Ervin Beck

Home Address
1402-1 Pembroke Circle
Goshen, Indiana 46526
Tel: 574-533-8163

 

Professional Address
Professor Emeritus of English
Goshen College
Goshen, Indiana 46526
Fax: 574-535-7293
E-mail: ervinb@goshen.edu
www.goshen.edu~ervinb/personalwebpage.html

PERSONAL INFORMATION

Born September 9, 1937.
Married to Phyllis Lauver on December 19, 1959.
Father of William and Clarissa.

EDUCATION

B.A. in English, Goshen College, Goshen, IN, 1959.
M.A. in English, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN, 1967.
Ph.D. in English, Indiana University, 1973 (diss. on "The Paradigm of the Prodigal Son in English Renaissance Comedy, 1500-1642").

EMPLOYMENT

Professor of English, LCC International University, Klapieda, Lithuania, 2006-07, Fall 2008.

Professor of English, Goshen College, 1967-2003; chair of department, 1977-81, 1984-87, 1993-1998, 1999-2003.
Fulbright Professor of English, University College of Belize, Belize City, Belize, January-June 1991.
Associate Instructor, Indiana University, 1970-71.
International Community School, Teheran, Iran, 1961-64.
Regional Editor, The Elkhart Truth, summer 1960.
Indiana Public Schools, 1959-61, 1964-67.

TEACHING EXPERIENCE ON THE UNIVERSITY LEVEL

Shakespeare
British Literature to 1800
International Literature
English Language
British Literature 1850 to the Present
Expository Writing
Folklore
American Drama
Recent English and American Drama
English Education
Books and Ideas
American Literature
Mennonite Literature

OTHER EXPERIENCE

o   Journal Editor, Center for Mennonite Literature website, 2008-  .

    • Study Tour of Iran, October 2003.
    • Transportation, Signage, Preservation Committees, City of Goshen, 2003-2006.
    • Co-Chair, "Mennonite/s Writing: An International Conference," Goshen College, 2002 .
    • Editor, College Mennonite Church Centennial Book, 2002-3.
    • Chair, "Barn Again" Tour, Elkhart County Historical Society, 2002.
    • Director, Shakespeare Scholarship Prize Program, Goshen College, 2001-3.
    • Co-leader, Goshen College Alumni Tour to England, 1999.
    • Visiting Fellow, Centre for British and Comparative Cultural Studies, University of Warwick, England,1998-99
    • Consultant, E.T.S., revision of Major Field Test in English.
    • Coordinator, "Mennonite/s Writing in the U.S., Conference at Goshen College, " 1997.
    • Chair, Historical Markers Committee, Elkhart County Historical Society, 1998-.
    • Chair, "Historic Log Houses" tour, Elkhart County Historical Society, Centennial project, 1996.
    • Co-leader, Goshen College Alumni Tour to England, Summer 1992.
    • President, Vice-President, Secretary of Elkhart County Historical Society, l992-.
    • International Summer School, Oxford University, Summer 1990; research and study, Sheffield and London, August-December, 1990.
    • Member, Summer Fellowship Review Panel, I.C.H., 1987.
    • Member, Editorial Council, Pennsylvania Mennonite Heritage, 1986-9.
    • Humanist for Bristol, IN, history project, Indiana Commission for the Humanities, 1986.
    • Advisor, Folk Arts Panel, Indiana Arts Commission, 1982-85.
    • Folklore fieldwork, Visiting Professor of English Language, University of Sheffield, England, 1981-82.
    • Member, Board of Directors, Goshen Historical Society, 1983-90.
    • Vice-president, Goshen Historical Society, 1987-90.
    • Vice-President, Hoosier Folklore Society, 1983-85.
    • Member, Mennonite Publishing Committee, 1983-85.
    • Chair, Mennonite Museum Committee, Goshen College, 1984-.
    • Member, Mennonite Publication Board, 1977-83.
    • Folklore fieldwork in Belize, 1975-76, 1978.
    • Director, Goshen College Study-Service Trimester in Belize, 1975-76.
    • Preaching and Worship Commission, College Mennonite Church, 1976-79, 88-90.
    • Literary research, Costa Rica and Belize, H.E.W., 1974.
    • Liaison Representative, Indiana University Historic Preservation Committee, 1969-72.
    • Assistant Editor, The Mennonite Quarterly Review, 1968-2003.

