After his recent graduation, a UVM alumni made his dream of becoming a published author come true.  As a junior, Frank Smecker ’12 began writing the manuscript of his book that is due to hit shelves May 30, 2014. “The central premise is that objectivity is the fundamental thing that gives rise to where we as subjects go to find our identity,” Smecker said. The book’s philosophical concepts can be put in the context of a student’s life at UVM, he said.  “It seems like a really intriguing study,” said Ryan Engley, a graduate teaching assistant in the English department. “Night of the World: Traversing the Ideology of Objectivity,” published by Zero Books Publishers, is a great access point to a lot of other material written about the same topic, Frank said.   “If your sense of self is constructed externally, what’s the internal? It may  be an abyss-an emptiness,” he said.  “I say find that, intimately connect with it, terrify yourself with it and embrace it too,” Smecker said. He urged students to dig deep to find their sense of self.  “Reconstruct a subject for yourself and of yourself,” Smecker said. “Otherwise, you’re living a sort of artificial life, in a sense.” Originally Frank wrote “Night of the World: Traversing the Ideology of Objectivity” as a paper for his class, said Todd McGowan, a professor in the English department. McGowan was also the original editor of the manuscript for Smecker’s book. Frank was a voracious learner and “one of his best students” McGowan said.  When Frank handed in his paper McGowen “could not believe a student wrote [it],” he said.  “I’m not surprised that someone took a seminar paper they wrote for [McGowan] and turned it into a book,” Engley said. “I’m sure he helped as much as Frank asked him to along the way,” he said.  Engley said that McGowan is known for his teaching expertise in the English department.  “No matter what class he teaches, he approaches everything with the same level of theoretical and textual engagement,” he said.  Some undergraduate students are also inspired by the news of the alumni’s recent publication. “It’s always a good thing when someone from the UVM family gets published,” sophomore English major Ben Parsons said.  “It’s inspiring to go into a book store and see UVM alumni on the shelves,” he said.