Maryland Region: The Forgotten Doctor Syntax (VIRTUAL)
Feb 15
4:00 PM - 5:30 PM
The Forgotten Doctor Syntax
Join the Maryland Region for a Zoom presentation by Ben Weibracht, PhD, who spoke at the 2024 AGM in Cleveland with his students regarding their critical edition of The Tour of Doctor Syntax, in Search of the Picturesque, the satirical cantos by William Combe, illustrated by Thomas Rowlandson. Doctor Syntax, the ungainly traveling clergyman created by Combe and illustrated by Rowlandson, was the Regency's most popular character. Learn why Austen herself may have enjoyed this comical epic. From its satirical take on the picturesque to its exploration of the plight of poor clergy, the poem covered what was also on Austen’s mind.
Weibracht is an English instructor at Stanford Online High School and co-founder of Pixelia Publishing, a nonprofit, open-access platform for student-teacher scholarly collaborations. He and his students were the recipients of the JASNA New Voices Breakout Grant in 2024. They also recently won the Modern Language Association's biennial Prize for a Scholarly Edition.
The event is free and open to the public.