PROGRAMS and EXHIBITS

o   Project Director, Mennonite-Amish Museum Committee Exhibits, Goshen College, 2003-  .

    • Project Director, "Beyond Books: The Best from the Museum Collection," Feb-April, 2003;  
    • Project Director, "From Private Collections," Goshen College Library Gallery, Nov. 02-Jan. 03.
    • Project Director, "Friendship Quilts and Family Records," 2002.
    • Project Director, "Swiss Mennonite Decorative Arts in Ohio and Indiana," I.A.C., 1997.
    • Project Director, "Amish Design," I.A.C., 1994.
    • Project Director, "Gwendolyn Brooks," I.A.C., 1993.
    • Project Director, "Writers Forum," I.H.C., Goshen College, 1990.
    • Project Director, "Amish Quilts from Northern Indiana," I.A.C., Midwest Museum of American Art, Elkhart, IN, Fall 1989.
    • Project Director, "Folklife Forum," I.H.C., Goshen College, 1989.
    • Project Director, "Small Folk," I.A.C., Goshen College, 1988.
    • Project Director, "Folk Arts of Mennonite and Amish Women," I.A.C., Goshen College, 1987.
    • Project Director, "Artful Writing," I.A.C., Goshen College, 1986.
    • Project Director, "Goshen Folk Festival," I.A.C., 1981.
    • Project Director, "Foxfire at Goshen," I.C.H., 1980.

       AWARDS

    • Named "County Historian" by Indiana Historical Society, 2005-2006.
    • Eli Lilly Lifetime Achievement Award, Indiana Historical Society, 2004.
    • Special literary issue of Mennonite Quarterly Review (October 2003) dedicated to Ervin Beck. .
    • "Historian of the Year," Goshen Historical Society, 1993.
    • Member, ICIP Study Seminar to South Africa, Zimbabwe and Malawi, July 10-August 13, 1993.
    • Fulbright Lectureship, University College of Belize, Belize City, Belize, Central America, Winter 1991.
    • I.C.H. Summer Fellowship, "Mennonite and Amish Painting on Glass," 1986.
    • Lilly Endowment Faculty Open Fellowship for 1981-82, Visiting Professor of English Language, University of Sheffield, England.
    • Seminar in Oral Narrative, University of Texas, N.E.H., 1980.
    • American Philosophical Society research grant for folklore, 1978.
    • Lilly Endowment Workshop on Illuminative Evaluation, Colorado Springs, 1977.
    • Goshen College faculty research grants , 1972-2000.
    • John H. Edwards Fellowship, Indiana University, 1971-72. This is the highest academic honor for graduate students at Indiana University.
    • Eli Lilly Teaching Fellow in World Literature, Goshen College, 1958-59.
    • Freshman and Junior-Senior Scholarships, Goshen College, 1955-59.

