July 25, 2017

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MILWAUKEE — Dr. Albert Rivero, professor of English, is the recipient of this year's Way Klingler Fellowship Award in the humanities.

Rivero explores the complex connections between literary works produced in Britain during the so-called "long 18^th century," from the Restoration to the Romantics, and their historical contexts. This award, which includes $20,000 annually for three years, will allow Rivero to take his projects off the shelf and advance them to completion.

Rivero will use the fellowship opportunity to shift focus to one of England's foremost 18^th century novelists, Jane Austen. He says the project — with its emphasis on religion as the basis of human equality and thus social justice — will further the research mission of Marquette University and the Helen Way Klingler College of Arts and Sciences

"Austen lived at a time when women were not considered full citizens; marriage, property and voting laws ensured that they remained so," Rivero points out. "She wrote her novels to remedy that situation. Those novels were informed by her deep Christian faith, a fact not universally acknowledged in current Austen criticism."

The Way Klingler Fellowships are awarded to full-time regular faculty at the associate or full professor rank who have potential for significant scholarship. One fellowship in science and one in humanities is awarded. The humanities fellow receives $20,000 annually for three years to fund critical research that requires time, access to information and travel.