Hutton Honors College

Identities: Language, Literature, and Race
A Discussion Supper with Harvard Scholar
of American Literature and Culture Werner Sollors

January 22, 2009

Do we choose our own identities or are our choices limited by the ways others see us? Is "American" literature the literature written by persons living in America, no matter their nationality? Is it literature written by Americans, no matter their location? Is it "American" literature if written in a language other than English? These are the kinds of questions Werner Sollors, a charismatic teacher, an influential scholar, and one of the foremost Americanists, likes to explore. The Henry B. and Anne M. Cabot Professor of English and a professor of African-American studies at Harvard, Sollors discussed these topics and others at this discussion supper, co-sponsored by the Hutton Honors College and the Wells Scholars Program. Professor Sollors was on campus as a guest of the Patten Foundation.

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Professor Sollors converses with students over dinner.

Student host Eric Hutson introduces Professor Sollors to the student guests.

Professor Sollors answers students' questions about the origins of English words that deal with the concept of one's identity and how the meanings of such words change over time.