PUBLISHED WORK
ARTICLES

    • "Tamburlaine for the Modern Stage," Educational Theatre Journal, 23 (March 1971), 62-74.
    • "International Literature for American Students," College English, 35 (March 1974), 670-73.
    • "Terence Improved: The Paradigm of the Prodigal Son in English Renaissance Comedy," Renaissance Drama, n.s., 6 (1974), 107-22.
    • "Call and Response in Belizean Creole Folk Songs," Belizean Studies, 8 (March 1980), 10-20.
    • "The Answer Songs of Leonie White," Belizean Studies, 8 (July 1980), 10-22.
    • "Telling the Tale in Belize," Journal of American Folklore, 93 (Oct.-Dec. 1980), 417-34.
    • "Folk History in Creole Topical Songs," Belizean Studies, 8 (Nov. 1980), 17-24.
    • "The Folk History of Alonzo Schultz, Town Balladeer," Belizean Studies, 9 (March 1981), 9-19.
    • "Belizean Creole Quarreling Songs," Southern Folklore Quarterly, 45 (1981), 61-68.
    • "Menno's Children: Tricksters All," Goshen College Bulletin, 68 (May l983), 6-7.
    • "Children's Halloween Customs in Sheffield," Lore and Language, 3:9 (July 1983), 70-88.
    • "The Moral Tone of Joe Wright's Musical Instruments," The Hoosier Folklore Society Newsletter, 2:2 (Fall 1983), 1.
    • "The Meat That Never Spoils: Occupational Identity and Legend Decline," Folk Life, 22 (1983-84), 2-35; also in Perspectives on Contemporary Legend, ed. Paul Smith (Sheffield, England: C.E.C.T.A.L., 1984), 18-44.
    • "Children's Guy Fawkes Customs in Sheffield," Folklore, 95 (1984), 191-203.
    • "Stories Mennonites Tell," Gospel Herald (Jan. 31, 1984), 191-203.
    • "Reggie Jackson Among the Mennonites," Mennonite Quarterly Review, 58 (1984), 147-67.
    • "Trickster on the Threshold: An Interpretation of Children's Autumn Traditions," Folklore, 96 (1985), 24-28.
    • with Paul Smith, "A Handlist to the C.E.C.T.A.L. Microfilm of the Alex Helm Collection," Roomer: The Newsletter of the Traditional Drama Research Group, 5:6 (1985), 53-61.
    • "Mennonite Trickster Tales: True to Be Good," Mennonite Quarterly Review, 61 (January 1987), 58-74.
    • "Rhymes and Songs for Halloween and Bonfire Night," Lore and Language, 4:2 (Ju1y 1985), 1-17.
    • "Belizean Creole Folk Songs," Caribbean Quarterly, 29:1 (March 1983), 44-65.
    • "Socializing Customs in Castle Market, Sheffield," Folklore, 98:1 (1987), 3-10.
    • "Wedding Customs in the Paperwork Empire: Three Verbal Genres," Lore and Language, 7:1 (1988), 43-60.
    • "Mennonite and Amish Painting on Glass," The Mennonite Quarterly Review, 63:2 (1989) 115-49.
    • "Mennonite Origin Tales and Beliefs," The Mennonite Quarterly Review, 64:1 (January 1990), 32-48.
    • "Glass Painting by Plain People," in Folklife Annual 1989-90, Ed. James Hardin and Alan Jabbour. Washington, D.C.: The Library of Congress, 1989. Pp. 112-25.
    • "Indiana Amish Family Records," Pennsylvania Folklife, 39:2 (Winter 1989-90), 73-81.
    • Articles for the Supplement to the Mennonite Encyclopedia (1991) -- Ballads, Clocks, Folk Art, Folk Painting, Folklore and Folklife, Furniture, Rhymes.
    • "Way of Sorrows" [personal essay], Christian Living (April 1992), 14-17.
    • "On Saving Anancy," Belizean Studies, 20:2 (Oct. 2992), 30-32.
    • "Mostly Canada: The Current State of Mennonite Fiction Writing" [a review essay], Mennonite Historical Bulletin (April 1993), 12-14.
    • "'Fulwood Farmers' and the Community Folk Song," Lore and Language, 10:2 (1991), 75-92.
    • "Each and All: Off-Campus Collaborative Activities" in Collaborative Learning: A Sourcebook for Higher Education, Vol. II, ed. Stephanie Kadel and Julia Keechner. NCTLA, 1994. P. 17.
