Miami University

Altman Humanities Professor named

12/03/1999

Larry Peer, professor of comparative literature at Brigham Young University, has been appointed Miami University’s John W. Altman Distinguished Professor in the Humanities.

The professorship, named for the 1960 Miami graduate who funded it, allows the university to bring in a distinguished teacher-scholar to campus for a yearlong appointment. This teacher-scholar will teach an interdisciplinary humanities course with three Altman Teaching Fellows chosen from Miami’s faculty.

Peer, who heads the comparative literature section at Brigham Young, is the author, co-author or editor of six books on European Romanticism and has written numerous articles on Russian, Italian, German and English writers. He is the executive director of the American Conference on Romanticism.

Michael Bachem, professor of German, Russian and East Asian languages, Robert Benson, chair of architecture and interior design, and Elaine Miller, assistant professor of philosophy, have been appointed Altman Teaching Fellows. They will collaborate with Peer on teaching a new interdisciplinary course, "Romanticism: Roots of Modernity."