Drawing from recently available archival documents, this paper traces the life, works, and influence of Edwin Greenlaw (1874–1931), a notable scholar of Spenser and the English Renaissance and a beloved and influential teacher. Information from a biographical manuscript authored by his brother is supplemented with contextual history of literary education in turn-of-the-century America and the debates between literary historians and critics of the early twentieth century in order to trace Greenlaw’s model impact as both a practitioner and leader. His exegesis of Spenser’s political allegory, his numerous edited literature textbooks for the general student, and his activism for a more publicly involved university are characteristic of his exemplary career. Letters from his colleagues and students, written after his early death, emphasize Greenlaw’s remarkable and contagious passion for scholarship, a passion which might inform current movements in literary studies as they reconstruct pathways to hermeneutics.
","abstract_html":"<p>Drawing from recently available archival documents, this paper traces the life, works, and influence of Edwin Greenlaw (1874–1931), a notable scholar of Spenser and the English Renaissance and a beloved and influential teacher. Information from a biographical manuscript authored by his brother is supplemented with contextual history of literary education in turn-of-the-century America and the debates between literary historians and critics of the early twentieth century in order to trace Greenlaw’s model impact as both a practitioner and leader. His exegesis of Spenser’s political allegory, his numerous edited literature textbooks for the general student, and his activism for a more publicly involved university are characteristic of his exemplary career. Letters from his colleagues and students, written after his early death, emphasize Greenlaw’s remarkable and contagious passion for scholarship, a passion which might inform current movements in literary studies as they reconstruct pathways to hermeneutics.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Higham, Mykelin"],"institution":"The Graduate School and University Center of The City University of New York","degree_name":"Master of Arts","degree_level":"Master","degree_discipline":"Comparative Literature","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":[],"advisors":["Martin Elsky"],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2022,"date_issued":"2022-02-01T08:00:00Z","date_published":"2022-02-01T08:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T01:59:54Z","subjects":["English Language and Literature","Intellectual History","Scholarship of Teaching and Learning","Spenser","philology","North Carolina","literary history","Elizabethan studies","biography"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://academicworks.cuny.edu/gc_etds/4703","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor.advisor","label":"Advisor","values":["Martin Elsky"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Higham, Mykelin"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2024-02-01T08:00:00Z"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Comparative Literature"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Master"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Master of Arts"]},{"key":"thesis:institution_name","label":"Thesis Institution Name","values":["The Graduate School and University Center of The City University of New York"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["English Language and Literature","Intellectual History","Scholarship of Teaching and Learning","Spenser","philology","North Carolina","literary history","Elizabethan studies","biography"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://academicworks.cuny.edu/gc_etds/4703"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["Drawing from recently available archival documents, this paper traces the life, works, and influence of Edwin Greenlaw (1874–1931), a notable scholar of Spenser and the English Renaissance and a beloved and influential teacher. Information from a biographical manuscript authored by his brother is supplemented with contextual history of literary education in turn-of-the-century America and the debates between literary historians and critics of the early twentieth century in order to trace Greenlaw’s model impact as both a practitioner and leader. His exegesis of Spenser’s political allegory, his numerous edited literature textbooks for the general student, and his activism for a more publicly involved university are characteristic of his exemplary career. Letters from his colleagues and students, written after his early death, emphasize Greenlaw’s remarkable and contagious passion for scholarship, a passion which might inform current movements in literary studies as they reconstruct pathways to hermeneutics.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["The Life and Legacy of Edwin Greenlaw: “Teacher and Scholar”"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor.advisor":["Martin Elsky"],"dc:creator":["Higham, Mykelin"],"dc:date.available":["2024-02-01T08:00:00Z"],"dc:description.abstract":["Drawing from recently available archival documents, this paper traces the life, works, and influence of Edwin Greenlaw (1874–1931), a notable scholar of Spenser and the English Renaissance and a beloved and influential teacher. Information from a biographical manuscript authored by his brother is supplemented with contextual history of literary education in turn-of-the-century America and the debates between literary historians and critics of the early twentieth century in order to trace Greenlaw’s model impact as both a practitioner and leader. His exegesis of Spenser’s political allegory, his numerous edited literature textbooks for the general student, and his activism for a more publicly involved university are characteristic of his exemplary career. Letters from his colleagues and students, written after his early death, emphasize Greenlaw’s remarkable and contagious passion for scholarship, a passion which might inform current movements in literary studies as they reconstruct pathways to hermeneutics.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://academicworks.cuny.edu/gc_etds/4703"],"dc:subject":["English Language and Literature","Intellectual History","Scholarship of Teaching and Learning","Spenser","philology","North Carolina","literary history","Elizabethan studies","biography"],"dc:title":["The Life and Legacy of Edwin Greenlaw: “Teacher and Scholar”"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Comparative Literature"],"thesis:degree_level":["Master"],"thesis:degree_name":["Master of Arts"],"thesis:institution_name":["The Graduate School and University Center of The City University of New York"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T01:59:54Z"}