The Department of English and Staten Island Outloud are sponsoring an academic symposium entiltled “American Idol: A Fresh Look at Tom Sawyer” on Saturday, Mar. 10 in the Center for the Arts (Building 1P) Recital Hall at 2:30pm. The symposium is free to the public.

The speakers and guests will include Prof. Richard Currie (Ret.), Prof. Ellen Goldner of CSI’s English Department, Professor/Poet Marguerite Rivas (Borough of Manhatan Community College), Artist/Curator Robert Bunkin, and Performance Artist D.B Lampkin.

Funded by a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts, the program is part of The Big Read, an NEA initiative designed to foster literacy through literature in the United States, as well as a grant from the Council of the Arts on Staten Island.