Nancy Von Rosk, professor of English at Mount Saint Mary College, will present the next Investigating Research on Campus (iROC) talk with "Humanitarian, War Correspondent, and Great American Novelist: Edith Wharton and World War I," on Thursday, November 4 at 12:45 p.m.
The talk will take place virtually via Zoom. It is free and open to the public, but you must register to attend. Register at www.msmc.edu/iROC11_4
Mount students, faculty, and staff can attend the event in person in DC 218.
For many scholars of American Literature, Edith Wharton is the "Grande Dame" of American letters. Celebrated for her wit, polished literary style, and psychologically complex characters, Wharton is renowned for her satires of Old New York's high society as well as her tragic tales of poverty and thwarted lives. The first woman to be awarded a Pulitzer Prize as well as an Honorary Doctorate of Letters from Yale University, Wharton's achievements were remarkable for a woman of her time, yet this is only one part of her legacy. Von Rosk will take her audience beyond The Age of Innocence to discuss Wharton's humanitarian work during the first World War as well as the range of writing she produced during the war, much of it undervalued or ignored until fairly recently.
Von Rosk has been studying, teaching, and writing on Edith Wharton since she was a grad student. When her 2020 sabbatical plans were canceled by COVID-19, she instead immersed herself in an aspect of Wharton's work and life that had always intrigued her, but she never seemed to have the time to investigate further.
Von Rosk teaches a range of courses at the Mount, including the American Literature Survey, Forms of Literature, Women Writers, The Jazz Age, Foundations of Literary Studies, and a Senior Capstone Seminar on the Gothic.
The goal of the college's iROC is to provide a forum for Mount faculty, staff, and students to showcase their research endeavors with the college and local communities. Presentations include research proposals, initial data collection, and completed research projects.
Mount Saint Mary College, ranked a Top-Tier University by U.S. News & World Report, offers bachelor's and master's degree programs for careers in healthcare, business, education, social services, communications, media, and the liberal arts.