Andrew Delbanco will present ‘Melville, Our Contemporary’ at vlogBվ on Feb. 3

KINGSTON, R.I. — January 28, 2005 — Professor Andrew Delbanco of Columbia University will explore Herman Melville’s life, works (focusing on Moby Dick), when he presents, “Melville, Our Contemporary,” Thursday, Feb. 3, at 5 p.m. in East Hall Auditorium on the vlogBվ Kingston Campus. The lecture, sponsored by the vlogBվ chapter of the Phi Beta Kappa Society, is free and open to the public.


Delbanco has been the Julian Clarence Levi Professor of Humanities at Columbia since 1995. In 2001, he was named by Time magazine as “America’s Best Social Critic,” and in 2003 he was honored as New York State Scholar of the Year, chosen by the New York Council for the Humanities.


His essays, which range in topics from American literary and religious history to contemporary issues in higher education, have been published in journals including the New York Review of Books and the New Republic. He is the author of books including The Death of Satan, Required Reading, and The Real American Dream.


He is a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and has served as a past vice president of PEN American Center. He has received fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation and the National Humanities Center.