CHESTERTOWN, MD—On Monday, Nov. 11, the Sophie Kerr Lecture Series will host “X-Squared + Y-Squared = I Could Care Less: Analysis and Enjoyment in the Literature Classroom,” a lecture by MLA staff member David Laurence. Co-sponsored by Phi Beta Kappa, the event begins at 4:30 p.m. in the Rose O’Neill Literary House, 407 Washington Ave. It is free and open to the public. 

As the Director of the Association of Departments of English (ADE) at the MLA (Modern Language Association), David Laurence has become one of the most eloquent and powerful defenders of English faculty and students nationwide. His lecture will discuss how the enjoyment of literature and reading has been affected by the increasingly dominant digital culture, especially among current college students.

Before joining the MLA staff, Laurence earned degrees from Amherst College and Yale University and served as an Assistant Professor of English at SUNY Stony Brook. In 2007, because of the increasing scale and importance of data analysis in his work at the MLA, his title was expanded to Director of the Office of Research and ADE.