Brown Bag focuses on Litwicki's research

Dr. Ellen Litwicki

Ellen Litwicki, chairperson of the History Department at SUNY Fredonia, will present a talk entitled “From Emerson’s ‘Portion of Thyself’ to the Gift Registry: Defining the Gift” during the Brown Bag Lecture Series on Wednesday, March 5, at noon in S104 of the Williams Center. The event, including refreshment is free and open to all. efreshments will be served. 

Dr. Litwicki will discuss the history of the gift, from Ralph Waldo Emerson’s explicitly anti-commercial definition of the gift as “a portion of thyself” to contemporary Americans’ infatuation with the modern gift registry. She will consider whether we can reconcile the modern gift registry with Emerson’s ideal and will explore what each of these can tell us about the meaning of gift giving in American culture.  

Professor Litwicki earned her Ph.D. at the University of Virginia and specializes in American cultural history with a focus on the history of cultural rituals and consumer culture. She is the author of America’s Public Holidays, 1865-1920 (Smithsonian, 2000) and several articles on holidays and popular culture.

The Brown Bag Lecture series, sponsored by the College of Arts and Humanities, offers informal talks on the first Wednesday of each month featuring new creative and scholarly work by members of the SUNY Fredonia faculty. Each 30-minute talk and/or presentation is followed by a brief discussion. Free refreshments will be served, and all members of the campus and community are welcome to attend.

For more information on the lecture series, please contact David Kinkela or Natalie Gerber, series directors.