A Night With ... Some of History's Important & Intriguing Figures!

What if you could go back in time and meet some of history's important and intriguing figures? Well, thanks to Wilkinson College of Humanities and Social Sciences you can do just that (well sort of - keep reading).

With its new 2009-2010 series, "A Night With ..." Wilkinson College is offering a chance to visit with three distinctly different and influential thinkers: Joseph Conrad (pictured left), Franklin Delano Roosevelt and Judas Iscariot. A Chapman faculty member will "become" each character.

"The idea came from the need to blend intellectual pursuit with entertainment value," said Dean of Wilkinson College Patrick Quinn. "'The Night With ...' series is an attempt to give people an insight into important writers, artists and thinkers by academics who have spent years of their lives knowing their subjects and their works. At the same time we want the audience to enjoy the journey. In a larger sense, we want to show everyone that the work we do in the liberal arts is germane to the world we inhabit and gives us insight to the human condition."

First up was Dr. Richard Ruppel, professor of English, who on Nov. 3 in front of more than 200 audience members (a combination of students, faculty, staff and the local community), portrayed author Joseph Conrad (Heart of Darkness, Lord Jim, Nostromo, The Secret Agent), complete with bowler hat and suit.

Dr. Ruppel, president of the Joseph Conrad Society of America and who is helping organize an international Joseph Conrad Conference at Chapman on Jan. 7-10, found his job a little bit daunting.

"It's difficult pretending to be such an important literary figure," he said, and notes that he is not an actor. But Dr. Ruppel is a scholar and expert on Conrad, an author who has been called racist, sexist, Eurocentric, anti-Semitic. But in the same breath, Conrad is also recognized for his uncanny visions of the 20th century that include the U.S. role as a dominant economic power to the burst of advertising and world of the overpowering international corporation to terrorism.

To read an article by Dr. Ruppel on "Why Conrad Still Matters" click here.

Next up ... Franklin Delano Roosevelt (Robert Slayton, Ph.D., professor of history) on February 8, 2010 at 7 p.m. at the Wallace All Faiths Chapel and then on April 6, 2010 -- Judas Iscariot (Marvin Meyer, Ph.D., director of the Schweitzer Institute and Griset Professor of Bible and Christian Studies) at 7 p.m. at the Wallace All Faiths Chapel.