Linda Patterson Miller, Penn State laureate for 2011-12, spoke at Penn State DuBois on Sept. 13. Miller, a professor of English at Penn State Abington, is the fourth person to hold the title.
The Penn State laureate is a full-time faculty member in the humanities or fine arts who is assigned half-time for one academic year to bring an enhanced level of social, cultural, artistic and human perspective and awareness to a broad array of audiences. The laureate makes appearances at Penn State campuses and at events throughout the state. Miller said she aspires to bring the excitement of the humanities to her audience because of its power to transform lives and define what it means to be human.
Miller’s area of expertise is early 20th-century American literature and art. She is especially interested in the emergence of Modernism and the intersection of literature and art, looking at such writers and artists as Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Gertrude Stein, Pablo Picasso and Fernand Leger. Her acclaimed book, "Letters from the Lost Generation: Gerald and Sara Murphy and Friends," explores the group dynamics of the Lost Generation to reveal how their lifelong friendships shaped their art.