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Robertson presents paper at BHSU conference

Heather Robertson, a junior English for Information Systems major from Madison, presented a paper on Early British Literature at this year's Great Plains Conference, Saturday, April 28, at Black Hills State University in Spearfish.

The paper, entitled "Love and Death in Romeo and Juliet" was co-authored by Dr. John Laflin, professor of English at DSU. The paper, which grew out of Robertson's courses in Shakespeare and Text Markup, examined some of the language in Shakespeare's popular tragedy and concluded that Romeo and Juliet's "love" was doomed because it was self-centered rather than "other" centered. The research was based on programs written by Dr. Eric Johnson, dean of DSU's College of Liberal Arts.

Although the paper was well received, Robertson was dismayed to discover that she was the only undergraduate presenter at the conference. "I was not only the youngest presenter," Robertson said, "but I was the only presenter who was without a professorship."

She realized, however, that the audience accepted both her and the presentation. Her confidence grew as she discovered that, concerning technology, she was clearly the most qualified person at the conference. "No one [there] had heard of SGML or had encountered any form of text markup before," Robertson said. "More than once I had to describe the English for Information Systems major and several more times I had to explain what the text analysis specialization of my major entailed."

Robertson clearly impressed the conference attendees: "By the time I had left the conference, I had gotten an offer from a university for a paid position in research, and one dean wanted to contact me about possible research opportunities with his university."

In addition to Robertson-Laflin's paper, the conference included presentations on David Hume, Geoffrey Chaucer, and other early British writers.

This story comes from the Trojan Times, DSU campus newspaper