The Marietta College Faculty Development Committee invites the campus community to celebrate the creative and scholarly work of colleagues during the next Faculty Spotlight event. On Friday, Jan. 30, in Thomas Hall Room 113, McCoy Professors Bev Hogue, Ph.D., and Katy McDaniel, Ph.D., will present “Fact and Fancy: History and Literature in Conversation.”
Drawing from their research on William Goldman’s The Princess Bride and Natasha Trethewey’s Native Guard, along with other historical and literary works, Hogue and McDaniel’s in-depth discussion will invite attendees to examine how cultures process history through storytelling. The presentation will explore what stories say about who we are, how literature and history illuminate one another, and related themes.
“This presentation grew out of our discovery, some years back, that Katy and I were both doing research and writing focusing on how literature and history illuminate each other. We have both written widely on these topics and we often read and comment on each other’s essays before submitting them for publication,” said Dr. Hogue. “It’s really exciting to bring together ideas from different disciplines and see how they resonate and build a broader understanding. This discussion is an argument for the importance of interdisciplinary understanding, but I think it’s also going to be a lot of fun.”
Through an exploration of the role of storytelling in shaping human understanding, the presentation will consider how both history and literature rely on narrative to convey cultural values. By examining how text is read, analyzed, and interpreted across disciplines, the discussion reinforces the importance of a liberal arts approach to education, which equips students and communities to better understand their history, culture, and the values that shape them.
“I’m interested in how we use literature and storytelling to understand the past and position ourselves in relation to it. History is a storytelling art. It requires narrative, characterization, and the development of themes to extract meaning from the past,” said Dr. McDaniel. “In my Princess Bride research, I’m examining the story’s manifestations of nostalgia and the use of historical anachronism, both of which mythologize the past while simultaneously bringing it closer to the present.”
Refreshments will be available beginning at 3:30 p.m., with the presentation beginning at 4 p.m. Attendees are welcome to stay after the presentation for informal discussion and continued engagement with the presenters.
This Faculty Spotlight event is a special opportunity to learn from the scholarship of Marietta College faculty and to support their intellectual and creative work. The Faculty Development Committee encourages all members of the campus community to attend.
To learn more about “Fact and Fancy: History and Literature in Conversation,” contact Ann Nicely at forakera@marietta.edu or visit marietta.edu/event/faculty-spotlight-fact-and-fancy-history-and-literature-conversation.