Editorial Staff

UConn’s Prof. Wayne Franklin on James Fenimore Cooper, The Last of the Mohicans, & American Democracy

/0 Comments/in , , , /by Editorial Staff
Share on Facebook
Share on Twitter
Share on
LinkedIn
+

This week on “The Learning Curve,” Cara and Gerard are joined by Wayne Franklin, professor of English at the University of Connecticut and definitive biographer of the American literary figure James Fenimore Cooper. As we celebrate Native American Heritage Month, Prof. Franklin reviews Cooper’s background and major works, especially the “Leatherstocking Tales,” including The Last of the Mohicans, which are distinguished for their enlightened and sympathetic portrayal of the disappearing tribes. Franklin discusses why these books, set in upstate New York in the middle of the 18th century, and their memorable protagonists have captivated generations of readers for over a century, and why Cooper deserves more contemporary study and appreciation. They also explore Cooper’s lessons about the importance of constitutionalism, liberty, self-government, and civic knowledge as the basis for the rule of law in our republic. Prof. Franklin concludes with a reading from The Last of the Mohicans.

Stories of the Week: In Europe, despite a COVID-19 surge that has prompted closures of restaurants, theaters, and gyms, schools remain open. Are there lessons for the U.S.? Some prominent names have been floated to serve as the next U.S. Secretary of Education – among them, Eduardo Padron, president emeritus of Miami Dade College; Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers; and Lily Eskelsen García, former president of the National Education Association – but would they accept?

Interview Guest:

Wayne Franklin is professor of English at the University of Connecticut. He has authored the two-volume, definitive biography James Fenimore Cooper: The Early Years (2007) and James Fenimore Cooper: The Later Years (2017), both from Yale University Press. Each volume was selected as an Outstanding Academic Title by Choice magazine, while the first volume won an award from the Association of University Presses. He has also authored books on early American travel writing, Discoverers, Explorers, Settlers (1979); the frontier fiction of Cooper, The New World of James Fenimore Cooper (1982); and Mapping American Culture (1992), co-edited with Michael Steiner. He founded the University of Iowa Press’s American Land and Life series in 1990, eventually editing some 30 books in it, and for 20 years was among the editors of the Norton Anthology of American Literature. Professor Franklin taught at the University of Iowa, where he was one of the founding faculty members in Iowa’s American Native/Native Studies program, and served as Davis Distinguished Professor of American Literature at Northeastern University. Franklin came to UConn in 2005 to serve as director of its American Studies program, and in 2009 was chosen head of the UConn English department. He earned a B.A. in English from Union College and received his M.A. and Ph.D. in English from the University of Pittsburgh.

The next episode will air on Wednesday, November 25th, 2020 at 12 pm ET with guest, Carl Bistany, the president of SABIS® Educational Systems.

Tweet of the Week:

News Links:

Speculation Over Biden’s Education Secretary

https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2020/11/11/who-will-be-bidens-education-secretary 

Lessons From Europe, Where Cases Are Rising But Schools Are Open

https://www.npr.org/2020/11/13/934153674/lessons-from-europe-where-cases-are-rising-but-schools-are-open

Get Updates on Our Education Research

Related Posts

John Steele Gordon on America’s Economic Rise

This week on The Learning Curve, guest co-hosts Charlie Chieppo and Derrell Bradford interview John Steele Gordon, the author of 10 books on business, economic, and technology history. They discuss the keys to America’s transformation into the world’s foremost economic power and its economic prospects for competitiveness in the twenty-first century.

Dr. Ramachandra Guha on Gandhi’s Enduring Legacy

This week on The Learning Curve, guest co-hosts Charlie Chieppo and Mariam Memarsadeghi interview writer and biographer Dr. Ramachandra Guha. The author of the definitive two-volume biography of Mohandas K. Gandhi, Guha discusses Gandhi’s formative educational experiences, spirituality, political leadership, and philosophy of nonviolent resistance.

Paul Vallas on Chicago, School Reform, and Teachers’ Unions

This week on The Learning Curve, guest co-hosts Charlie Chieppo and Mary Tamer, executive director of Democrats for Education Reform, Massachusetts, speak with Paul Vallas, former CEO of the Chicago Public Schools and a candidate for mayor of that city earlier this year.

U-Ark. Prof. Albert Cheng on Classical Education & School Choice

This week on The Learning Curve, guest co-hosts Charlie Chieppo and Alisha Searcy speak with Albert Cheng, an Assistant Professor at the Department of Education Reform in the College of Education and Health Professions at the University of Arkansas. Professor Cheng talks about the importance of classical education for guiding educational philosophy and practice and shaping the character of students.

Professor Jay Parini on Thirteen Books That Changed America

This week on The Learning Curve, Jay Parini, Professor of English and Creative Writing at Middlebury College, discusses his book Promised Land: Thirteen Books That Changed America, detailing how William Bradford’s Of Plymouth Plantation, The Federalist Papers, and the works of Thoreau, Stowe, Twain, Du Bois, and others have shaped the American mind, character, and identity.

Colossal Academy’s Shiren Rattigan on Microschools and School Choice

This week on The Learning Curve, guest co-hosts Charlie Chieppo and Kendra Espinoza interview Shiren Rattigan of Colossal Academy, a microschool in Florida. They discuss how Shiren became interested in K-12 education and how and why the COVID-19 pandemic led to her founding a microschool.

U.K. Cambridge’s Prof. David Abulafia on Oceans, Seas, & Global Trade

This week on The Learning Curve, Professor David Abulafia from Cambridge University discusses the many roles of the world’s oceans in human history and trade. He focuses on how the Pacific, Indian, and Atlantic oceans, along with the Mediterranean Sea, have spurred the rise of civilizations. He concludes with a reading from his book The Boundless Sea: A Human History of the Oceans.

Dr. Peter Wood on Diversity and Anger in America

This week on The Learning Curve, Dr. Peter Wood, president of the National Association of Scholars, discusses the invention of the modern concept of diversity, the history of U.S. Supreme Court rulings on the concepts of diversity and race in college admissions, and how a culture of anger seems to pervade American life.

UConn’s Prof. Manisha Sinha on The Slave’s Cause: A History of Abolition

This week on The Learning Curve, UConn Professor Manisha Sinha discusses the influential figures and seminal events that created the abolitionist movement. She describes the legacy of the transatlantic slave trade, Harriet Tubman and the Underground Railroad, the passage of the Thirteenth Amendment, and other key moments in the fight to end slavery.

Pulitzer Winner Tamara Payne on the Life and Legacy of Malcolm X

This week on The Learning Curve, guest cohosts Alisha Searcy and Mariam Memarsadeghi interview Tamara Payne, award-winning biographer, about Malcolm X. They delve into his early life, rise in the Nation of Islam, civil rights movement involvement, pilgrimage, assassination, and ongoing legacy debate. Ms. Payne concludes with a reading from her book.