WT’s Great Books to Return with Iconic ‘The Waste Land’

Copy by Chip Chandler, 806-651-2124, [email protected]

CANYON, Texas - West Texas A&M University's Great Books Series will return in September with an examination of one of the 20th century's most recognizable poems.

Dr. Robert Fulton, assistant professor of humanities and English at Amarillo College, will lead the discussion of T.S. Eliot's "The Waste Land," which famously opens with "April is the cruelest month."

The Great Books discussion will take place at 7 p.m. Sept. 10 at Burrowing Owl Books, 7406 Southwest 34th Ave., Suite 2B, in Amarillo.

The discussion series-sponsored by the Department of English, Philosophy and Modern Languages in the Sybil B. Harrington College of Fine Arts and Humanities-is open to those who either have or haven't read the story, said organizer Dr. Daniel Bloom.

Eliot's poem has confounded and challenged readers for more than a century, Fulton said.

"We're going to ask the most challenging question of all: 'Is it still relevant?' The work is sometimes dismissed as the work of a dilettante literary snob, a mere work of showing off, and Edmund Wilson summed it up saying that the poem 'enchanted and devastated a whole generation'," Fulton said. "So, what do we do with it? Do we continue to puzzle through it, or do we discard it with yesterday's old news? Let's take the challenge and see if Eliot still has something to say to us 102 years later."

WT professors and guest lecturers lead the monthly Great Books discussions.

For information, email Bloom at [email protected].

The series is one way in which WT serves the region by offering engagement with a variety of literary and philosophical texts. Being a learner-centered university is a key principle of the University's long-range plan, WT 125: From the Panhandle to the World.

That plan is fueled by the historic One West comprehensive fundraising campaign, which reached its initial $125 million goal 18 months after publicly launching in September 2021. The campaign's new goal is to reach $175 million by 2025; currently, it has raised nearly $160 million.

About West Texas A&M University

WT, a Regional Research University, is redefining excellence in Canyon, Texas, on a 342-acre residential campus, as well as the Harrington Academic Hall WTAMU Amarillo Center in downtown Amarillo. Established in 1910, the University has been part of The Texas A&M University System since 1990. WT, a Hispanic Serving Institution since 2016, boasts an enrollment of more than 9,000 and offers 58 undergraduate degree programs, one associate degree, and 44 graduate degrees, including an integrated bachelor's and master's degree, a specialist degree and two doctoral degrees. The University is also home to the Panhandle-Plains Historical Museum, the largest history museum in the state and the home of one of the Southwest's finest art collections. The Buffaloes are a member of the NCAA Division II Lone Star Conference and offers 14 men's and women's athletics programs.

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