Politics,” which has become a staple in the English department over the years, engages with Macalester’s surroundings in a very exciting way.
“I try to take students to see at least three plays at a range of theaters in the Twin Cities,” Professor Kaston Tange explains. “The goal is to help students think about drama both as literature and as performance. It is great to be able to take advantage of the theater-rich environment of the Twin Cities [which boasts the most theater seats per capita outside of New York City] to give students a sense of the many different types of theaters and theater traditions that exist.”
Professor Kaston Tange chooses plays with rich political histories and encourages students to read them not only through a historical lens, but also modern one, considering the contexts surrounding the creation of the text and the contexts in which the play is being performed today. This is what Professor Kaston Tange says most excites her about seeing performances for the course: “talk[ing] about what happens to interpretation once it is staged, and what it means when performances modify original texts.”
So far, the class has gone to Park Square Theater to see Antigone, the third of the Theban plays following the titular heroine, daughter of Oedipus and his mother Jocasta, and Penumbra Theater to see Benevolence, the second chapter in a trilogy on Emmett Till which presents a portrait of the collateral damage surrounding a case that gained international attention, and sparked the Civil Rights Movement. In April, they will travel to the Guthrie to watch a performance of Cyrano de Bergerac, which follows the titular poetic, large-nosed noblemen serving as a cadet in the French army as he grapples with self-doubt, inhibiting him from expressing his love for his cousin, Roxanne.
In addition to Professor Kaston Tange, Professors Stephen Smith and Elizabeth Weixel also took classes to engage with the vibrant Twin Cities. Professor Smith’s course, “Narrative Journalism,” took an evening trip to American Public Media. As an editor at APM Reports, Professor Smith provided students with exclusive access and a valuable experiential learning opportunity on how to write for radio. Professor Weixel’s class, “Studies in Literature: Early Adulthood,” has a field trip planned for early April to engage with local literary history.
Professors aren’t the only members of the department who provide opportunities for engagement. Every year, the English Honor Society hosts a number of events to facilitate engagement with the vibrant Twin Cities on and off campus. EHS Officer and The Words editor Miriam Moore-Keish ’19 elaborates.
“Something nice about EHS is that we have the resources to sponsor trips that would otherwise be less accessible to students. I know a big reason people choose Macalester is our urban location and access to cultural and literary events,” Moore-Keish says.
Last semester, English Honor Society sponsored a trip to a Mixed-Blood Theater production of Prescient Harbingers: Gloria. This semester, EHS put on the extremely popular event Apps & Alums, and provided transportation to a reading and conversation by Halle Butler with Professor Sally Franson at Subtext Books. EHS also provides a continually updated calendar of literary events around the Twin Cities. “Where you go to school isn’t always where you go to school, but where you go to school,” Moore-Keish says, “I almost feel a duty to make the most of the Twin Cities and all they have to offer.”
The Words extends a huge thank you to Professors Andrea Kaston-Tange, Stephen Smith, and Elizabeth Weixel, as well as students Miriam Moore-Keish ’19 and Malcolm Cooke ’21 for their help, providing information and media, in formulating this article.