Personal Identity Focus of Breathitt Lecture
LEXINGTON, Ky. (Jan. 20, 2010) – Stephanie Straub, a University of Kentucky English and philosophy junior from Florence, Ky., will present the 16th annual Edward T. Breathitt Undergraduate Lectureship in the Humanities at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 21, in the William T. Young Library Auditorium. Straub’s lecture, which focuses on the topic of personal identity examined in Ingmar Bergman's "Persona," is free and open to the public.
The Breathitt Lectureship was designed to honor an outstanding UK alumnus with an exceptional interest in higher education and the humanities, Gov. Edward T. Breathitt. The lectureship is awarded to an undergraduate who has eloquently expressed the qualities of mind and spirit, including one or more of the basic concerns of the humanities: form, value and memory. Each year all undergraduate students are invited to apply for the lectureship.
Straub’s lecture, "The Self and Other: Meaning, Identity, and Communication in Ingmar Bergman's 'Persona'," explores personal identity and how outside forces can alter one's self by examining the topic in what is considered by many as Bergman's most challenging and experimental film. "Persona" is the story of a nurse who is asked to care for an actress, who appears healthy except she will not talk. As the two spend time together, the nurse talks to her patient constantly, never getting a response. Eventually, the nurse shares all her secrets only to find her own personality being consumed by her patient's persona.
Bergman's film captured the philosophy student's attention.
"I chose this topic because 'Persona' explores communication and interpretation, two important themes for 20th century existentialism and post-modernism which appeal to both my literary and philosophical interests. 'Persona' intriguingly interrogates the very possibility of communication, although, as a film, it is itself an attempt to communicate," noted Straub.
The lecture will analyze the relationship between the two women in light of Jean-Paul Sartre's "Being and Nothingness" and will consider self-presentation as an act of authorship, treating personal identity as a text whose meaning depends on both the self as "author" and the Other as "reader."
Named after the late Gov. Breathitt, the Breathitt Lectureship is an annual undergraduate award presented by the Gaines Center for the Humanities that provides a student the opportunity to write and deliver a humanities-oriented public lecture on the topic of their choosing. The student speaker is chosen through an application process that includes a lecture proposal submitted by the student to an independent committee of readers.
In recognition of her selection to deliver the Breathitt Lectureship, Straub also will receive a commemorative award and a $500 honorarium.
Along with majoring in English and philosophy at UK, Straub also is pursuing a minor in classics. Outside of her Gaines Fellowship work, she is a Chellgren Fellow, Singletary Scholar and member of the Honors Program. Straub also serves as one of the editors of Jar (the Honors Program literary and arts journal) and founding editor of a new publication, V, a feminist journal focusing on violence against women. V was conceived as part of Straub's jury project as a Gaines Fellow.