ABINGTON, Pa. — Retired Penn State Abington faculty member Ellen Knodt, professor emerita of English, will share her experience searching for clues to ambiguities in newly published letters and original manuscripts in the Ernest Hemingway Collection at the John F. Kennedy Library in Boston and rare books archives at Princeton and Yale universities. Her “Discoveries in the Archives” lecture is free and open to the public from 2:30 p.m. to 4 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 19, on Zoom.
Researchers have found that reading an author’s early manuscripts and letters can lead to discoveries of changes in the meaning of a particular work or in a change in an author’s perspective over time.
Knodt’s research has resulted in discoveries of a change of one word, or in another instance, a change in one letter, creating a different perception of a narrator. Hemingway’s letters, which are being collected and published by the Hemingway Letters Project housed at Penn State, have yielded specific insights into one of the author’s more ambiguous stories and even his political ideas.
“I look forward to explaining what ‘treasures’ I have found in archival materials that have led to new interpretations of some of Hemingway’s best-known works. I hope the general audience for this talk will better understand and appreciate what research in the humanities is all about,” Knodt told the Centre Daily Times.
Knodt’s lecture is the second of four in “Explorations: The Penn State Emeritus Academy Lecture Series” this spring. The talks allow retired faculty to share their groundbreaking research, creative projects and unique perspectives with the public. All lectures will be available on Zoom.
Knodt retired in 2021 and continued to mentor students while studying Hemingway’s works. She joined the initial cohort in the Emeritus Academy, which she helped organize, two years later. Faculty who are awarded emeritus status upon retirement can join the academy for initial three-year memberships to earn the title “academy professor,” allowing them to present lectures and apply for stipends to aid their work as long as they are actively researching or pursuing creative projects. Academy membership has been extended to 62 professors from 11 campuses.
Knodt and Linda Miller, distinguished professor of English at Abington, jointly endowed the annual Knodt/Miller English Recognition Award to honor the scholarship of an accomplished English student at Abington. It is funded in perpetuity thanks to the generosity of the pair, who have been close friends and Hemingway researchers for decades.
Knodt received degrees from Northwestern, Purdue and Carnegie Mellon universities. Her doctoral dissertation led her to Abington first as a composition specialist, writing a dozen articles and three college composition textbooks. Knodt's research focused on her keen interest in Hemingway and modernism before retiring as a full professor.
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