Touro Faculty Poet Series — Part III

Brenda Coultas by Bob Gwaltney

As we continue with celebrating National Poetry Month, we briefly interviewed professor Brenda Coultas from Touro’s NYSCAS to tell us a bit about herself as a poet. Professor Coultas is the author of The Tatters, a collection of poetry, recently published by Wesleyan University Press. Other books include The Marvelous Bones of Time (2008) and A Handmade Museum (2003) from Coffee House Press.  Her poetry can be found in The Brooklyn Rail, Witness and the Denver Quarterly.  she is a mentor in the Emerge-Surface-Be program sponsored by The Poetry Project and The Jerome Foundation. Click here to see more of her literary publications.

What prompted you to write poetry?

I fell in love with reading in the first grade and couldn’t stop. Reading gives me great pleasure: novels, poems, short stories, and plays. I read everything even advertising and graffiti. So falling in love lead to the desire to write what I would want to read.

In what form/style do you compose your poems?

I began as a fiction writer but fell under the influence of poets, so my writing is cross-genre; a hybrid of prose and poetry.

What is the role of poetry in your teaching? or how do you think poetry has an impact on students and their learning?

I am interested in the possibility of poetry for locating oneself in time and space, as an inquiry into the natural world, and as a critique of human-made systems. The classroom is a laboratory in which to experiment with prose and poetry: To try out shapes and test beliefs, to create writing structures, to discover or refine—in a supportive environment—the shape and sound of visions and voices. The students’ generating processes might involve looking at an object or event and connecting the hidden strings or the patterns within. I guide my students with prompts and approaches to circle the subject of their gaze again and again from diverse perspectives.

Professor Coultas reading her poems at the 6th Annual Festival of Touro Faculty & Student Poetry reading on April 16 at the Main Campus (31st Street)

Contributed by Brenda Coultas, professor of Languages and Literature at the New York School of Career and Applied Studies (NYSCAS) at Touro College.

 

 

Touro Faculty Poet Series–Part II

Our second poet faculty for National Poetry Month is Professor Helen Mitsios. She holds an MA in English and American Literature from Arizona State University and an MFA in Creative Writing from Columbia University. Professor Mitsios is an award-winning poet and author of the collection If Black Had A Shadow. Click here to see a list of her poems on Touro Scholar, our institutional repository. She teaches literature at NYSCAS, a division of Touro College. Keep reading to learn what has inspired her to write poetry and how she connects poetry to teaching and learning.
What prompted you to write poetry?

I wrote poetry even in grade school. But it wasn’t until I read Letters to a Stranger by Thomas James that I wanted to become a “real” poet and learn the poetic art of moving the emotions in my writing–the emotions being, after all,  the basis of everything. I thank my professor, the celebrated poet Norman Dubie, for introducing me to James in an undergrad poetry class I took at Arizona State University.

In what form/style do you compose your poems?  Lyric poetry

What is the role of poetry in your teaching? Or how do you think poetry has an impact on students and their learning?

In teaching, I stress quality over quantity. Of course, both are necessary. 

Well, I’m biased of course, but I think studies that promote creativity also lead to innovation in fields like business, science, and medicine. For example, it’s why Harvard University admits artists and poets to their MBA program.

Portrait of Professor Helen Mitsios by Tony Winters

Contributed by Professor Helen Mitsios, Language and Literature, NYSCAS, Touro College.

 

 

April is National Poetry Month (Poet’s Series)

In honor of National Poetry Month, Touro Libraries will introduce a Touro professor who is also a poet, every week for the rest of the month of April. Our first pick is Dr. Mark Teaford, Vice Chair of the Department of Basic Science and Coordinator of Fundamentals of Osteopathic Medicine at Touro University California.

Keep reading to see what led Dr. Teaford to the path of becoming a poet, what kind of poems he is composing, and if reading and writing poetry can play a role in the education of medical students. 

April Is National Poetry Month

This April marks the 20^th anniversary of National Poetry Month, a month dedicated to the celebration of poets past and present by encouraging the reading of poetry, and support of poetry community!         

POEM IN YOUR POCKET DAY 2014

Tomorrow, April 24, is Poem in Your Pocket Day. On this day, people all over the United States select a poem, carry it with them, and share it with others throughout the day. Dr. Gerald Barry, former associate dean of the School of Health Sciences, was a champion of Poem in Your Pocket Day. Each year he promoted this special day and encouraged (even insisted) his students and colleagues bring a poem to school to share. Since Dr. Barry retired this past fall, the library at the Bay Shore Campus has stepped in to promote Poem in Your Pocket Day. So in honor of Dr. Barry, go ahead and take a few minutes to find a poem, print it out and put it in your pocket.

Poem in Your Pocket Day

April is National Poetry Month and yesterday was Poem in Your Pocket Day. Here at the Bay Shore campus, we have a champion of Poem in Your Pocket Day. It is Dr. Gerald Barry, our Associate Dean. Each year, Dr. Barry posts flyers around campus to announce the upcoming event. Then on the specified day, he makes his way around campus, sharing his poem with everyone. Actually, this year he shared 6 poems! And one of them was written himself. He also asks each person to share a poem with him. It is obvious that this day has a special meaning to Dr. Barry. He is grinning from ear to ear. To be honest, I’ve never had much interest in poetry. I’ve always been more of an information-seeker than an artist; more logical than creative.  But I don’t want to dissapoint Dr. Barry.  And its funny how someone else’s passion can be contagious. So there I was the evening before, searching our library’s collection for a poem. The Bay Shore campus library has a wide selection of poetry to choose from. I selected a poem by Robert Frost about the year 2000. It was fun to have a poem in my pocket. I think that tapping into my creative/artistic mind can make me a better librarian.  So thank you Dr. Barry.  Next year, I may even write my own poem!