Wednesday, October 9, 2019
Mark Edmundson, PhD | Knapp Chair of Liberal Arts 2019

This lecture considers Song of Myself as the record of a quest in which Whitman strives to become a representative democratic individual and to redefine his nation. From this vantage, he reflects on violence, ponders the place of Jesus and of God, and ultimately encounters death.

This is the second lecture in a the series, Walt Whitman and the Battle for Democracy. In this sequence of lectures, Dr. Mark Edmundson, professor at the University of Virginia, discusses Walt Whitman, his poetry and his vision of democracy. Though Whitman published his greatest poem Song of Myself in 1855, he remains a poet of the present: we still have not fully realized, or even completely understood, his hopes. Reflecting on Whitman today puts us in a position to respond to our current crisis of democracy.

Illume Speaker Series

To champion the tradition and future of the artes liberales, the Humanities Center has created the Illume Speaker Series featuring our own renowned faculty scholars, invited thought leaders and prominent public figures to advance the liberal arts on our campus and inspire lifelong learning in our surrounding communities.

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