Samet to discuss Soldier’s Heart on Feb. 7

Elizabeth D. Samet, a civilian professor of English at West Point Military Academy, will discuss “Reading Literature through Peace and War at West Point” in a lecture at Lehigh University on Feb. 7 at 4 p.m.
The lecture, which is free and open to the public, will take place at Linderman Library, Room 200. A book signing will follow.
Samet’s discussion will reflect on her recent book Soldier’s Heart: Reading Literature through Peace and War at West Point, which The New York Times said “offers a significant perspective on the crucial social and political force of honor: a principle of behavior at the intersection of duty and imagination.”
The book provides sketches and portraits of students and military colleagues and reports on their communications with her as they move on in their careers, to and from war zones such as Iraq and, for some, to civilian life. She will share how this environment informs her teaching and her students’ understanding of literature.
“The book, based on Elizabeth’s experiences teaching literature to soldiers at West Point before and after the attacks of 9/11, is a moving, thoughtful, and provocative reflection on the value of literature and the values and skills that studying literature can teach,” says associate professor of English Scott Paul Gordon, who also served as Samet’s teaching fellow at Harvard University.
The event is sponsored by Friends of the Lehigh Libraries and co-sponsored by Faculty Development, the Humanities Center and the English Department.
--Tricia Long