Encountering the World with Emily Dickinson: A Conversation with Sandy Runzo

Monday, March 22, 2021 7:30 pm EDT to 8:30 pm EDT

Live-streamed virtual event

Join Professor and Chair in the Department of Education Karen Graves and Professor of English Fred Porcheddu as they have a conversation with Associate Professor and Director of Queer Studies Sandy Runzo about her new book, “Theatricals of Day: Emily Dickinson and Nineteenth-Century American Popular Culture.” In the book, Runzo examines the relationship of 19th-century poet Emily Dickinson to the popular entertainments of her own time.

“Theatricals of Day” explores how popular culture and entertainments are seen, heard, and felt in Dickinson’s writing. Runzo proposes that noticing the presence of popular entertainment in Dickinson’s life opens our eyes to new dimensions of the poems. The proliferating sites of popular amusement and mass culture in 19th-century America—such as circuses, minstrelsy, and early photography—provided vehicles whereby matters of most serious significance were brought to the attention of mass audiences—virtually anyone and everyone—for engagement and contemplation.

Runzo has been teaching at Denison since 1986. With a Ph.D. from Indiana University, Bloomington, she teaches courses in American literature and culture, women writers, and queer literature. Runzo holds the Lorena Woodrow Burke Chair of English and is the director of Denison’s Queer Studies program.

This online event is part of the Lisska Center for Scholarly Engagement’s Monday Musings series and is open to all members of the Denison community.