Baylor Honors College Presents Soviet Union Expert

November 14, 2008

by Lillyan Baker, student newswriter, (254) 710-6805
Edward E. Ericson Jr., Professor Emeritus of English at Calvin College, will present "The Enduring Achievement of Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn" at 3:30 p.m., Thursday, Nov. 20, in the reading room of Alexander Hall on the Baylor University campus. The lecture is part of the Honors Residential College lecture series and the Intercollegiate Studies Institute Graduate Reading Group.
The event, which is free and open to the public, will begin with a video "Solzhenitsyn at His Last Reach of the River" at 3:30 p.m. and a reception following at 4:30 p.m. Ericson's lecture will begin after the reception at 5 p.m.
Ericson compressed his work of Solzhenitsyn in his book, Solzhenitsyn and the Modern World. In his book, he discusses Solzhenitsyn's opinion about the Soviet Union.
"Russian novelist Aleksander Solzhenitsyn's moral vision, rooted in a 'Christian universalism' that emphasizes individual responsibility and personal transformation, is profoundly relevant to the modern world," Ericson said.
Ericson also analyzes Solzhenitsyn's opinion of the stability in the totalitarian rule of Lenin and Stalin.
Ericson worked closely with Solzhenitsyn on their collaboration for The Gulag Archipelago, based on the Soviet Union's concentration camp organization and labor. Ericson served as the editor on the book for Solzhenitsyn's relived experiences of the 11 years in Stalinist labor camps.
For more information about this lecture, visit the Honors College Lecture Series website.