By: Álvaro Oliveros
In a modern, humanistic, American higher education institution like CIS University, the arts and literature are a crucial part of its soul. This fall semester the Book Club returned with a new program full of interesting readings, authors and activities for its members.
One evening per week student literature lovers meet with the professor of Introduction to Literature Mar Gámez García to discuss and analyze renowned texts and authors of American and Spanish literature. Sometimes they meet on the second floor of the CIS University building, other times they go to a park or on a field trip to learn about certain authors and their most famous works in an original and unforgettable way.
“The purpose of the Book Club is for students to learn about different authors. We are going to read American, Spanish, and Latin American authors in translation, offering a variety of texts for the club members,” said Dr. Gámez García.
The Club has already gained fame inside CIS University. It includes several regular members, all of them international students, which is not inusual at this university, as one of its stronger points is that it has a big variety of students from all over the world.
The Book Club is not just a space to speak about novels, short stories, plays or poems, but also a place to get along with other people while spending a fun time learning and talking about different texts and topics.
“All of my friends are at the Book Club, we talk about books and sometimes we also speak about our issues,” said Sofia Sharova, one of the members of the club.
This semester, students have learned about American poet Amanda Gorman and analyzed her poem “The Hill We Climb,” which she read during Joe Biden’s Presidential inauguration ceremony in 2021. They also read short stories like “The Enormous Radio,” by John Cheever and “Everyday Use,” by Alice Walker, author of the novel The Color Purple (1982).
The club members also read Lope de Vega’s sonnet in Spanish and English translations in a park close to the university. After that, they visited Lope de Vega’s house and museum, which is in downtown Madrid in “El Barrio de las Letras.” This lets the members of the club learn how one of the greatest of Spain’s poets and playwrights lived.
Another of the highlights of this semester was watching one of Lope de Vega’s play La discreta enamorada (In Love but Discreet) in Teatro de la Comedia, by the Spanish National Classic Theatre Company.
CIS University has plenty of different clubs to enable their students be able to learn and explore different topics or activities.
“This is just one of the other clubs I attend, as I have the opportunity to attend many clubs and activities,” said Katya Panferova, a Book Club member.
The Book Club gives the opportunity to those students who like to talk about books, and even to those who do not so much, but would like to start to enjoy them, explore new authors or visit places they probably would not visit by themselves. It is also an opportunity to get to know new people and make new friends. Books bring people together!