    • "Allegory in The American Dream by Edward Albee" http://www.goshen.edu (1996).
    • "C.P.S. Protest Songs," Mennonite Life (December 1996), 14-25.
    • "Plain and Fancy: A Review of Research in Mennonite Folk Arts," Mennonite Quarterly Review, 71 (January 1997), 69-91.
    • "Mennonite/s Writing," Goshen College Bulletin (September 1996), 5.
    • "Shakespeare's All's Well That Ends Well," Explicator 55 (Spring 1997), 123-24.
    • "A Reader's Guide to Mennonite Literature," Gospel Herald (October 14, 1997), 4-8.
    • "`Fattening' in Belizean Creole Storytelling," in Traditional Storytelling Today: An International Encyclopedia, ed. Margaret Read MacDonald, (Chicago: Fitzroy Dearborn, 1999), 467-70.
    • Co-Editor with John D. Roth, special issue of Mennonite Quarterly Review on Mennonite/s Writing in the U.S. (October 1998). Also published as the book Migrant Muses: Mennonite/s Writing in the U.S. Goshen, IN: Mennonite Historical Society, 1998.
    • "The Signifying Menno: Archetypes for Authors and Critics." Mennonite Quarterly Review (October 1998), 49-68.
    • "Social Insecurity in Beka Lamb," personal website.
    • "Babette's Feast," Explicator 56:4 (Summer 1998), 210-13.
    • "The Taming of the Shrew," Explicator 57:1 (Fall 1998), 8-10.
    • Interview, "Poet and Reporter Carl Haarer: Transcribing Reality," Mennonot (Fall 1998), 6-8.
    • Compiler with Hildi Froese Tiessen, "Mennonite/s Writing in Canada: A Selective Bibliography." http://www.goshen.edu/~lonhs/GCPUBLICATIONS/Ervin_Beck/CAN-BIBlio.html
    • "Mennonite and Amish Folklore and Folk Arts: A Selective Bibliography." http://www.goshen.edu/~lonhs/GCPUBLICATIONS/Ervin-Beck/ErvinBib.html
    • "Mennonite/s Writing in the U.S.: A Selected Bibliography." http://www.goshen.edu%7ervinb/bibliographies.menno_us_bib/BeckBib.html
    • "Is There Trouble Anywhere," Christian Living (April-May 1999), 21-24.
    • "English Stereotypes of Americans," South Bend Tribune, June 27, 1999.
    • "Candide," Explicator 57 (Summer 1999), 203-4.
    • "The Politics of Rudy Wiebe in The Blue Mountains of China," Mennonite Quarterly Review, 73 (October 1999), 723-50.
    • "Common Ground, or the Mennonite Game," The Mennonite, (October 5, 1999), 6-7.
    • "Rhubarb for You, Barb," Rhubarb 1:4 (1999), 2.
    • "Fugard's Master Harold and the Boys," Explicator 58:2 (Winter 2000), 109-12.
    • If DiPinNeva Ben: Folktales and Legends of Belize, ed. Tim Hogerty. Benque Viejo, Belize: Cubola Productions, 2000.[5 legends and tales from E.B. collection.]
    • "Postcolonial Complexity in the Writings of Rudy Wiebe." Modern Fiction Studies 47.4 (Winter 2001): 855-86.
    • "The Ruihley Park Scapegoat." Christian Living, March 2002, 11-13.
    • "Naipaul's B. Wordsworth." Explicator 60.3 (Spring 2002): 175-76.
    • "Folklore and British Cultural Studies," on personal website.
    • "Rudy Wiebe and W.B. Yeats: Sailing to Danzig and Byzantium." ARIEL 32.4 (October 2001): 7-19.
    • "Run for Relief and Feed the Hungry: Mennonite Relief Sale as Folk Festival." In The Measure of My Days, ed. Reuben Z. Miller and Joseph S. Miller. Telford, PA: Cascadia, 2004. Pp. 164-83.
    • "Resolving Dualisms in David Bergen's Sitting Opposite My Brother," Mennonite Quarterly Review 78:4 (October 2003), 637-46.
    • Co-editor with John D. Roth, special issue of Mennonite Quarterly Review on "Mennonite/s Writing in the U.S. and Canada" (October 2003).

