You Mean I Have to READ over Reading Week?!.doc

Halloween is celebrated here in England as it is in Canada. One difference I'm told is that 'trick-or-treating' isn't as popular for young children as it is back home. From speaking with Lotte, I've learned the English haven't really embraced the tradition of dressing their children as ghosts and ghouls, accompanying them door to door in the neighbourhood, accepting candy from strangers, and allowing them to eat more sugar in one week than they would in two months (when described in those terms, it does sound quite ill-planned) Nonetheless, it is still a popular night for adults and we celebrated with the MAIPR group on campus.

My costume was of course a last minute creation, we had class from 9am-6pm on Friday, but it was really well received. I went as the "Corpse of Capitalism". In light of the world economic crisis and the collapse of Wall Street I read some articles in the past month talking about the "Death of Capitalism" so I thought the corpse resulting from this death would be a timely costume. Now, please don't feel I'm being insensitive - I am well aware that the economic crisis has spelled real world trouble for many in Canada and the world, but my intent was to make light of the ludicrous idea that capitalism as practice is dead. Also, Halloween has traditionally been a time where people dress up as that which scares them and economic woes are definitely at the forefront of our social conscience.  

The costume was pretty much a disheveled corpse in a flashy suit with all the markers of capitalist society - it played particularly well in academic circles. I saw two Sarah Palins out and about, and a guy in a white lace 'teddy' undergarment with FREUD written across the front. He was a 'Freudian slip'. The group of us that went out stayed close to home and went to the Union bar which was well populated. Instead of traditional Halloween and cheese music (which I've become accustom to these past few weeks) the night was geared towards more alternative indie bands - Justice, Bloc Party, Kings of Leon, and they even played some Arcade Fire which was a little touch of home. 

Unfortunately, we faced an early morning the next day which at a 10am - 9pm conference in Coventry surrounding the work of Federico García Lorca, a Spanish playwright best known for Blood Wedding and The House of Bernarda Alba. He's kind of like the Spanish Chekov in some respects. The conference was quite interesting and made me want to learn more about Lorca. That evening we saw a really interesting production of Bernarda Alba at the Belgrade Theatre. We had grand plans of going out for a second Halloween party after the conference but we were too wiped.

Reading Week is upon me! It has been a really fast five weeks with a pretty rigourous schedule of lectures, seminars, conferences, plays, and group discussions. We now have a "week off" from course material and then return to do group projects (the schedule of which is determined by the members of the group) This means that formal classes and assigned readings are for the most part finished for this first term; I don't return to this format until February 1 in Amsterdam. I know, I know I'm a luck guy. Three months spent outside the classroom with just under two months off before the start of semester two - how can you complain?! I won't complain. It just means that Reading Week will actually be spent doing school work. It's a small price to pay for the holiday time I can look forward to post Dec 5 when week 10 signals the end of term. The trouble is that actual reading during Reading Week is a bit of a foreign concept. Without further ado, a photo essay of 'reading weeks' past:

First Year, Queen's

Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic

Second Year, Queen's

Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic

Third Year, Queen's

In studio for X/Why Rehearsals, Kingston

Fourth Year, Queen's

Varadero, Cuba

MA Year, University of Toronto 

Hincksy and the Doc vs. the City, Toronto

Wow, we have fun. As the photo essay has illustrated, books have not been a common staple of the past five reading weeks. I know that I have no right to complain since instead of spending the time on a beach or in a bar I'm in Europe. My point is that I'll have to disassociate from the Reading Week habits I've developed over the past five years and orientate myself towards reading, research, and output:

Second MA Year, University of Warwick

Warwick Campus, West Midlands, UK

It's probably about time to get back to the true origins of the 'Reading Week' holiday. I'm sure the scholars and academics studying by candlelight never imagined the week of grace to catch up on their Aristotle and Plato would be spent by students of the future soaking up rays on a beach. Have we lost the true meaning of Reading Week amidst consumerism and commercialization?! This week I'll find out...although I'd rather be jumping around the continent.

Doc's Prescription for the Day: I'll be reading for most of the week, so you should too. Or at least read something - a novel, a short story, a newspaper, a flier, a traffic sign. I don't think this will prove difficult, just don't strain your eyes.