William Marling, Ph.D. – Professor of English at Case Western Reserve University

Dear Colleagues:

Usually the Public Affairs Lunch discusses something that clearly involves government. Yet the public sphere involves culture as well, and cultural processes do involve forms of politics – of approval, disapproval, deliberation and power. Some of that may be suggested by the title of Professor Marling’s forthcoming book: Gatekeepers: How World Literature Circulates.

We take the fact that we read authors from other countries for granted. But how does that work? Why do some Egyptian or Argentinian or Swedish works get translated into English, while others do not? How do some works become part of the public sphere of literary culture? In How American is Globalization? Professor Marling combined an academic’s critical eye with his long experience in international journalism to shed surprising light on the globalization debates. Join us as he illuminates the worlds of culture and commerce in which we live.

All best regards,
Joe White
Luxenberg Family Professor of Public Policy and Director, Center for Policy Studies

About Our Guests

William Marling studies and teaches American and World Literature. He has written six books and over 50 articles on subjects ranging from Poe, Hawthorne, and Fitzgerald, to Marcel Duchamp’s influence on William Carlos Williams. He has written about “putrescence,” the semiotics of the Parable of the Prodigal Son, cell phones in films, film noir, globalization, the detective novel, and translation theory. His scholarship has been published in French, Spanish, Japanese, and Estonian. Twice a Fulbright Professor (Spain 1983, Austria 1994), he was awarded the Edward Said Chair at American University of Beirut (2008), the Bryant Drake Chair at Kobe College (2000) and the French Ministry of Education Professorship twice (Université d’Avignon, 1998, 2001). A pioneer in the academic use of computers (since 1979), Marling is creator of two websites nominated for awards: “Modernism: The American Salons” and “Detective Novels”.

Before becoming an academic, Marling was an award-winning journalist who worked for The Salt Lake Tribune, UPI, The Richmond News Leader, KCPX-TV (Salt Lake City) and then moved to New York City to write for Fortune and Money. His free-lance work has appeared in Mountain Gazette, Harper’s, The Wall Street Journal, Cleveland Magazine, Northern Ohio Live, and The Cleveland Plain Dealer.

Marling has received over $500,000 in grants from the N.E.H., the Soros Foundation, the Nord Foundation, the Arthur Vining Davis Foundation, and the Consolidated Natural Gas Foundation.

Where We Meet

The Friday Public Affairs Lunch convenes each Friday when classes are in session, from 12:30 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. We usually meet in the Dampeer Room of Kelvin Smith Library. The Dampeer Room is on the second floor of the library. If you get off the elevators, turn right, pass the first bank of tables, and turn right again. Occasionally we need to use a different room; that will always be announced in the weekly e-mails.

Parking Possibilities

The most convenient parking is the lot underneath Severance Hall. We regret that it is not free. From that lot there is an elevator up to street level (labeled as for the Thwing Center); it is less than 50 yards from that exit to the library entrance. You can get from the Severance garage to the library without going outside. Near the entry gates – just to the right if you were driving out – there is a door into a corridor. Walk down the corridor and there will be another door. Beyond that door you’ll find the entrance to an elevator which goes up to an entrance right inside the doors to Kelvin Smith Library.

Friday Lunch Upcoming Topics and Speakers:

September 12: An Update on Ukraine and Russia. With Andrew Barnes, Associate Professor and Chair, Department of Political Science, Kent State University, and Kelly M. McMann, Associate Professor of Political Science and Director of the International Studies Program, CWRU.

September 19: The Use and Misuse of “Big Data” for Health Care. With Sharona Hoffman, Edgar A. Hahn Professor of Law and Professor of Bioethics; Co-Director, Law-Medicine Center.

September 26: The Future of CLE Air Service. With Todd F. Payne, Chief of Marketing and Air Service Development, Cleveland Airport System. ***Alternative Venue: LL06 B & C at Kelvin Smith Library***

October 3: Encouraging Savings by the Poor in Developing Countries. With Silvia Prina, Associate Professor of Economics. ***Alternative Venue: Mather House Room 100***

October 10: The Effects of High-Stakes Testing on Students and Schools. With Dale Whittington Ph.D., Director of Research and Evaluation, Shaker Heights City School District.

October 17: “Obamacare” and The Free Clinic. With Danny Williams J.D., MNO, Executive Director, The Free Clinic of Greater Cleveland. ***Alternative Venue: Mather House Room 100***

October 24: An Update on the Search for an AIDS Vaccine. With Michael M. Lederman, Scott R. Inkley Professor of Medicine and Co-Director, CWRU/UHC Center for AIDS Research.

October 31: The Midterm Election. With Karen Beckwith, Flora Stone Mather Professor of Political Science, Justin Buchler, Associate Professor of Political Science; and Andrew Lucker, Adjunct Assistant Professor of Political Science. ***Alternative Venue: LL06 B & C at Kelvin Smith Library***

November 7: ROTC Returns to Campus. With Lt. Colonel Donald Hazelwood, Northeast Ohio ROTC Commander and Professor of Military Science, John Carroll University. ***Alternative Venue: Mather House Room 100***

November 14: Perspectives on Human Subjects Research Requirements. With Suzanne Rivera Ph.D., M.S.W., Associate Vice President for Research and Assistant Professor of Bioethics. ***Alternative Venue: LL06 B & C at Kelvin Smith Library***

November 21: Local Government in an Age of Austerity. With David B. Miller, Associate Professor in the Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences and Council President, City of South Euclid.

November 28: Thanksgiving Break

December 5: Godless Democrats and Pious Republicans: Party Activists and the Mythical God Gulf. With Ryan Claassen, Associate Professor of Political Science, Kent State University.