BOOKS

    • with Shirley Warde, Folk Stories from Belize: "We Jus Catch Um." Goshen, IN: Pinchpenny Press, 1974.
    • with Wilbur Birky, ed., Contemporary Costa Rican Literature in Translation. Goshen, IN: Pinchpenny Press, 1975.
    • Joe Wright, Goshen Folk Hero. Goshen, IN: Pinchpenny Press, 1988.
    • The Skunk Lady and Colorful Goshen Characters. Goshen, IN: Goshen Historical Society, 1989. 19 pp.
    • The Chase Bag Factory: Times to Remember. Goshen, IN: Goshen Historical Society, 1990. 25 pp.
    • with John D. Roth, Migrant Muses: Mennonite/s Writing in the U.S. Goshen, IN: Mennonite HIstorical Society, 1998.
    • ed., College Mennonite Church 1907-2003. Goshen, IN: College Mennonite Church, 2003.
    • MennoFolk: Mennonite and Amish Folk Traditions. Scottdale, PA: Herald Press, 2004.
    • MennoFolk2: A Sampler of Mennonite and Amish Folklore (Herald Press, 2005).

ORAL PRESENTATIONS

    • "Recent Mennonite Dramas," Mennonite Media Conference, Kansas City, 1975.
    • "Occupational Identity and Legend Decline: The Meat That Never Spoils," Contemporary Legend Conference, University of Sheffield, England, July 1982.
    • "Joe Wright, Goshen Folk Hero," Goshen Historical Society, February 1983.
    • "Urban Legends," Elkhart County Historical Society, April 1983.
    • "The Musical Instruments of Joe Wright," Hoosier Folklore Society, May 1983.
    • "Urban Legends," radio interview, WTRC-WYEZ, Elkhart, IN, July 1983.
    • "Mennonite Trickster Tales: True to Be Good," American Folklore Society, October 1983.
    • "Halloween in England," radio interview, October 1985.
    • Workshops on oral history and recording material culture, Bristol history project, I.C.H., Summer 1986.
    • "Mennonite and Amish Painting on Glass," Midwest Museum of American Art, Indiana Historical Society, University of Notre Dame, Fall 1986; Northern Indiana Historical Society, Westview High School, Mennonite Historical Society, Winter 1987; Hoosier Folklore Society, November 1987.
    • "Halloween in England," B.B.C. radio interview, October 1988.
    • "Mennonite Folklore," Elkhart County Historical Society, November 1988.
    • "Developing a Collection," Conference on Mennonite Museums and Information Centers, Kauffman Museum, North Newton, KS, May 1989.
    • "Expanding the Canon in a Great Books Course," Indiana College English Association, October 30, 1992.
    • "One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich" and "The Guide," Let's Talk About It Series, Wakarusa & Nappanee Libraries, January-February 1994.
    • "Nervous Conditions," a narrated slide sequence, IU-ICIP conference on Africa, February 18, 1994.
    • "International Education at Goshen College," Association of American Colleges conference, "Teaching Cultural Difference as General Education," Philadelphia, February 24-27, 1994.
    • "Swiss Mennonite Decorated Furniture in the U.S.," Conference on Swiss Mennonite Decorative Arts in the Social Context," Bluffton College, June 28, 1997.
    • "The Signifying Menno: Archetypes for Authors and Critics," Mennonite/s Writing in the U.S. Conference, Goshen, Indiana, October 1997.
    • "Teaching Mennonite Literature," panel, Mennonite/s Writing in the U.S. Conference, Goshen, Indiana, October 1997.
    • "Folklore and Cultural Studies," Centre for British and Comparative Cultural Studies, U. of Warwick, March 3, 1999.
    • "Collecting and Documenting Folklore." Folklore in the Schools Conference, Belize City, April 18, 2000.
    • "Charles Gordone and Race Politics," AAUW, Elkhart, IN, May 2002.
    • "Seeing Local Culture," Afternoon Sabbatical, Goshen College, Sept. 10, 2003.
    • "Run for Relief and Feed the Hungry: Mennonite Relief Sale as Folk Festival," Dean's Lecture Series, Goshen College, September 2003; Conference on Mennonite Ritual, Hillsdale College, June 2003.
    • "Resolving Dualisms in David Bergen's Sitting Opposite My Brother," Mennonite/s Writing: An International Conference, Goshen College, October 2003.

