The cover of Chalk’s book: Education, Formation, and Reading in Fiction.
MANHATTAN UNIVERSITY /COURTESY
By Leyla J Mercado, Asst. News Editor
Bridget Chalk, Ph.D., associate provost and professor of English at Manhattan University, recently published her second book “Novel Schooling: Education, Formation, and Reading in Fiction”.
The book examines the central theme of the, “consistent link between negative depictions of education in novels and claims for the educative effects of reading them,” as stated in an article published on manhattan.edu.
Through reflection of interest and criticism of the novels typically presented through formal education, Chalk discussed what led her to writing about this topic.
“I noticed that many novels of education, or coming-of-age narratives, depicted schooling in a negative way,” Chalk wrote in an email to The Quadrangle. “Characters almost always had some core traumatic experience at school– from David Copperfield and Jane Eyre to more recent main characters in novels by Zadie Smith and Elena Ferrante. So I set out to see what other patterns I could find in these novels, and discovered that a majority of them posited reading (often reading fiction) as an alternative and positive form of individual education.”
With the intent to ignite versatility within works of literature, Chalk wanted to expand her goals about the core messages within this book.
“The humanities have a bad reputation in our culture, and especially fiction is considered fake, useless and trivial,” Chalk wrote. “I wanted to make a powerful case about what the novel has to teach us…in our digitized world. Reading, I suggest, is a form of individual development, an exercise in intellectual optimization. It generates valuable lessons in perspective-taking, empathy, and the art of synthesizing chaos into meaningful form … I hope this project can contribute in some small way to fresh conversation about the value of the arts and humanities. Especially in higher education, students should be encouraged, as these writers urge, to pursue meaning and pleasure as vital to a fulfilling life.”
Education, reading and writing have always been of significant importance to Chalk’s work and life, leaving the student body at MU feeling impacted by her work as well.
Mary-Abigail Caglione, junior and adolescent education major with a concentration in English, spoke on what Chalk’s most recent book release means to her.
“It’s exciting to see her create a piece of work because I always see her in action,” Caglione said. “It’s nice to get an insider look of how she thinks and how she writes. I’ve always been so impressed by her in class about the things she says and her lectures, so having it in one place I think is really nice … I would say I’m very proud that she did write her own book because she’s such an intelligent woman.”
Caglione went on to expand on the connection Chalk has been capable of fostering with her students.
“She wants people to be educated and I think she wants people to understand,” Caglione said. “She’s so open to questions and I think her passion is essentially learning but she also values the sake of learning. She doesn’t value it for a test or value it for students to just be smarter. This woman dedicates so much of her time to making sure people learn and take what you learn in the class to real life.”
Kaitlyn McNiff, senior and childhood education major with a concentration in English, further discussed Chalk’s leadership and dedication to her literary works, her students and the MU community.
“You could tell her heart is in Manhattan University and she just wants the best for all her students on an individual level but she’s also working towards the betterment of the school as a whole, which is really clear through all the leadership she’s taken on in the past year,” McNiff said. “I think that’s a really awesome example to set for us as students and especially for me as a future educator. It’s important to know that even when you take on a lot of responsibility, your heart is always with the students because the students are what matter the most.”