VCU Hosts Annual William E. & Miriam S. Blake Speaker Series in the History of Christianity

By Cassie Williams Jones

The Virginia Commonwealth University Department of History in the College of Humanities and Sciences will present “Before There was Facebook: The Long History of Distraction and Absorption,” as part of the Fall 2012 William E. & Miriam S. Blake Speaker Series in the History of Christianity.

This year’s lecture features John Plotz, Ph.D., professor of English at Brandeis University in Massachusetts.

The event will take place on Thursday, Nov. 1, at 4 p.m. in the University Student Commons, 907 Floyd Ave. This event is free and open to the public.

Plotz will discuss the evolution of partial absorption in response to technological and cultural changes. He specializes in Victorian literature and the novel, and is the author of “The Crowd: British Literature and Public Politics” and “Portable Property: Victorian Culture on the Move.”

The series is supported by an endowed fund established by the Blakes, their family, friends, colleagues and those who enjoyed the History of Christianity course, which Blake initiated, with additional support from the VCU Presidential Research Incentive Program Grant for “Emotions in the History of Christianity.”

For more information, visit http://www.has.vcu.edu/his/ or call 804-828-0155.