Ave Maria University |
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Teaching Teachers and Writing Books
By Jessica Barrows
Attending a class taught by Mr. Joseph Pearce, an Associate Literature Professor at Ave Maria University, would consist of the typical, yet unique traits of Mr. Pearce walking in holding a fresh cup of hot tea, and beginning the class with his characteristic English accent sounding through the room. His lecture is filled with his love and wisdom of literature, as well as some good old English humor, or even a sung verse of an old memorable song.
Pearce is not only a popular literature professor among Ave Maria's student body, he is also world-renowned for his published books on G.K. Chesterton, Oscar Wilde, J.R.R. Tolkien, Hilaire Belloc and other Christian writers, which only contains a small fraction of the variety of topics he has covered, in seminars, lectures, and articles. Joseph Pearce teaches at Ave Maria University, as well as participating in conferences and seminars, and working on books for future publication.
Over this past summer, on June 11-17, 2007, Pearce gave a seminar entitled Catholicism and Literature to faculty members at the University of St. Thomas located in St. Paul, Minnesota. The seminar focused on the Catholic Literary Revival in England throughout the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. The invitation was through the Center of Catholic Studies, established at St. Thomas in 1996. The purpose was to enhance the Catholic mission and identity of the University of St. Thomas. Thus, a conference given by Professor Joseph Pearce would seem to be perfect.
The seminar was for five days, Monday through Friday. "It began with a lecture presenting an overview of the Catholic Literary Revival, commencing with the Romantic Poets and covering the whole period until the works of Tolkien and Lewis after World War II. Some lectures had a more detailed focus, such as the lecture on T.S. Eliot's Wasteland, which we went through line by line. Then there were subjects more broadly covered such as Chesterton and Belloc," related Pearce. "There were about 20 or so faculty present, and it was a very intensive few days. A real spectrum of different disciplines was there; the seminar was challenging, it was not exactly like flexing one's intellectual muscles to undergraduates," expressed the English Professor with a slight chuckle, "but those present seemed very happy about it," he added with a more solemn tone.
In the book department, Pearce has faithfully continued with his work. He has just finished a book on Shakespeare entitled The Quest for Shakespeare. The book primarily consists of a biographical and historical study, with a touch of the literary element as well. "I was very much a skeptic on the subject of the Catholic Shakespeare. I had the attitude that there wasn't enough evidence, and that the only honest position was to remain agnostic on the topic, that we do not know," Pearce explained. "Yet eventually more evidence came to light, and after diligent research, I actually found that there was an abundance of material on Shakespeare's Catholicism. Therefore, I presented the case as a whole, employing an abundance of sources." The book will also be broadcast as a film series on EWTN, filming of which is scheduled for January, with Pearce being assisted by actors from Word Ink, a theatrical company founded by AMU's Father Fessio.
An outside perspective on Joseph Pearce may be that Mr. Pearce was born and raised Catholic, yet a look at Pearce's background reveals quite the contrary. Joseph Pearce was born in England, and through his youthful days he was a strong anti-Catholic, a racist, and even involved in a terrorist group in Ireland. "I was a mess and very far from the truth," he quoted. Joseph Pearce lived this lifestyle until he was one day introduced to G.K. Chesterton. As he began reading Chesterton's works, he started to realize that what he hated about Catholicism wasn't the true Catholicism. "I started reading everything by Chesterton then went to C.S. Lewis, Tolkien, and others. Then, under the grace of God I was led into the Catholic Church," explained Pearce. In 1989 he was received into the Church at the age of twenty-eight. The next book on Pearce's list may be an autobiography, but he may do a second volume of Shakespeare in order to incorporate more of the literary aspect.
Within the extremely busy schedule of Joseph Pearce, he also plans to offer an elective along with Fr. Fessio on C.S. Lewis in the fall of 2008. Pearce commented on how Lewis' influence today is huge, and more people are reading Lewis' books now than when he was alive. According to Pearce, C.S. Lewis is one of the top 10 great writers of the 20th century.
The course will cover the whole of Lewis' career, which includes his poetry, literary criticism, fictional works, apologetics, and autobiography. "I plan on covering his works in Chronological order, and hopefully will be able to do it justice," commented Pearce humbly. Discussing his collaboration with Fr. Fessio on this course, Pearce seemed excited at the prospect: "Since I am trained in Literature and Fr. Fessio is trained in Theology and Philosophy, we will apportion the teaching of the various works accordingly. I am sure that some disagreements will arise, which should be very lively for the students."
Through all of Joseph Pearce's work, and in interviews and publicity materials, he always makes it clear that he is a professor at Ave Maria University, as well as promoting the University. "I believe that AMU has done me the honor of adding me to the faculty, and my part is to pay my debt of gratitude by advertising AMU during interviews and on my travels."