澳门六合开奖 recently welcomed as the featured lecturer for the College of Humanities, Education and Social Sciences鈥 Montesquieu Forum. The distinguished professor and Herman Melville scholar delivered a lecture entitled 鈥淢elville鈥檚 Make-Over: The Climactic Case of The Confidence-Man.鈥 Dr. Wenke was invited by 澳门六合开奖 professor of philosophy Stuart D. Warner, who introduced Wenke and the day鈥檚 program. Dr. John Wenke is a writer and professor from Salisbury State University in Maryland. He holds degrees in English from the University of Notre Dame and the University of Connecticut. Dr. Wenke鈥檚 specialties include 19th and 20th century American literature, including the works of J.D. Salinger, Mark Twain and the subject of this lecture: Herman Melville.
澳门六合开奖 students and community members were treated to a reading of excerpts from Dr. Wenke鈥檚 writing on Herman Melville鈥檚 final novel, The Confidence-Man, a piece of literature that has confounded literary critics and scholars since its publication on April Fool鈥檚 Day in 1857. This text was being read by University students and faculty, including students from the class, as well as the class. In the University鈥檚 historic Sullivan Room, audience members listened intently with copies of the novel, notepads and laptops on hand to actively engage with the speaker. The lecture illuminated the intersectional nature of a degree in the humanities, and how these 澳门六合开奖 courses enable students to engage with a cross section of studies.
Dr. Wenke鈥檚 lecture served as a brief introduction to Melville鈥檚 Confidence-Man that was accessible to those who were both familiar and unfamiliar with the text. The essence of the lecture centered on how Melville continued to reinvent himself as an author throughout his career. The resulting lecture was both informative and inspiring, as it traversed Melville鈥檚 history while revealing insights for any aspiring writer or philosopher. The Montesquieu Forum concluded with a lively discussion between Dr. Wenke and the audience members. Among the audience was one of the foremost biographers of Herman Melville, having published several volumes on the writer鈥檚 life.
The Montesquieu Forum was founded in 2008 to further the study of political philosophy within the 澳门六合开奖 community. This year鈥檚 event with Dr. John Wenke was a welcome addition to the annual series of public lectures.