René Wellek Library Lecturers: 1981 – Present

HISTORY OF THE WELLEK LECTURES

Since 1981, the School of the Humanities at UC Irvine holds a series of public lectures conducted by a distinguished scholar defending a critical theoretical stance on a wide array of themes, topics, and subject areas. Typically held every Spring, the three-day event is named in honor of Professor René Wellek, whose corpus of work in critical theory is housed at UC Irvine’s Langson Library. The Wellek Library Lectures are an annual opportunity for contemporary critics to exchange ideas, present innovative research, and publish their papers with Columbia University Press. Past lead lecturers have included Judith Butler, Jean Baudrillard, Étienne Balibar, Edward Said, Jean-François Lyotard, and Jacques Derrida.

In 1985, Dr. Eddie Yeghiayan began the tradition of compiling bibliographies detailing not only the work of each lecturer but much of the related secondary literature as well. Today, UCI research librarians continue to compile extensive bibliographies of each lecturer's work. 

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