UNC’s Student Organization for Undergraduate Literature, S.O.U.L., held a meeting Tuesday celebrating the Caped Crusader — Batman.
The meeting, in Greenlaw, set out to bring together lovers of the comics for a discussion of all things related to the famed superhero’s journey in both literature and film.
While S.O.U.L. is generally intended for English and Comparative Literature majors, it is open to anyone in the UNC community who has a passion for literature.
“Our goal and our mission is to bring English majors in one place so we can all be nerdy and talk about things we love, like reading and literature, and present that to the university,” said Kourtney Bradshaw, a junior and active member of S.O.U.L.
Samantha McCormick, a sophomore S.O.U.L. member, said the organization is an extra creative outlet for any major.
“I see (S.O.U.L.) as a place for English majors to come together and also a place for others, like maybe Biology majors, that maybe don’t have that creative outlet,” McCormick said.
Another important goal for the organization is becoming an officially recognized UNC institution.
McCormick said she has been a member of S.O.U.L. since last year and is currently working with other members to create an official constitution for the club.
“I really hope (we) grow,” McCormick said.
“We want to have a good, solid, generally consistent body that will attend meetings,” McCormick said.
Alice Martin, sophomore co-president of S.O.U.L., said club leaders meet regularly to plan events and work on the organization’s official constitution.
S.O.U.L. holds special meetings once or twice a month. These meetings range from discussions about various examples of literature to discussions and events centered around the inner workings of the department.
Events centered on literature have included discussion meetings on “Alice in Wonderland,” “Sherlock Holmes,” and, now, “Batman.”
According to McCormick, S.O.U.L. plans its events based on the interest of group members and generally chooses broad topics that have both literary and pop culture elements.
The club has also hosted SOUL CON, an academic conference that presents undergraduate English majors with the opportunity to present their research.
Ragan Glover, a senior in charge of the group’s website and Facebook page, said her favorite event was the discussion with combat photographer Stacy Pearsall because the group really got to know Pearsall and interact with her on a personal level.
Looking ahead, the organization has big plans for future events and projects, one of which is SoulCasts.
Martin said SoulCasts are podcasts created by various members of the English department, discussing various aspects of literature. These podcasts would allow for students to get to know the faculty within the department.
Overall, Martin said the club also has plans to grow, attracting more members and planning bigger events.
“We want to open S.O.U.L. up to all of UNC,” she said.
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