Public Lecture - Dr. Deborah Bowen

“What’s the use of stories that aren’t even true.”
Narrative and the Christian Reader

This lecture is offered in conjunction with the INDS 4753: Christianity and Culture Course taught by Paul Chung. Those interested in hearing Dr. Bowen’s lecture are encouraged to read Salman Rushdie’s novel Haroun and the Sea of Stories.

Dr. Deborah Bowen is Professor of English at Redeemer University College. She offers courses in British Novel, Literature and the Environment, Victorian Literature, Modern British Literature, Contemporary Fiction, Postcolonial Literature, Contemporary Literary Theory, and Contemporary Canadian Poetry.

Dr. Deborah Bowen grew up in England in a house full of books, with five or six newspapers delivered daily, and both parents as professional writers; not surprisingly, she learned to read and write avidly from a young age. She had the great privilege and pleasure of attending Oxford University for her B.A. and M.A. in English Language and Literature, and also spending a year at Cambridge University for her Certificate of Education.

Bowen taught two years in high school in Bristol and three years in a teachers’ training college in the beautiful ancient city of York before she and her family came to Canada in 1977 as missionaries with Inter-Varsity Christian Fellowship, to work initially in Toronto and then in Ottawa. She received her Ph.D. from the University of Ottawa in 1990, and went on to teach at the universities of Ottawa and Montreal before coming to Redeemer University College in 1996. She is currently an Associate Professor, the Chair of the English Department, and facilitator of the faculty’s Pedagogy Discussion Group.