Steinbeck Scholar to Speak at Ball State's Bracken Library

Dr. Mimi Reisel Gladstein, Professor of English and Theatre Arts at the University of Texas at El Paso, will deliver the inaugural Steinbeck Lecture on Thursday, October 25, 2007, at 7:30 p.m. in Bracken Library’s Forum Room (BL-225). Her topic is “John Steinbeck and World War II: Fighting to Serve His Country.”

Dr. Gladstein is president of the John Steinbeck Society of America. Her teaching and research on John Steinbeck have been recognized with the John J and Angeline Pruis Award for Teaching and the Burkhardt Award for scholarship. At UTEP she has received the university's highest honors for both Teaching Excellence and Service to Students.

The Steinbeck Lecture Series was founded by Dr. and Mrs. Tetsumaro Hayashi in honor of Dr. Richard W. and Mrs. Dorothy Burkhardt and Dr. John J and Mrs. Angeline R. Pruis, whose generosity has helped Ball State University to honor internationally prominent Steinbeck scholars and educators for nearly 30 years. Dr. Hayashi is a noted Steinbeck scholar, past president of the Steinbeck Societies of America and of Japan, and the founder of the Steinbeck Research Institute at Ball State University.