English Department’s John Pascal Presents at International Literary Conference

10/13/2009

The Sixth International Conference on the State of Mark Twain Studies was held at Elmira College, New York this past August. This college is one of the leading centers for Mark Twain research in the world and one of only two in the United States alone. Located in the Finger Lakes region of the Empire state, Elmira is the location at which Twain summered for years while writing many of his major works such as The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, The Prince and the Pauper, A Tramp Abroad, A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court, and Life on the Mississippi.

Occurring only once every four years, the conference selects Mark Twain scholars from around the world to present their latest research efforts in a wide variety of panels and sessions designed to advance scholarship and pedagogy in the field of this white-haired, white linen-suited patriarch of American literary humor.

Presenting in the panel called Mark Twain and Contemporary Authors, Mr. John Pascal of the English Department gave an abstract of his thesis for his Master’s Degree in English from Montclair State University. Entitled “Artemus Ward: The Gentle Humorist” it explores the humor of the man who made Lincoln laugh and was arguably the country’s first national humorist prior to the emergence of Mark Twain.

Mr. Pascal not only discussed the passion of teaching with Russell Banks, author of twelve novels including The Sweet Hereafter, but also conversed at length with Dr. Thomas Meier, President of Elmira College, and Emmy Award winner Hal Holbrook who has quintessentially portrayed Mark Twain on stage to world audiences since 1954.

As an outgrowth of this achievement, Mr. Pascal has been invited to present his lecture at the Caldwell Public Library on Friday evening, February 12th, 2010 in recognition of the Bicentennial of Lincoln’s birth. His lecture will also serve as a start to the library’s participation in the National Endowment for the Arts 2010 celebration of the poetry of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow in the Caldwells and surrounding communities.