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Richard S. Slotkin

Olin Professor of English and American Studies, Emeritus, Wesleyan University

Richard Slotkin has established a reputation as one of the preeminent cultural critics of our times. His award-winning trilogy on the myth of the frontier in America, which includes Regeneration Through Violence, The Fatal Environment, and Gunfighter Nation offers an original and highly provocative interpretation of our national experience. His recent work includes Lost Battalions, a study of African-American and immigrant soldiers in World War 1. He has also published three historical novels: The Crater: A Novel of the Civil War; The Return of Henry Starr; and Abe: A Novel of the Young Lincoln. In his more than 25 years at Wesleyan, he has helped to establish both the American Studies and the Film Studies Programs. He offers interdisciplinary courses in American literature, history and film. In 1995 he received the Mary C Turpie Award of the American Studies Association for his contributions to teaching and program-building.

Experience

  • –present
    Olin Professor of English and American Studies , Wesleyan University

Honours

American Academy of Arts & Sciences, Society of American Historians, Mary Turpie Award (ASA), Albert Beveridge Prize (AHA), National Book Award Finalist (1974, 1993),