A jones’n for James
UVM president Dan Fogel bestows literature knowledge

Alex McIntire | photo editor

Dr. Daniel Fogel takes time away from his job as UVM president to teach English classes and give talks like the one he gave on Thursday, Nov. 8. Photo courtesy of Ginger Gellman

Dr. Daniel Fogel spends the majority of his working days as the president of the University of Vermont (UVM), a full-time job that requires a tremendous amount of dedication.  Fogel however, has other passions that tend to be seen by the UVM community.  Teaching, as well as English literature, are two of those passions, which on Thursday, Nov. 8, Fogel was able to share with Burlington-area residents. 

Sponsored by the Burnham Memorial Library in Colchester, President Fogel was invited to speak at the United Church of Colchester about the life and works of American novelist and short story author Henry James.  “Henry James and the Spirit of ‘76,” the title of Fogel’s light-hearted talk, focused on James’ short ghost story, “The Jolly Corner.” 

A growing passion

Fogel’s passion for literature started at a young age, he says.  He grew up in a literary household; his father was a poet and an English professor. As Fogel grew older, he found that he too had a similar passion.

“Number one, I loved the literature, and number two I found out that this was something I could do,” Fogel says about where his taste for stories derived from.  “I wasn’t capable of being an engineer.” 

Teaching isn't a new gig for the president.  Fogel has been a part of academia for many years. He spent 26 years at Louisiana State University as executive vice chancellor and provost, before coming to UVM and teaching classes in English and American literature. 

When asked to come speak about the classic author Henry James, who he has done extended research on and has published books and articles about, Fogel says he was very excited. 

“It’s fun for me to go out and talk about Henry James,” Fogel says.  “I usually get to teach one course a year but I don’t get to do a lot. For me, it’s a way of refreshing my roots.”

The talk lasted about an hour-and-a-half and focused on the short story “The Jolly Corner,”  which is about a man who moves away from his New York home to England, only to later return to New York after many years, discovering that his childhood home is haunted. 

Throughout the presentation, Fogel danced around the question of whether or not this was an actual specter or a metaphorical ghost made up within the main character's mind.

UVM President Daniel Fogel gave a talk to the Burlington community on the clasic American novelist Henry James.

Why Fogel

Burnham Memorial Library director Marty Reid was particularly excited about having Fogel as a speaker. According to Reid, the library had been trying to get Fogel to speak for quite some time. 

Fogel’s lengthy resume includes a B.A. degree magna cum laude in English, an M.F.A. in creative writing and a doctorate in English, all from Cornell University.  He was the founding editor of the Henry James Review, is the author of four books and is also a literary authority on not only Henry James, but Virginia Woolf and James Joyce as well.

“We let him decide what the program was going to be about,” Reid says.  “We wanted it to be focused on literature.  He’s a James scholar so he chose the topic.”

While Fogel’s knowledge on the topic is extensive, he is also a Colchester resident which made him an attractive guest speaker for the audience, many of whom shared the same hometown, she says. 

“Most people know Dan Fogel because he’s the president of UVM,” Reid said in the event's press release. “We invited him here as a scholar of literature—we think his presentation will be both stimulating and fun. It’s a great opportunity for all of our adult ‘life-long’ learners.”

"Rate your professor"

The slide show presentation put on by Fogel was originally scheduled to be in the library where most talks take place, but due to the expected audience numbers, Reid says they moved it to the church next door. 

Guests ranged in age but a senior crowd made up the majority of the audience of approximately 20.  George Mona, a South Burlington resident, was persuaded to attend to the talk by his wife who is part of a book club.  Mona had never read any of Henry James' work, but found the short story and Fogel’s talk interesting, he says. 

“We had heard so much about [Fogel] being a James scholar that we wanted to come and hear it first hand,” Mona says.  “James is a lot more complicated than I thought it would be.  As an engineer, I’m used to a technical report as a thing I’m interested in.  This is as far from a technical report as you can get.” 

When asked if presenting such material sparked a desire to get back into the classroom, Fogel responded.

“I am a tenured professor in the English department,” Fogel says. “So if they ever get sick of me, they can throw me back in the briar patch and I’ll be as happy as a pig in the mud.”