Humanities and Arts
Lance Schachterle
- Co-Director, Liberal Arts & Engineering
- Professor, Humanities & Arts
- Affiliated with:
Lance Schachterle enjoys the excitement of the classroom--meeting new students each term, sharing ideas about works of literature that matter, and learning to communicate more effectively. He teaches courses at the 1000 and 2000 levels, mostly in modern literature, but also really likes interdisciplinary courses that involve science. WPI students work harder than most, and students pursuing their minor in literature often really get intellectually and emotionally involved in what they are studying.
Professor Schachterle has published on the postmodern novelist--also a great student of science--Thomas Pynchon. But his main scholarly interest at present is in James Fenimore Cooper, America's first major professional novelist. This work involves both critical studies and editing, for which the proximity of the American Antiquarian Society is a big help.
Research Interests
- James Fenimore Cooper
- Thomas Pynchon
Education
- BA, Haverford College, 1966
- PhD, University of Pennsylvania, 1970
Featured Publications
- Editions approved by the Center for Scholarly Editions of the MLA of Cooper's Pioneers, Spy, Deerslayer, and Bravo.
- Critical studies of Spy, Bravo, "The Littlepage Trilogy," and Prairie.
- Bibliographical studies of Cooper's works in print and American fiction to 1820.
- "JFC on the Languages of the Americans: A Note on the Author's Footnotes,” NCL, 66 (2011), 37-68.
- "Cooper and His Collaborators: Recovering Cooper's Final Intentions for his Fiction," SB, 56 (2003-04), 317-37.
Spotlight On: Current Research
As editor in chief of The Writings of James Fenimore Cooper, at present I am overseeing eight editions in progress as well as working myself on my fifth edition--my second based on the author's manuscript.
Labs and Centers
Courses
- EN 1251. INTRODUCTION TO LITERATURE
- EN 2233. AMERICAN LITERATURE: MODERNISM TO THE PRESENT
- EN 2234. MODERN AMERICAN NOVEL
- EN 2252. SCIENCE AND SCIENTISTS IN MODERN LITERATURE
- HU 1401. INTRODUCTION TO HUMANITIES AND ARTS I
- HU 1402. INTRODUCTION TO HUMANITIES AND ARTS II
- HU 3900. INQUIRY SEMINAR IN HUMANITIES AND ARTS
