William Stoner vs. The World:
Calling and the Study of Literature

In this talk, Prof. David Marno will focus on the relationship between calling on the one hand, and the study of literature on the other. If calling in the sense of vocation implies that each of us is meant to perform a certain kind of labor that will make our life meaningful, the study of literature, that is, of meaning-making, should be eminently qualified to help us figure out what our calling is, whether we want to have one, or indeed whether we believe in the concept in the first place. Things get complicated, however, when the study of literature itself becomes a calling. He considers these complications via a brief history of the English department as it is refracted in John Williams’ 1965 campus novel, Stoner.

Location: 2134 Allston Way, 2nd Floor

Time: 6:30pm-8:00pm

Date: Wednesday, October 26, 2022

  • David Marno

    David Marno is an Associate Professor of English at the University of California, Berkeley, where he teaches Renaissance poetry and drama. Much of his work concentrates on the intersection between literature and religious practice, in particular on the relationship between prayer, meditation, spiritual exercises and poetry. He is author of Death Be Not Proud: The Art of Holy Attention (Chicago, 2016), a book focusing on John Donne's poetry and religious techniques of attentiveness. He is also Co-Director of the UC Berkeley Center for the Study of Religion.