Dean of Faculty and Professor of English Joseph Urgo took four students to the 11th International Willa Cather Seminar in France, June 24-July 1, where he presented a lecture. The seminar, "Willa Cather: A Writer's Worlds," took place in Paris and the Abbey St. Michel de Frigolet in Provence. The trip was an optional, culminating event to a senior seminar on Willa Cather that Urgo offered last spring. The students who attended were Leah Babb-Rosenfeld '07, Christine Mays '07, Laura Hartz '07 and Ashley DeMaio-Zacharek '08. The conference attracted 150 attendees.
Urgo presented a plenary lecture on Cather's pivotal stay in Cherry Valley, N.Y., in October-December 1911. Her stay in Cherry Valley was a turning point in her development as an artist. After conducting research in Cooperstown and Cherry Valley, Urgo identified the house rented by Cather and found newspaper notice of her stay in the town. He also outlined reasons why the town's history and situation in 1911 were particularly conducive to her artistic development. In Cherry Valley that fall she completed her first novel and began O Pioneers!, the novel that launched her national reputation.
In addition to meeting major Cather scholars and attending lectures, the students toured sites in Paris important to Cather, and made day trips to other cities and locations, including Avignon, Arles and Les Beaux de Provence.
Urgo presented a plenary lecture on Cather's pivotal stay in Cherry Valley, N.Y., in October-December 1911. Her stay in Cherry Valley was a turning point in her development as an artist. After conducting research in Cooperstown and Cherry Valley, Urgo identified the house rented by Cather and found newspaper notice of her stay in the town. He also outlined reasons why the town's history and situation in 1911 were particularly conducive to her artistic development. In Cherry Valley that fall she completed her first novel and began O Pioneers!, the novel that launched her national reputation.
In addition to meeting major Cather scholars and attending lectures, the students toured sites in Paris important to Cather, and made day trips to other cities and locations, including Avignon, Arles and Les Beaux de Provence.
