Mark Edmundson will deliver the 2006-07 Herbert P. and Mary Jane Lefler Lecture at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 1 in Alumni Hall, located in the O.J. Johnson Student Union at Gustavus Adolphus College. Edmundson will respond to the question: “Why read?” He will explore the vital role that reading plays in the making of engaged citizens and challenge the audience to understand why it is necessary to read. A book signing and reception will follow the lecture.
According to Laura Behling, associate professor of English at Gustavus, “Anecdotal evidence suggests that we live in an increasingly technological world where success is measured by financial gain or scientific achievement. Reading literature, for many children and adults, seems a quaint luxury with little relevance to the real world.”
A prize-winning scholar of both literary and cultural criticism, Edmundson, the Daniels Family Professor of English at the University of Virginia, was named a Guggenheim Fellow in 2005-06. He is the author of numerous books, including Why Read? and Teacher: The One Who Made a Difference and a contributing editor at Harper’s and Raritan with other works published in The New York Times Magazine and The Nation.
The Lefler Lecture is intended to enrich the academic program for students at Gustavus by inviting speakers (e.g., professors, lecturers, artists, historians, theologians, and the like) to campus for public lectures, classroom visits, and formal and informal conversations with students.
This year’s event is hosted by the Department of English at Gustavus and is free and open to the public.
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