Conference to Explore Life, Work of Oscar Wilde

A two-day conference on Oscar Wilde will draw academics from around the U.S. to Drew University's Madison campus on Friday and Saturday.

The conference will feature 11 panels, an exhibit of materials related to Wilde, and a traditional Irish concert. Registration, including breakfast and lunch, is open to the public for $100, according to the following announcement from Drew.

Who Owns the Legacy of Oscar Wilde?

If Oscar Wilde were alive today, how would he define himself?

The 19^th century writer has been described as both the first modern dramatist and the last Victorian playwright; as an Irish nationalist and an Anglophile; and as a pioneer of “queer theory” and as someone who never accepted his own sexuality.

These competing characterizations will be explored by a two-day conference at on the life and work of Wilde that will run from June 1 to 2. 

The conference will feature 11 panels, some of which will run concurrently, that explore topics including Wilde’s Irish heritage, sexuality, relationship with Jews and politics.

Presenters include

• Susan Bernardo, professor of English at Wagner College
• Felicia J. Ruff, associate professor of theater and speech at Wagner College
• Fred Roden, associate professor of English at the University of Connecticut
• Shelley Salamensky, assistant professor of theater, film and television at UCLA
• Philip Smith, associate professor of English at the University of Pittsburgh
• Patrick W. Bixby, director of the master of arts in interdisciplinary studies program at Arizona State University
• Loretta Clayton, assistant professor of English at Macon State College
• Anne Margaret Daniel, assistant professor of humanities at The New School University
• Marylu Hill, director of the Villanova Center for Liberal Education at Villanova University.

Drew faculty members Jonathan Rose, William R. Keenan Professor of History, Christine Kinealy, professor of arts and letters, will also present research on Wilde.

Coinciding with the conference will be an exhibit of materials related to Wilde in the Drew University Library. The exhibit, which is on loan from the University of Delaware Library, features items that show how Wilde’s friends and associates responded to his celebrity in the early 20^th century.

Conference registration is $100 for the general public and $70 for students, which includes breakfast and lunch on both June 1 and 2.  Friday’s activities will also include an evening reception and a traditional Irish concert. For more information or to register, please visit  http://depts.drew.edu/grad/wilde/Main.html.