Faculty note: Vescio publishes book on future of literature studies

Associate Prof. Bryan Vescio, Humanistic Studies (English), has published a new book titled “Reconstruction in Literary Studies: An Informalist Approach.” In it, Vescio explores a revitalized future for the Humanities, examining the academic study of literature as an institution with a distinctive and positive social function. He argues that literary study within the university creates an environment that allows scholars and students to develop and discuss their individuality, maintaining the productive diversity that is critical to a democratic culture. “Satisfied neither with the profession’s restrictive past,” the book description reads, “nor with its increasingly stagnant present, this book points the way toward a revitalized future for the study of literature.” Palgrave Macmillan is the book’s publisher.