Professor John Alvis to Deliver Lecture on Nathaniel Hawthorne
On Friday, Sept. 21 at 7 p.m., John Alvis, professor of English, will deliver a lecture
titled "Hawthorne's Scarlet Letter: Giving Fictional Form to America's Founding Principles."
The lecture will be held in Gorman Lecture Center Room C. A reception and book signing
in the Gorman Faculty Lounge will follow.
In his recent book, "Nathaniel Hawthorne as Political Philosopher," Alvis explores
Hawthorne's understanding of equality as the image of God-in-man, inalienable rights
as "sanctity of the human heart" and his view of sin as defacing the divine in man.
"Hawthorne's 'The Scarlet Letter' offers lessons in the meaning of the 'Declaration
of Independence' as a guide to Americans in their individual conduct, to secure justice
in their communities and to foster family integrity," said Alvis. "It renders in personal
and dramatic terms the meaning of such American principles as a higher law of nature,
the sanctity of individual rights and the moral significance of liberty and equality."
