Required Reading

To Make a Village Soviet: Jehovah’s Witnesses and the Transformation of a Postwar Ukrainian Borderland

Emily Baran, Professor, Department of History

HISTORY

Baran’s second book chronicles how, in June 1949, the Soviet state arrested seven farmers from the village of Bila Tserkva. Not wealthy or powerful, the men were unknown outside their community, and few had ever heard of their small, isolated village on the southwestern border of Soviet Ukraine. Nevertheless, the state decided they were dangerous traitors who threatened to undermine public order, and a regional court sentenced them to 25 years of imprisonment for treason.

The arrested men belonged to a small and misunderstood religious minority, the Jehovah’s Witnesses, and both Witnesses and their neighbors challenged the government’s attempts to fully integrate the village into socialist society. Baran argues that what happened in Bila Tserkva demonstrates the sheer ambition of the state’s plans for the Sovietization of borderland communities.

Song of the Sea

Meredith Leigh Burton, B.A. in English and Theatre (’07)

YOUNG ADULT (YA)

FANTASY FICTION

After graduating from MTSU, Burton, who is blind, later received her teacher certification for grades 7–12. Today, she is a motivational speaker, singer, and author. Her YA books feature disabled protagonists and explore the themes of inner strength and the truth that people with disabilities are simply unique individuals whom Burton says God enables to make a difference in the world. “We have much to offer if given the chance,” said Burton, who lives in Lynchburg.

Getting About

Bill Meehan, Editor, Ph.D. in English (’96)

BIBLIOGRAPHY

While a Ph.D. student at MTSU, Meehan contacted William F. Buckley Jr. to ask about interviewing him for his MTSU doctoral dissertation analyzing Buckley’s writing style in his novels. Buckley agreed to an interview, and eventually hired Meehan as his official bibliographer. Getting About, Buckley’s latest book edited by Meehan (and which features an introduction by Meehan), gathers more than 100 Buckley articles about journeys by boat, train, or plane, representing a lifetime of adventure around the world.

Star-Tent: A Triptych

Amie Whittemore, Lecturer, Department of English

POETRY

Whittemore, director of MTSU Write and the 2020 poet laureate for Murfreesboro, will in 2023 publish Star-Tent: A Triptych, a speculative poetry collection that asks, through rich lyricism and formal experimentation, how what lies beyond the Earth can shape how we reside on this planet. Through intergalactic encounters, the poems examine what it means to be human and what it means to contemplate one’s own humanity through the lens of extreme otherness.