Eleanor Fapohunda Colloquium Series

Dr. Jason Lotz, "Spenser’s Problem of Modernity and Anglo-American Gardens"

Lawns, the liminal space between the public and private, stand as living allegories for the idea of America, paralleling the kind of self-fashioning Spenser champions in The Faerie Queene. In the Book of Temperance, Spenser diagnoses the problem of modernity and highlights, way before its time, the anxiety of a post-modern world. This essay explores the ways the American myth relies on Spenserian allegory to enforce its doctrines of individuality and diversity.

The School of Arts & Sciences Colloquium Series was established in 2004 by the late Dr. Eleanor Fapohunda, Dean of the School of Arts & Sciences, to enable our faculty to share their scholarly pursuits with their colleagues by giving presentations that are accessible, engaging, and interesting to faculty, staff, and students representing the wide range of academic backgrounds of our School.