Languages of Imperialism: The Cultural Dimensions of Conquest

The Fifth Annual Ropes Lecture Series will begin on January 27, 2004.  Sponsored by the University of Cincinnati’s McMicken College of Arts & Sciences, Department of English and Comparative Literature and the Charles Phelps Taft Memorial Fund, this year’s topic is Languages of Imperialism: The Cultural Dimensions of Conquest.  The topic was chosen in response to world events and provides an opportunity to look at the issues and conditions of empire from a variety of perspectives.   

The 2004 Ropes Lecture Series offers six evening lectures, all of which are free and open to the general public – no tickets or reservations required. 

*Please note time changes from an earlier mailing.  Times in this announcement are correct.  

Languages of Imperialism: The Cultural Dimensions of Conquest brings together a unique collection of speakers representing diverse disciplines and viewpoints:

Tuesday, January 27 – 8pm, 127 McMicken Hall

Norman Rush • Invisible Empires

Novelist • Winner of the 1991 National Book Award and International Fiction Prize for Mating • Author of the recently released Mortals – the last element in a trilogy on the Western presence in contemporary southern Africa 

Tuesday, February 10 – 8 pm, 127 McMicken Hall

Austin Clarke • Narratives in the Face of Imperialism

Novelist and Essayist • Recipient 2003 Commonwealth Writers Prize for The Polished Hoe • Recipient Toronto Arts Award for Lifetime Achievement in Literature • Author of nine novels, five short-story collections, and three memoirs              

Tuesday, February 17 – 7:30 pm, 427 Engineering Research Ctr.

Susan Hegeman • Culture/Globalization

Associate Professor of English, University of Florida • Author of Patterns for America Modernism and the Concept of Culture • 1996 William S. Vaughn Visiting Fellow, Vanderbilt University’s Robert Penn Warren Center for the Humanities         

John Carlos Rowe • Culture, Nationalism, and U.S. Imperialism

Professor of English, University of California, Irvine • Author of Literary Culture and US Imperialism and The New American Studies • Editor of The Vietnam War and American Culture and Post-Nationalist American Studies

Tuesday, March 2 – 8 pm, 427 Engineering Research Ctr.

Marilyn Young • Sending a Message: America Speaks to the World

Professor of History, NYU • Director of the International Center for Advanced Studies Project on the Cold War as Global Conflict • Recipient Berkshire Women's History Prize for The Vietnam Wars, 1945-1990

Tuesday, April 13 – 8 pm, 127 McMicken Hall

Paul Theroux • Lecture TBA

Renowned Novelist and Travel Writer • Recipient Whitebread Prize for Picture Palace and James Tait Black Award for The Mosquito Coast • Author of the recently released Dark Star Safari: Overland from Cairo to Cape Town

For more information, call 513.556.3906 or visit the UC English Department website at http://www.artsci.uc.edu/english. 

For directions to campus and detailed maps, please visit http://www.uc.edu/directions.

Supported by McMicken College of Arts & Sciences, Department of English & Comparative Literature and the Charles Phelps Taft Memorial Fund.