VIDEOTAPE

    • Nervous Conditions, narrated slide sequence, distributed by Indiana Consortium for International Programs, 1994.

BOOK REVIEWS

In World Literature Today (formerly Books Abroad):

      • V.S. Reid, New Day, 48 (Summer 1974), 618-19
      • H. W. Fairman, trans. and ed. The Triumph of Horus: An Ancient Egyptian Sacred Drama, 49 Spring 1975), 378-79
      • Jose Leon Sanchez, God Was Looking the Other Way, 49 (Winter 1975), 94-95.
      • Nalo Hopkinson, ed. Whispers from the Cotton Tree Root: Caribbean Fabulist Fiction (Sum-Aut 2001).
      • Frank Birbalshingh, ed. Jahaji: An Anthology of Indo-Caribbean Fiction (Spring 2001).
      • Agymah Kamau, Pictures of Dying Man (Spring 2000).
      • Erika J. Waters, et al, eds. Contemporary Drama of the Caribbean (Sum-Aut 2002)
      • Wendy McGrath, Recurring Fictions (July-Sept. 2003).
      • Lasana M. Sekou, The Salt Reaper: Poems from the Flats (March-April 2006).


In Festival Quarterly:

      • Will D. Campbell, Cecelia's Sin (January 1984)
      • Armin Wiebe, The Salvation of Yasch Siemens (Fall 1984)
      • Daniel and Kathryn McCauley, Decorative Arts of the Amish of Lancaster County (Fall 1988).


In Lore and Language, 3 (July 1982):

      • Clarkson and Cross, World Folktales: A Scribner Resource Collection, 113-14
      • Richard M. Dorson, Land of the Millrats: Urban Folklore in Indiana's Calumet Region, 140
      • Francis Greig, The Bite and Other Apocryphal Tales, 143
      • Eliot Wigginton, ed., Foxfire 5, 109-10


In Mennonite Quarterly Review:

      • Al Reimer, My Harp Is Turned to Mourning (January 1988)
      • Daniel and Kathryn McCauley, Decorative Arts of the Amish of Lancaster County (April 1991)
      • Janzen and Janzen, Mennonite Furniture: An Immigrant Tradition (July 1992)
      • Julie Silber, et al, Amish: The Art of the Quilt (October 1992)
      • Pellman & Pellman, Mennonite Quilts (April 1994)
      • Kathleen McLary, Amish Style (Oct. 1994)
      • Burke and Hill, eds., Manufactured by Hand: The Soap Hollow School (January 1995)
      • From Pennsylvania to Waterloo: Pennsylvania-German Folk Culture in Transition (April 1994)
      • Al Reimer, Mennonite Literary Voices: Past and Present (October 1994)
      • Rudy Wiebe, Stolen Life (January 2000)
      • Janet Kauffman, Rot (April 2002)
      • Cory Amsler, ed. Bucks County Fraktur (April 2002)
      • Clarke Hess, Mennonite Arts (January 2003)
      • Charles Muller, Soap Hollow: The Furniture and Its Makers (April 2003)
      • Janneken Smucker, et al, Amish Crib Quilts from the Midwest (April 2005).


In Pennsylvania Mennonite Heritage:

      • Granick, The Amish Quilt (July 1990).
      • Richman, Pennsylvania German Arts: More Than Hearts, Parrots, and Tulips (April 2002).


In Provident Bookfinder:

      • Rudy Wiebe, My Lovely Enemy (Nov.-Dec. 1984).


In ARIEL:

      • Kevin Grant, ed., The Art of David Dabydeen (Oct. 2000).


In Great Plains Quarterly:

      • Fleming and Rowan, Folk Furniture of Canada's Doukhobors, Hutterites, Mennonites and Ukrainians (Fall 2005).


In Conrad Grebel Review:

      • Jean Janzen, Piano in the Vineyard (Fall 2005).
      • David Waltner-Toews, The Complete Tante Tina (Fall 2005).


FILM REVIEW
      In Journal of American Folklore:
              Ruth, Hostetler and Buller, "The Hutterites" (April-June 1985).