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 English Renaissance poetry and prose, with special interest in Renaissance architecture, Humanist prose and the poetry of George Herbert, John Donne, and Ben Jonson. My current research centers around criticism and reception history, especially topics related the influence of Erich Auerbach, including Catholic and Protestant German Dante reception and biblical typology in the shadow of National Socialism.
Books and Publications
"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: Other Article) 2008
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: Peer Reviewed Article) 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
"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. May. (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. Feb. 29. (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
Professional Leadership
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
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: Committee Service) 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: Committee Service) 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
Other Professional Activities
Articles editor, Renaissance Quarterly, 2006-present. 2006
