IU Kokomo’s Bourus receives national recognition
May 25, 2007
KOKOMO, Ind.—The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) has selected Terri Bourus, Ph.D., associate professor of English literature at Indiana University Kokomo, to participate in a summer study opportunity in Europe. Bourus will collaborate in a seminar titled “The Reformation of the Book: 1450–1700,” to be held at Antwerp, Belgium, as well as Oxford University, and London, England on June 18–July 20.
The 15 scholars from around the world participating in the seminar were selected, she said, “from a highly competitive applicant pool.” In recent years, numerous national and international scholarly conferences have invited Bourus to share her research on the earliest printed versions of William Shakespeare’s plays. Two years ago, she taught an NEH summer seminar for university professors, on “Textual Variants in Hamlet.”
The “Reformation of the Book” seminar will study the history of printed materials, “and how the very existence of print, or ‘the Book’ if you will, allowed the [Protestant] Reformation to happen,” Bourus said. “Ideas that sprang from the Reformation—respect for the individual, the rights of man, freedom from oppression— were disseminated through print and, in part, laid the foundation for the American Founding Fathers’ ideas—ideas that later became part of documents such as the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence.”
A federal agency, the NEH supports seminars and institutes at colleges and universities each summer, so that scholars can work in collaboration with other experts in specific humanities disciplines. “Scholars who participate in its summer institutes are working on monographs and other publications,” Bourus said. “They will go on to share what they learn with more than 30,000 American university students in future semesters.”
Following the NEH seminar, Bourus will remain in England to speak at the Oxford University Round Table on Global Education to be held July 22–25. One of only 37 international scholars invited to attend, Bourus will represent Indiana University. The topic of her presentation and round table discussion is “ ‘Of all base passions, fear is most accursed:’ Teaching Shakespeare in an Uncertain World.”
For more information on English literature offerings at IU Kokomo, contact the Department of Humanities, www.iuk.edu/~kohman or (765) 455-9248.
