Dr. Chad Schrock, professor of English at Lee, recently presented his work at the Southeast Conference on Christianity and Literature (SECCL) at Charleston Southern University. Hanna Wagers, Hallie Wielfaert, and Amelia Willoughby, students in Lee’s Department of Language and Literature, also presented their papers at the conference. 

The theme of this year’s conference was “After Disaster” and included presentations of papers that consider literary responses to disasters past, present, and future. Keynote speaker Dr. Susan Felch, professor emerita at Calvin University, introduced the theme in her address by the same name. 

“All three students wrote and read very well, competent enough that they were mistaken for graduate students,” said Schrock. “We left Charleston with many fond memories. This conference is the only one I attend regularly because presenters’ papers use literary analysis to work through personal problems of the heart and soul.” 

Schrock presented his paper, “John Donne Wants You to Feel Perfect Affection,” on a panel with Wagers and Wielfaert. Wagers, a senior English major with a literature emphasis, read “Suspension of Disbelief and Faith in ‘The Second Shepherds’ Play,’” and Wielfaert, a senior classics and English with a literature emphasis double major, presented “The Literal and the Ambiguous: Rhetoric in the Writings of St. Catherine of Siena and Raymond of Capua.” Willoughby, a junior English major with a literature emphasis, read her paper, “The Exemplary Tourist in Alice Thomas Ellis’s ‘Faerie Land,’” on a panel earlier the same day. 

“Going to the conference was such a rewarding experience,” said Willoughby. “I am so grateful to have been able to witness so many incredible scholars exchanging their ideas with one another. It offered a glimpse into my field that I might not have seen otherwise. It was also validating for me to watch my classmates succeed in their presentations. They reminded me of how great a place our department at Lee truly is.” 

Schrock joined Lee’s faculty in 2010 and specializes in early British literature. He has articles published on literature from the eighth, 12th, and 14th-21st centuries. Schrock also currently serves as secretary for the Conference on Christianity and Literature (CCL). 

The CCL is an interdisciplinary society dedicated to exploring the relationships between Christianity and literature. Organized formally in 1956, the CCL is dedicated to both scholarly excellence and collegial exchange and includes hundreds of members from a variety of academic institutions and religious traditions from the United States, Canada, and more than a dozen other countries. 

For more information about the CCL, visit christianityandliterature.com/. 

For more information about Lee’s Department of Language and Literature, call (423) 614-8210.