Four distinguished scholars present forthcoming work. The subjects vary: memory and Montaigne, style as ideology, humanism in the age of antihumanism, and speech acts on Shakespeare’s stage. They will ask such surprising questions as: Can a bomb be human? Can forgetting be forced by royal decree? What are the political stakes of choosing between simplicity and elegance? And how can one speak love? In addition, discussion will entertain wider topics, such as why we work on the topics that we do? What are we trying to say by pursuing the work we do in the humanities today?

For copies of the pre-circulated papers, contact Terre Fisher at MEMS, telf@umich.edu.

Schedule
8:45-9:00 AM
Breakfast

9:15-10:30 AM
Can a Bomb Be Human?
Jan Miernowski, University of Wisconsin

10:30-10:45 AM
Break

10:45-12:00 PM
Cavell’s Speech Acts and Shakespeare’s Stage
Sarah Beckwith, Duke University,

12-1:30 PM
Lunch

1:30-2:45 PM
Montaigne and Memory
Andrea Frisch, University of Maryland,

2:45-3:00 PM
Break

3-4:15 PM
Paleness versus Eloquence: The Ideologies of Style in the English Renaissance
Richard Strier, University of Chicago,

Sponsored by Medieval and Early Modern Studies, Department of English, Department of Romance Languages & Literatures, the Humanities Institute, and with the generous support of the LSA Dean’s office.