Richard Sidney Slotkin (born November 8, 1942) is a

cultural critic A cultural critic is a critic of a given culture, usually as a whole. Cultural criticism has significant overlap with social and cultural theory. While such criticism is simply part of the self-consciousness of the culture, the social positions of ...

and historian. He is the Olin Professor of English and

American Studies American studies or American civilization is an interdisciplinary field of scholarship that examines American literature, history, society, and culture. It traditionally incorporates literary criticism, historiography and critical theory. Schol ...

, Emeritus at

Wesleyan University Wesleyan University ( ) is a private liberal arts university in Middletown, Connecticut. Founded in 1831 as a men's college under the auspices of the Methodist Episcopal Church and with the support of prominent residents of Middletown, the col ...

in Middletown, Connecticut, and, since 2010, a member of the

American Academy of Arts and Sciences The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (abbreviation: AAA&S) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, a ...

. Slotkin writes novels alongside his historical research, and uses the process of writing the novels to clarify and refine his historical work.

Education and career

Richard Sidney Slotkin was born on November 8, 1942, in

Brooklyn, New York Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

. He received a B.A. degree from Brooklyn College in 1963 and a Ph.D. in American Civilization from Brown University in 1967. He started teaching at

in 1966 and helped establish the school's American studies and film studies program. He remained at Wesleyan until his retirement in 2009.

Awards

''Regeneration Through Violence'' received the

Albert J. Beveridge Award The Albert J. Beveridge Award is awarded by the American Historical Association (AHA) for the best English-language book on American history (United States, Canada, or Latin America) from 1492 to the present. It was established on a biennial basis ...

of the

American Historical Association The American Historical Association (AHA) is the oldest professional association of historians in the United States and the largest such organization in the world. Founded in 1884, the AHA works to protect academic freedom, develop professional s ...

as the Best Book in American History (1973) and was a Finalist for the National Book Award in 1974. ''Gunfighter Nation'' was a National Book Award Finalist in 1993. In 1995, Slotkin received the Mary C. Turpie Award of the

American Studies Association The American Studies Association (ASA) is a scholarly organization founded in 1951. It is the oldest scholarly organization devoted to the interdisciplinary study of U.S. culture and history. The ASA works to promote meaningful dialogue about t ...

for his contributions to teaching and program-building. His novel ''Abe: A Novel of the Young Lincoln'' won the 2000 Michael Shaara Award for Excellence in Civil War Fiction. In 1976, he received an honorary Master of Arts degree in Art Education from Wesleyan University.

Works

*''Regeneration Through Violence: the Mythology of the American Frontier, 1600–1860'' (

Wesleyan University Press Wesleyan University Press is a university press that is part of Wesleyan University in Middletown, Connecticut. The press is currently directed by Suzanna Tamminen, a published poet and essayist. History and overview Founded (in its present form ...

, 1973) *''The Crater: A Novel of the Civil War'' ( Atheneum, 1980) *''Fatal Environment: The Myth of the Frontier in the Age of Industrialization, 1800–1890,'' (Atheneum, 1985) *''The Return of Henry Starr'' (Atheneum, 1988) *''Gunfighter Nation: Myth of the Frontier in Twentieth-Century America'' (Atheneum, 1992) *''Abe: A Novel of the Young Lincoln'' ( Henry Holt and Company, 2000) *''Lost Battalions: The Great War and the Crisis of American Nationality'' (Henry Holt and Company, 2005) *''No Quarter: The Battle of the Crater, 1864'' (

Random House Random House is an American book publisher and the largest general-interest paperback publisher in the world. The company has several independently managed subsidiaries around the world. It is part of Penguin Random House, which is owned by Germ ...

, 2009) *''The Long Road to Antietam: How the Civil War Became a Revolution'' ( W. W. Norton & Company, 2012)

References

External links

* * Richard Slotkin Papers. Yale Collection of Western Americana, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library. {{DEFAULTSORT:Slotkin, Richard Living people American cultural critics 21st-century American historians 21st-century American male writers Brown University alumni Writers from Connecticut Brooklyn College alumni Wesleyan University alumni Wesleyan University faculty Historians of the American West 1942 births American male non-fiction writers