Martin Elsky
Professor
English
Location: 4161 Boylan Hall
Phone: 718.951.5000 x3662
Fax: 718.951.4612
Email:
I have a life-long commitment to the City University of New York. I did my undergraduate degree in CUNY and my doctoral degree at Columbia University, where I have taught as visiting professor, before coming to teach at Brooklyn College. I also teach in the programs in English, Comparative Literature, and Renaissance Studies at the CUNY Graduate Center. I have served as Coordinator of the Renaissance Studies Certificate Program at the CUNY Graduate School and as Articles Editor of Renaissance Quarterly, as well as Board member of the Renaissance Society of America.
Education:
M.Phil., Ph.D., Columbia University - 1977 (English Renaissance)
B.A., City College of New York (CUNY) - 1969 (English)
Academic Diploma, Bronx High School of Science - 1965
Areas of Expertise:
My area of specialization is British poetry and prose of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Topics of my research have included theology; linguistics; language and science; print culture; local community, and architecture. My current research centers around criticism and reception history, especially the impact of the World Wars on pre-modern scholarship, including the work Erich Auerbach and the religious and political context of Dante reception.
Books and Publications
"The Second World War and Second-Wave Historical Criticism: A Selection of Rosemond Tuve's Chapel Talks (1944-1956)." Studies in Philology; Introduction on Tuve and Edwin Greenlaw;; Transcription of selected Chapel Talks by Tuve. (Books and Publications: Article (Peer-reviewed)) 2020
"Prophecy and Poetry: The Second World War and the Turn to Biblical Typology in George Herbert's The Temple." In Prophetic Futures, a special issue of postmedieval: a journal of medieval cultural studies (Books and Publications: Article (Peer-reviewed)) 2019
"Memory and Appropriation: Remembering Dante in Germany during the Sexcentenary of 1921. In Narratives of Violence, Trauma, and Memory. Ed. Constanza del Rio and Maite Escudero. London: Palgrave, (Books and Publications: Book Chapter) 2017
"The Sexcentenary Commemoration of Dante's Death and the German Re-Confessionalization of Dante: Friedrich Muckermann and der Gral." In Dante Politico: Ideological Reception Across Boundaries, special issue of Mediaevalia: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Medieval Studies Worldwide, (Books and Publications: Article (Peer-reviewed)) 2017
"T. S. Eliot and the Play of Belief: Reading Dante in the Aftermath of World-War I." Sun Yat-sen Journal of Humanities. (Books and Publications: Article (Peer-reviewed)) 2012
"Erich Auerbach's Catholic Mediterranean: Competition within the European Republic of Letters," in Cross-Cultural Encounters between the Mediterranean and the English-Speaking Worlds: The Dynamics of Differences. Ed. Christine Reynier. Brussels: Peter Lang. (Books and Publications: Book Chapter) 2011
"Erich Auerbach's Catholic Mediterranean: Competition within the European Republic of Letters." Cross-Cultural Encounters between the Mediterranean and the English-Speaking Worlds: The Dynamics of Differences. Ed. Christine Reynier. Peter Lang. (Books and Publications: Forthcoming Publications) 2009
"Wissenschaft und nationale Identität. Erich Auerbachs figurale Interpretation als Herausforderung an eine liberale Religion" [Scholarship and National Idenity: Erich Auerbach's Figural Interoretation and the Cahllenge to Liberal Religion]. Marbacher Schriften: Neue Folge. Ed. Ulrich von Bülow. Göttingen: Wallstein Verlag, 2009. (Books and Publications: Article (Other)) 2009
From the German: With Martin Vialon and Robert Stein. "Scholarship in Times of Extremes: Letters of Erich Auerbach (1933-1946), on the Fiftieth Anniversary of his Death." PMLA, May. (Books and Publications: Article (Peer-reviewed)) 2008
Awards, Honors and Fellowships
Zentrum für Literatur- und Kulturforschung Berlin, "German Politics and the Reception of Dante in the German Press during the Sexcentenary of Dante's Death (1921)," for research in Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin, Zeitungsabteilung. January. (Grants and Fellowships) 2009
Appointed to Ph.D. Program in Comparative Literature, CUNY Graduate Center. (Awards and Honors) 2006
Appointed to Ph.D. Program in English, CUNY Graduate Center. (Awards and Honors) 1990
Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums
"Rosemond Tuve's Chapel Talks, 1944-1951: Jewish Refugees, Typological Criticism, and American Historicism," MLA Conference, Chicago, (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Conference Presentation) 2019
"Thomas Whythorne's Autobiography and Petrarchan Studiolo Culture." RSA Conference, New Orleans. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Conference Presentation) 2018
"'Where's the taste / Of mine Inheritance?': La nouvelle théologie, Ressourcement, and the Rediscovery of Typology in French Theology and Herbert's Poetry." Conference: Herbert in Paris, University of Paris III..
(Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Conference Presentation) 2017
"Biblical Typology in Literary Criticism as a Response to World War II." Conference: The Bible and the Renaissance. Hebrew University, Jerusalem. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Invited Talk) 2017
"The Literary Uses of Typology: From the Bekennende Kirche to Vatican II." Free University of Berlin. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Invited Talk) 2017
"The Fate of Figura: From Exile to Assimilation." RSA Conference, Boston. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Conference Presentation) 2016
"English Renaissance Studies in the US: The Reception of Erwin Panofsky." Roundtable discussant in "Renaissance Studies in Germany and the Anglo-American World: A Postwar Comparison," RSA Conference, Berlin. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Conference Presentation) 2015
"The Passion of Erich Auerbach: Philology, Phenomenology, and Embodied Emotion." Université de Reims, Centre Interdisciplinaire de Recherches sur les Langues et la Pensée. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Invited Talk) 2015
"History Become Memory: the Dante Sexcentenary and World War I in the German Press." "Intellectual Hinterlands": International Society for Intellectual History, University of Toronto.
(Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Conference Presentation) 2014
"Literary Criticism in the Aftermath of War: War and Remembrance and Dante Commemoration in the Work of Erich Auerbach." University of Padua. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Invited Talk) 2013
Keynote address: "Memory and Appropriation: Remembering Dante in Germany during the Sexcentenary of 1921." "Acts of Remembrance in Contemporary Narrative in English: Opening the Past to the Future." University of Zaragoza, Spain. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Invited Talk) 2013
"Erich Auerbach and Walter Benjamin in Flight: Figura and Allegory." Exile and Interpretation
Wake Forest. University, 2012
(Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Invited Talk) 2012
"Opposition to Erich Auerbach at the University of Berlin: Franco-German Politics as Filtered through Dante Criticism in the Aftermath of World War I." Université de Reims, Centre Interdisciplinaire de Recherches sur les Langues et la Pensée.
(Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Invited Talk) 2012
"Petrarch's Architectural Legacy and Elizabethan Autobiography." Humboldt University, Berlin. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Invited Talk) 2011
Keynote address: "Poetry and Faith: Poetry and Faith: The Suspension of Disbelief in Post-Versailles Europe." PThe Fifth International Conference of the Taiwan Association of Classical, Medieval and Renaissance Studies: Ludi Civitatis: the Church, the Court, and the Citizens. National Sun Yat-sen University. Kao-hsiung, Taiwan. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Invited Talk) 2011
Keynote address: "Reading the Enemy: The Suspension of Disbelief in Post-Versailles Europe." Keynote Address: Ethics of Alterity, Confrontation and Responsibility in 19th- to 21st-Century British Literature. University de Montpellier III. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Invited Talk) 2011
"Erich Auerbach's Berlin Years: Philology, Professional Rejection, and the Shadow of European Politics." Works in Progress Seminar, Department of English, Princeton University. 2010 (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Invited Talk) 2010
"Erich Auerbach, Jewish Assimilation and Catholic Germany: Personal and Professional Transformation Through Dante." Symposium in Honor of Arthur Marotti. Wayne State University. Detroit, March 12. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Invited Talk) 2010
"Architecture and Autobiography: The Renaissance Invention of the Private Room and the Representation of Domestic Life in Elizabethan Autobiography." University of Montpellier. France, May. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Invited Talk) 2009
"Erich Auerbach and Walter Benjamin: Criticism, Allegory, and European Identity." University of Montpellier. France. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Invited Talk) 2009
"The Dark and Secret Chamber: The Renaissance Invention of the Private Room and Its Moral Ambiguities" plenary address. Fu-Jen Catholic University. Taipei, April. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Invited Talk) 2009
"The Eroticized House and the Renaissance Invention of the Private Room." The Culture of Appearances in Medieval & Renaissance Europe. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Conference Presentation) 2008
"The Legacy of Erich Auerbach." I Seminário Internacional Rumos Literatura. Itaú Cultural. Sao Paulo, Dec. 17. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Invited Talk) 2008
"The Travels and Travails of Erich Auerbach: Rethinking Europe en Route from Germany to Istanbul." Department of Romance Philology, University Complutense of Madrid (Spain); Department of English and Department of Spanish and Literary Theory, University of Valladolid. Jan. 22-23. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Invited Talk) 2008
"Erich Auerbach: Nationalität, Identität, Religion: Figurale Deutung, Judentum und ein Blick zurück auf die deutsch-liberale Bibelhermeneutik." Internationales Symposium: Erich Auerbach: Philologie- Geschichte - Verstehen. Sponsored by Goethe-Institut Istanbul und Zentrum für Literatur- und Kulturforschung Berlin. Goethe-Haus. Istanbul, Dec. 15. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Invited Talk) 2007
"The Hermeneutic Turn in the Literary Criticism of Erich Auerbach during His Tenure in Istanbul." Yedetepe University. Istanbul, April 30. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Invited Talk) 2007
Scholar-in-Residence. Talks on Auerbach, Jonson and Sidney; workshops with students. Fu-Jen University. Taipei, Jan. 2-13. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Invited Talk) 2007
"Rethinking Renaissance Modernity: Relocating the Renaissance in the Atlantic World," Conference on Transatlantic Studies: New Perspectives, Maastricht, Netherlands.
(Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Conference Presentation) 2000
Professional Leadership
Editorial Board, Epistèmé (Paris III) (2002-present) (Professional Leadership: Organizational Leadership Position) 2021
Editorial Board, Savoirs en Prisme (University of Reims) (2012-present) (Professional Leadership: Organizational Leadership Position) 2021
Organizer and moderator: "Erich Auerbach: Scholarship & Cultural Identity in Times of Crisis." Webinar in collaboration with the University of Oldenburg, Germany, hosted by the PhD Program in Comparative Literature, cosponsored by the Early Modern Global Studies Certificate Program and The Center for Jewish Studies, The Graduate Center, CUNY, March 11-12, 2021.
file:///C:/Users/marti/Dropbox/Graduate%20center/Auerbach-GC-Oldenburg%20conf/Poster/AUERBACH%20WEBINAR%20MARCH%2011%20&%2012%202021-C.pdf
(Professional Leadership: Organizational Leadership Position) 2021
Organizer and moderator: "Transatlantic Transactions: The Impact of World War WII on Conceptualizing Renaissance-Early Modern Literature in Rosemond Tuve, Erich Auerbach, and Antonio Gramsci," MLA Conference, Chicago; session chosen for MLA Presidential Theme Program: Textual Transactions (Professional Leadership: Organizational Leadership Position) 2019
Organizer: "Dante Politico: Dante in Twentieth-Century Political Turmoil. RSA Conference, Chicago, (Professional Leadership: Organizational Leadership Position) 2017
Co-organizer (with Jane Newman): "Reading the Early Modern through Auerbach's 'Figura.' " RSA Conference. Boston.. (Professional Leadership: Organizational Leadership Position) 2016
Initiator, Logistics, and Program Committee, Annual Renaissance Society of America Conference, Humboldt University, Berlin (largest RSA conference on record: 4000 attendees). (Professional Leadership: Organizational Leadership Position) 2015
Board of Directors, Renaissance Society of America (2002-2011) (Professional Leadership: Organizational Leadership Position) 2011
Organizer and presenter, "Weimar, Late Medieval and Renaissance Italy: Erich Auerbach and the Quest for European Internationalism." Annual Conference of the Renaissance Society of America. Venice, Italy, April. (Professional Leadership: Organizational Leadership Position) 2010
Composer, English Program self-study report for Renaissance-Early Modern field group. Spring. (Professional Leadership: Organizational Leadership Position) 2008
Organizer, plenary session, "Spain and the Spanish Americas in the Early Modern Atlantic World." RSA Conference. Chicago, April. Published in Renaissance Quarterly 62: 1-60. (Professional Leadership: Committee Service) 2008
Coordinator, Renaissance Studies Certificate Program, CUNY Graduate Center (1994-2007) (Professional Leadership: Organizational Leadership Position) 2007
Elsky, Martin and Jane O. Newman, co-organizers, "Reappraising Auerbach's Contexts: A Conference on the 50th Anniversary of Erich Auerbach's Death," a collaborative conference organized with University of California-Irvine and the Zentrum für Kultur-und Literaturforschung Berlin. Nov. 8-9. (Professional Leadership: Organizational Leadership Position) 2007
Elsky, Martin and Virginia Cox, co-organizers, "Worlds Apart: Early Modern Europe and the Ottoman Empire," a collaborative conference organized with New York University. March 30-31 and April 12. (Professional Leadership: Organizational Leadership Position) 2007
The Early Modern Culture of the Book: A Colloquium in Honor of W. Speed Hill, CUNY Renaissance Studies Colloquium, March 9. (Professional Leadership: Committee Service) 2007
Chair, Program Committee, Folger Institute, Folger Shakespeare Library (1997-2002) (Professional Leadership: Organizational Leadership Position) 2002
Central Executive Committee, Folger Institute, Folger Shakespeare Library (1994-1997) (Professional Leadership: Organizational Leadership Position) 1997
Organizer, "Early Modern Trans-Atlantic Encounters: England Spain and the Americas," CUNY Renaissance Studies Conference: March 6-7.
(Professional Leadership: Organizational Leadership Position) 1997
Other Professional Activities
Articles editor, Renaissance Quarterly, 2006-2011. 2011
