Alexandra Socarides, associate professor of English at the University of Missouri, discusses how women poets of the 1800s left their mark on American culture in a Lawrence University address.
Socarides presents “Their Words are Marching On: Nineteenth-Century American Women’s Poetry in the Twenty-First Century” Friday, Sept. 29 at 4:30 p.m. in Main Hall 201. The event is free and open to the public.
While Emily Dickinson has made it into the literary canon and the university classroom, Socarides posits many poems from the era surround us every day, among them “Mary Had a Little Lamb,” “America the Beautiful” and “The Battle Hymn of the Republic.” The general public often is unaware of who these poets are, says Socarides, but they have impacted society’s thinking regarding issues as diverse as childhood, war, nationalism and religion.
Part of her presentation will examine contemporary poets who rewrote Emma Lazarus’ “The New Collosus” in the wake of President Trump’s position on immigration.
Socarides is the author of “Dickinson Unbound: Paper, Process, Poetics” and the recently published “Everywhere and Nowhere: Nineteenth-Century American Women’s Poetry and the Problem of Literary History.”
She earned a bachelor’s degree from Bates College, a master of fine arts degree from Sarah Lawrence College and a Ph.D. from Rutgers University.
Her appearance is sponsored by the Marguerite Schumann Memorial Lectureship Fund, the gender studies program, and the English department.
About Lawrence University
Founded in 1847, Lawrence University uniquely integrates a college of liberal arts and sciences with a nationally recognized conservatory of music, both devoted exclusively to undergraduate education. It was selected for inclusion in the book “Colleges That Change Lives: 40 Schools That Will Change the Way You Think About College.” Engaged learning, the development of multiple interests and community outreach are central to the Lawrence experience. Lawrence draws its 1,500 students from nearly every state and more than 50 countries.
