Symposium Marks 150th Anniversary for Whitman, TCNJ

The Walt Whitman Sesquicentennial Symposium, held at The College of New Jersey on September 22-24, brought the nation’s top Whitman and American literature scholars to campus for an array of events that included a dual celebration of the 150th anniversaries of both TCNJ and Whitman’s Leaves of Grass.

Visiting scholars, including Ed Folsom (The University of Iowa) and Ken Price (University of Nebraska), along with TCNJ’s own Janet Gray, Anita Anantharam, and symposium directors Michael Robertson and David Blake, highlighted a scholarly cast that presented academic papers, poetry readings, and panel discussions that enthralled the many who attended TCNJ’s first symposium of this magnitude. Noteworthy events also included Stephen Collins’ theatrical representation of Whitman’s life and work. Kendall Hall was packed for the production early Thursday morning by bus loads of area high school students, along with TCNJ students, staff, and faculty members. The Fred Hersch orchestra’s rendition of Whitman’s Leaves of Grass was also well received, drawing a standing ovation at its close on Friday evening.

Logan Liskovec, senior English major, said “every student needs to experience this type of thing at least once while they are here.”

Robertson and Blake were pleased by the outpouring of praise TCNJ received from visiting scholars and other attendees. “They all were so impressed by how welcoming the campus was and how nice the faculty is,” Blake explained.

The symposium’s presentations will be compiled in a book, forthcoming from The University of Iowa Press.

In conjunction with the symposium, TCNJ held an art faculty exhibit titled “Word to Image: Reflections on Whitman.” The exhibit, planned over a year ago, featured works inspired by Walt Whitman’s Leaves of Grass and received extensive review in both The Times of Trenton and the Princeton Packet. TCNJ Art Director Judy Masterson said she was “very pleased by the wonderful coverage.”

Photography, sculpture, painting, and mixed media pieces from 18 TCNJ faculty members were on display through October 19. Lori Degenshein and Jessica Allen, senior art students, were happy to see their professors’ art. “The exhibit is really great. It isn’t often we get to see their work. We sometimes go to their other shows, but it’s really exciting to see them independently,” Degenshein said. The seniors also noted that the sculpture of grass, “Something Lacking,” by Liselot van der Heijden, was constructed with the help of their class.

Masterson said that the art faculty was very enthusiastic about the exhibit. Although the art department has collaborated on other projects in the past, the excitement of producing art in conjunction with the sesquicentennial symposium prompted eager participation, even from faculty who haven’t contributed work to TCNJ’s art gallery in over 10 years.