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Edward Adams, professor of English, will present a public lecture to mark his appointment to the John Lucian Smith Jr. Memorial Term Professorship at Washington and Lee University on Tuesday, March 14, at 6 p.m. in the Harte Center in Leyburn Library.
In his lecture, titled “Ozymandian Histories: Monuments, Ruins, and Landscapes of Decline in America,” Adams will explore the theoretical study of epic decline narratives, presenting snapshots from a follow-up study to a now completed monograph on historical and fictional narratives of decline.
Modern history, and particularly American history, is rooted in the assumption that progress is history’s normal, or default condition and that apocalyptic destruction is progress’s antithetical twin. “Ozymandian Histories” challenges the historical and intellectual dominance of this progress/apocalypse binary and offers an alternative to the trauma it causes.
Adams joined W&L’s faculty in 1993, and his research interests include history and fiction, novels, epics, high culture and popular culture.
The John Lucian Smith Jr. Memorial Term Professorship was established in 2010 with leadership gifts of Bernard C. “Ben” Grigsby II ’72 and Mashall B. Miller Jr. ’71, and with the support of other friends of John Lucian Smith Jr.
