For once, students will be given the opportunity to discuss what they read outside the classroom. A lecture given today will have students discussing books they read in their spare time.
The "Gender and the Best Seller" lecture, which will be held from 4 to 5:30 p.m. in room 105 of Straz Hall, features Judith Wilt, professor of English at Boston College and visiting professor at Marquette.
Wilt holds the Association of Marquette University Women's Chair in Humanistic Studies for the fall 2004 semester.
"I've been a reader of the best seller lists since I was a teenager just to find out what's going on in the world, so I'm going to hand out a list of Sunday's best sellers and talk about them," she said.
Some of the books that will be discussed include Dan Brown's "The Da Vinci Code," Stephen King's "The Dark Tower" and "Divided in Death," by Nora Roberts, Wilt said.
"The lecture will survey current best sellers and ask how gender has played a role or been constructed in contemporary popular fiction," said Diane Hoeveler, English professor and coordinator of the Women's Studies Program at Marquette.
Hoeveler said she encourages students to come to hear Wilt, who is at Marquette for one semester.
Wendy Weaver, a lecturer in the English department, said Wilt is an "engaging" speaker.
She said the lecture should be interesting because "best sellers are the books people read without being assigned."
All students are invited to attend, because "you don't have to be an English major to read best sellers or to be interested in how popular culture has an impact on your life and values," Weaver said.
Wilt said she will talk about the main genres that make their way onto the best seller list, including romance, detective thrillers, fantasy epics and science fiction.
In addition, she will discuss gender, including differences in male and female writers and what happens to male and female characters, Wilt said.
After the lecture, Wilt will hold a discussion section in which students will have the opportunity to ask questions and talk about their favorite books.
"I'm as anxious to hear what students are reading as I am to say what I'm reading," she said.
Wilt will return to Marquette in March to give the Association of Marquette University Women's Boheim lecture on "Hunger and Anger in the Works of Ernest Hemingway and Virginia Wolff." This is a major lecture and will be sponsored by the Women's Studies Program, she said.
The "Gender and the Best Seller" lecture is part of the fall activities schedule for the Women's Studies Program. It is sponsored by the Women's Studies Program, Association of Marquette University Women and the College of Communication.
This article appeared in The Marquette Tribune on Dec. 2 2004.