Each year College Writing instructor Ivy Church challenges her students to take on the persona of a famous—or infamous—historical figure. Some students assume the role of someone in the news. Last year, Ben Seaton portrayed Lance Armstrong, who at that time argued his innocence in the athletic enhancement drug controversy surrounding him.
Should fighting be banned in the National Hockey League? Should the use of Ritalin for small children be restricted? How do you feel about using human genomes for research? Should log-rolling be added to the Olympics? If you’d like to learn more about these controversial questions and many more, you are encouraged to attend the 2014 Night of the Notable and the Notorious, Monday, January 13, at 4 p.m. in the Arrowhead Center for the Arts.
Ivy Church, Cook County High School College in the Schools instructor, explained that this is the culminating event of the year for the students in her College Writing class. Students will face questioning about their research results in an open forum.
Church said, “This annual event first began as ‘The Night of the Notables’ in 2000, under the direction of history teacher Luana Brandt.
“For the event, students impersonate and argue from the viewpoints of well-known spokespersons in their fields of research. Staying in character becomes especially challenging for students whose own views might not match those of their characters. As always, lively audience participation makes this a popular community event,” said Church.
Other topics to be presented will be: legalizing steroids in baseball; mandating vaccinations with mercury; using Terminator technology in agriculture; reducing injuries in the NCAA; plugging Wiki-leaks; employing surrogate mothers; exploiting teen moms on MTV; protecting student loans; curbing invasive photojournalism; authorizing trans-racial adoption; and linking video games to childhood violence.
The event is free, but donations will be accepted to support the students’ spring theater trip.
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