{"id":40515,"date":"2018-11-26T09:35:56","date_gmt":"2018-11-26T14:35:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/?p=40515"},"modified":"2019-04-08T10:01:07","modified_gmt":"2019-04-08T14:01:07","slug":"love-and-friendship-across-generations-literature-class-includes-undergrads-and-retirement-community-residents","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2018\/love-and-friendship-across-generations-literature-class-includes-undergrads-and-retirement-community-residents\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Love and friendship\u2019 across generations: literature class includes undergrads and retirement community residents"},"content":{"rendered":"

In a way, the theme of last spring\u2019s global literature class \u2013 love and friendship \u2013 wasn\u2019t just a matter for required reading. Instead, it became the course experience itself, for the Eastern Mennonite University undergraduate students, their classmates from the nearby Virginia Mennonite Retirement Community (VMRC), and their professor.<\/span><\/p>\n

Three of those students \u2013 sophomore Megan Breidigan and VMRC residents James Bomberger and Jane Burkholder \u2013 and Professor <\/span>Marti Eads<\/span><\/a> comprised a panel to share about their experiences during an October Wednesday morning coffee time at VMRC\u2019s Village Hall.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
From left: Jane Burkholder, Megan Breidigan, James Bomberger and Professor Marti Eads speak to residents at Virginia Mennonite Retirement Community about their shared learning experience in an EMU global literature class.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cI\u2019m definitely glad that my first experience in a collegiate literature class was so unique,\u201d said Breidigan, an English education major. \u201cIt\u2019s really nice to be able to hear so many different perspectives from people who obviously are not my age, did not come from Lancaster, Pennsylvania, maybe did not grow up Mennonite, do not go to EMU. Just hearing how people perceive the world and the literature from the world from their own background and being able to share that candidly was really a valuable experience for me.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The course explored works from across the globe, linked with that theme of love and friendship: Miriama Ba\u2019s <\/span>So Long A Letter<\/span><\/i> (Waveland Press, 2012), Yasmina Khadra\u2019s <\/span>The Swallows of Kabul <\/span><\/i>(Anchor, 2005), Lynn Nottage\u2019s <\/span>Ruined<\/span><\/i> (Theatre Communications Group, 2009), and more.<\/span><\/p>\n

Burkholder joined the class because as a child she always enjoyed literature, particularly Robert Louis Stevenson\u2019s <\/span>A Child\u2019s Garden of Verse<\/span><\/i>. Reading the books assigned for the class was \u201cquite an exposure,\u201d she said.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThey had a lot of love and friendship, but they have a lot of the other side of life, too, and it was a challenge to realize what some people are going through,\u201d she said. \u201cI grew up sheltered and I expect to be sheltered for the rest of my life because God promises his presence and his wisdom, but these authors are dealing with good and evil, also. To understand their viewpoint was just broadening for me. … What I learned intrigued me.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

In the panel Eads confessed that she was nervous at the course\u2019s outset to see Bomberger\u2019s name on the roster. He had taught English at EMU from 1961-98, and she worried that his expertise would \u201cprovide contrast that revealed my limited capacity.\u201d However, an acquaintance assured her that Bomberger would be \u201ctotally supportive \u2026 and that was absolutely the truth.\u201d In fact, she said, he and his classmates were \u201calways unfailingly affirming.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Professor Marti Eads will teach a spring semester 2019 class in drama with undergraduates and VMRC residents.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Bomberger fondly recalled the day the class read <\/span>The Importance of Being Earnest<\/span><\/i> in a reader\u2019s theater format, and had a tea party with sparkling grape juice, sandwiches and pastries. Eads\u2019 10-year-old daughter, present that session, \u201cread better than the rest of us,\u201d he said.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI found it stimulating to be a student again,\u201d Bomberger reflected later. \u201cMarti is a great teacher.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

Breidigan told about the class field trip to the American Shakespeare Center in Staunton, a day away from campus that in advance didn\u2019t seem exciting but turned out \u201ca lovely experience.\u201d The backstage tour, history lesson, costumes and performance of <\/span>Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead<\/span><\/i> were \u201cawesome,\u201d and then the group went to dinner together.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt was nice to fellowship and engage and have fun outside the classroom together,\u201d Breidigan said.<\/span><\/p>\n

Eads took away her own \u201csweet memories\u201d from the class. One 89-year-old was having problems with her feet, yet made great effort \u201calways to be there\u201d \u2013 and on one day gave the class a mini-lecture about articulation.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s a really valuable life lesson,\u201d Eads said, \u201cthat I think college students were more likely to take seriously coming from somebody in her place in life than they might have been from me.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

The generational blend resulted in higher quality of work, too, she observed: \u201cI thought maybe the EMU group truly was exceptional in this class because the level of work was really high, but sometimes I thought having these relationships with some sort of grandparental figures was also really stimulating or encouraging. I think everybody wanted to do a good job for everybody else because this was an experience of deep friendship, and I think the undergrads wanted to make the VMRC residents proud. And the reverse might have been happening, too.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

After the final exam, Eads invited the class to her home for dinner, \u201cprobably, honestly, the best meal I had all semester,\u201d Breidigan said.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a tremendous evening,\u201d Burkholder said. \u201cThe view from their deck is just lovely, down through the trees. I enjoyed being out there very much.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Eads is again planning a course for EMU students and VMRC residents, this time a drama class scheduled for the upcoming spring semester.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In a way, the theme of last spring\u2019s global literature class \u2013 love and friendship \u2013 wasn\u2019t just a matter for required reading. Instead, it became the course experience itself, ... read more about \u2018Love and friendship\u2019 across generations: literature class includes undergrads and retirement community residents<\/span><\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":40521,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[266,7931,14184,17562,356,5597,5147],"tags":[6795],"feature":[17427,17423,17426,17241,17422],"class_list":["post-40515","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-alumni","category-arts","category-campus-guests","category-digest","category-language-and-literature","category-liberal-arts","category-theater","tag-diversity","feature-emu-home-page-feature","feature-featured-undergrad","feature-myemu-feature","feature-news-feature","feature-news-landing-page-main-feature"],"yoast_head":"\n\u2018Love and friendship\u2019 across generations: literature class includes undergrads and retirement community residents - EMU News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2018\/love-and-friendship-across-generations-literature-class-includes-undergrads-and-retirement-community-residents\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"\u2018Love and friendship\u2019 across generations: literature class includes undergrads and retirement community residents - EMU News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"In a way, the theme of last spring\u2019s global literature class \u2013 love and friendship \u2013 wasn\u2019t just a matter for required reading. 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