Campus News
August 31, 2011
Rushdie named to new position at Emory
Salman Rushdie
Acclaimed author Salman Rushdie will continue his affiliation with Emory with a new title—as University Distinguished Professor, reflecting more expansive activities, according to an announcement by Provost Earl Lewis.
"The Emory community has been enlightened and enriched by the intellectual contributions of Salman Rushdie, one of our greatest contemporary writers, who has served as Distinguished Writer in Residence for the past five years," says Lewis. "We look forward to his continuation as a member of the faculty and to his engagement in the life of the University in new ways."
"I am delighted to be continuing my relationships with Emory," says Rushdie. "The students have been bright and fun, the faculty engaging and stimulating, and the librarians exceptionally helpful in processing and cataloguing my archive. I very much look forward to these next few years with Emory."
As University Distinguished Professor, Rushdie's teaching role will expand to include participation in courses across the University and engagement with faculty in areas of mutual interest. He will continue to give an annual public lecture or discussion on campus, and to be involved with the Emory Libraries, which is the repository for his archive. He also will continue to be based in the Department of English in Emory College of Arts and Sciences.
"Salman Rushdie's influence among students and faculty continues to resonate in Emory College and beyond. His lectures, seminars and conversations with faculty and students have challenged us, inspired us, entertained us and ultimately have deepened our understanding of the function and power of literature, film and the visual arts. They have given eloquent witness to the role the arts can play in exploring, understanding and effecting positive change in the world," says Robin Forman, dean of Emory College.
Rushdie at Emory
In 2006, Rushdie was named Distinguished Writer in Residence at Emory and placed his archive at the Robert W. Woodruff Library. Since that time, he has spent several weeks each spring on the Emory campus and has given a major annual public lecture each year, taught graduate seminars, lectured in undergraduate classes, hosted film series and participated in numerous campus events.
In 2010, Rushdie's archive at Emory opened to the public for the first time amid considerable fanfare. The archive encompasses not only Rushdie's manuscripts, drawings, journals, letters and photographs, but also an array of digital materials, including several computers, which hold the complete digital environments in which Rushdie produced his work.
"The Rushdie archive signifies two major trends of our time: the globalization of arts and letters, and the digital world in which contemporary writers and artists, such as Mr. Rushdie, are now composing their masterpieces," says Rick Luce, director of libraries at Emory. "Rushdie's digital archive is an invaluable scholarly resource for studying the process of writing as technology changes the mechanics of composition."
