English Chair Christopher D’Addario has been named president of the Andrew Marvell Society, an international nonprofit scholarly organization promoting research on the life, work, and contexts of the 17th century poet and pamphleteer.
As president, D’Addario will organize the Society’s annual participation in the Renaissance Society of America Conference, including pulling together expert panels drawing scholars from across the globe to discuss the author and his work. He will also arrange semi-annual online meetings with academics, run meetings with the Society’s executive committee to evaluate the scholarly directions for conferences, oversee the annual research prizes given by the organization, manage the Society’s social media presence, and recruit new members.
Marvell, who lived from 1621-1678, composed a varied array of lyrics to address a complexity of issues within English society in the 17th century. His poetry was often of a metaphysical nature, blending together emotion, intellectual ingenuity and irony, prompting readers to dive deeper into the lyrics to truly understand their impact and meaning. Marvell’s writings also came amidst a tumultuous time in history—the English Civil War, a polarizing event that saw the dissolution and reestablishment of the monarchy within a 20-year period.
“Marvell’s poetry contains some of the most complex and difficult to decipher reactions to this hugely important conflict and leading the organization that promotes scholarship on this work directly aligns with my current interests,” D’Addario said. “What makes Marvell’s poetic work especially interesting in our current political environment is its ambivalence, its resistance to being pinned down as one ideology or another.”
Formerly serving as vice president of the Marvell Society, D’Addario teaches and studies early modern British literature, especially Shakespeare, the Renaissance, and other 17th century authors and works. D’Addario’s involvement in the Marvell Society places him in a distinctive position to grow as a scholar and an educator, allowing him to bring more knowledge and educational insight back to Gettysburg College students as they seek to understand the world around them.
“I really aim to get students to hold and to consider multiple possibilities, multiple truths in hand as they are looking at literature, culture, and the world,” D’Addario said. “I hope to help them see the complexity of all things—individuals, their motivations, their perspectives—to widen their sense of how other people see the world and act within it.”
D’Addario has been a member of the English Department since 2012 and was named chair in the fall of 2023. The courses he teaches often investigate British literature of the 17th century with a particular focus on Shakespeare and the Renaissance.
This fall, D’Addario is teaching a First-Year Seminar, 24 Hours in Literature and Film, which studies books and films that take place in one day, and an upper-level course on Shakespearean Revenge. In the spring, he will then lead an entry-level course on Shakespeare.
D’Addario will also oversee a new program in the English Department this year called the Casagrande Fund Reading Groups. Through this program, students will lead their own discussions on books of their choosing. In the past, he has collaborated with the Theater Arts Department to help student actors understand Shakespeare’s meanings and ideas as they prepare for performances.
With the start of classes just a few weeks away, D’Addario is ready to get back into the classroom and continue his role as chair, which includes advising the English honors thesis program. His increasing roles on and off campus expand his ability to cultivate the knowledge and enduring skills our students need for a lifetime of career advancement and personal success.
“As chair, I have enjoyed getting to know almost every major and minor in the department,” D’Addario noted. “I am also looking forward simply to seeing everyone back on campus in the fall!”
By Corey Jewart
Photos by Miranda Harple, Hang Lian
Posted: 08/07/24