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ARTHUR VERSLUIS
Professor
Writing, Rhetoric, and American Cultures
517/355-3282 (office); 517/353-5250 (fax)
courses: WRA 130 Writing: American Radical Thought; WRA 195H Writing: Major Topics in American Thought (Honors Course)
Versluis holds a PhD from the University of Michigan and has published numerous books and articles. Among his books are The Esoteric Origins of the American Renaissance (Oxford University Press, 2001); Wisdom's Book: The Sophia Anthology (Paragon House, 2000); Island Farm (MSU Press, 2000); Wisdom's Children: A Christian Esoteric Tradition (State University of New York Press, 1999); and American Transcendentalism and Asian Religions (Oxford University Press, 1993).
Versluis has written on and taught a wide range of topics, from American agrarianism and Christian esotericism to contemplative traditions and practices. He is very interested in the philosophy of teaching and in the contemporary plight of the humanities, as well as in the central role that first-year writing courses play in university education. He has taught Writing: American Radical Thought and honors courses, as well as other versions of first-year writing at other institutions. Versluis has lectured on such subjects as American Transcendentalism and Asian religions, esotericism, mysticism, and mythology at the University of Dusseldorf, Germany, the Sorbonne, France, in London, and in Australia. He has also taught creative writing and a variety of courses that integrate the study of religion and writing. He developed an innovative course in Religious Studies at Michigan State--the first survey of Western esotericism taught in the United States.
Versluis has been awarded a Fulbright scholarship to Germany, and is the editor-in-chief of Esoterica, an electronic journal devoted to the academic study of esotericism (available at http://www.esoteric.msu.edu). His family owns a multi-generational farm on the west side of Grand Rapids, Michigan (about which he has published a book entitled Island Farm), and he is deeply interested in contemporary agricultural issues as well as agricultural history.
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