Buffalo, NY - The College of Arts & Sciences at Canisius University presents a talk by award-winning author and professor emeritus at the University of Connecticut Robert A. Gross, PhD on Monday, March 28 at 5:00 p.m. The event will take place in the Grupp Fireside Lounge, located on the second floor of the Richard E. Winter ’42 Student Center. It is free and open to the public.
Professor Gross will discuss his recently-published book, The Transcendentalists and Their World. A cultural study of major American writers and a deep social biography of a place and an idea, the book traces the impact of capitalism, democracy and social reform on 19th century Concord, MA. A village of 2,000 souls, Concord was home to such luminaries as Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau, Nathaniel Hawthorne and the Alcotts but also to cotton-mill girls, Black laborers, Irish railroad workers, hardscrabble farmers, and aspiring mechanics and businessmen. This diverse and fluid population was integral to the character of the town and its response to the expansive forces of change.
The Transcendentalists was chosen as one of the 10 best books of 2021 by the Wall Street Journal. Professor Gross is also the author of Bancroft prize-winner The Minutemen and Their World. Gross specializes in the social and cultural history of the U.S., from the colonial era through the nineteenth century.
A native of Bridgeport, CT, Gross received a BA in American civilization from the University of Pennsylvania in 1966 and an MA (1968) and PhD (1976) in history from Columbia University. He taught at Amherst College (1976-88), the University of Sussex (1981-83) and the College of William and Mary (1988-2003) before coming to UConn. He is the recipient of various national awards, including fellowships from the Guggenheim, Howard and Rockefeller Foundations, the National Endowment for the Humanities and the American Antiquarian Society.
One of 27 Jesuit universities in the nation, Canisius is the premier private university in Western New York. Canisius prepares leaders – intelligent, caring, faithful individuals – able to pursue and promote excellence in their professions, their communities and their service to humanity.
