What Blake did next: inaugural professorial lecture by Falmouth expert

Two of William Blake's most popular texts - the poem, The Tyger and the hymn, Jerusalem - will be the focus of Professor Jason Whittaker's inaugural professorial lecture on Thursday 15 October at the Tremough Campus as part of University College Falmouth's high-profile Professorial Lecture series.

Professor Whittaker is UCF's resident Professor of English and Media Arts, and an acknowledged expert on William Blake who, despite dying in relative obscurity in 1827, has emerged as one of Britain's most important and influential artists and writers. Professor Whittaker is the author of William Blake and the Myths of Britain; Radical Blake: Influence and Afterlife from 1827; and Blake, Modernity & Popular Culture, and has written many articles about Blake's influence on contemporary writers, artists, filmmakers and musicians.

Entitled What Blake did next: 200 years under the influence of William Blake, Professor Whittaker will explore some of the ways in which Blake's influence has been used and abused to provide fertile ground for new creative developments, as well as argue that a study of such poetic and artistic reception is the way forward for Blake studies.

"Blake has sometimes been referred to as the most influential writer in English literature after Shakespeare," comments Professor Whittaker. "Certainly his visionary art and poetry has been extremely important in transforming the ways in which subsequent generations of writers and artists think and work. Blake once wrote that he had to create a system or be enslaved by another man's, and this has become the credo for many who have dared to establish their own visions of society and the world."

"The aim of UCF's Professorial Lecture series is to produce an engaging and challenging public programme that stimulates the intellectual curiosity of our staff, students and alumni; our research collaborators; our industry partners; our local communities and other supporters," explains UCF's Deputy Rector, Professor Geoff Smith. "We are delighted to provide our creative community with the opportunity to hear resident and visiting professors share their insights, provoke debate and redefine creative excellence in the process, and hope that as many people as possible will attend."

Professor Whittaker's lecture is open to the public and will take place at 6.30pm on Thursday 15 October in the Chapel Lecture Theatre at the Tremough Campus in Penryn. Tickets are free and are available from The Poly either by calling 01326 212300 or by collection from the Box Office at 24 Church Street, Falmouth.

UCF's autumn term programme of Professorial Lectures will continue with award-winning Artistic Director of the Donmar Warehouse, Michael Grandage in conversation with UCF's Director of Art & Performance, Sara Reed on Thursday 29 October; interactive media pioneer and Managing Director of Illumina Digital, Andrew Chitty on Wednesday 11 November, and UCF's resident Professor of Illustration, Alan Male on Thursday 26 November.

For further information about University College Falmouth's Professorial Lecture Series, visit www.falmouth.ac.uk/visitingprofessors

University College Falmouth is the only independent Higher Education institution in Cornwall with the powers to award degrees in its own name. It has two campuses in Cornwall - at Woodlane in Falmouth and Tremough in Penryn (which it owns, and jointly manages with the University of Exeter) - and a third campus at Totnes in Devon, following its merger with Dartington College of Arts in 2008.

This merger created a new institution focusing on the expansion of Falmouth's expertise in Art, Design and Media and Dartington's expertise in Choreography, Music, Theatre, Art and Writing. The Devon-based courses will relocate to a new, high-specification Performance Centre at Tremough in 2010, paving the way for a new specialist Arts University in Cornwall by 2012/2013 that will be unique to the South West.

The College is a founding partner in the Combined Universities in Cornwall (CUC), a unique initiative to promote regional economic regeneration through Higher Education, funded mainly by the European Union (Objective One), the South West Regional Development Agency, and the Higher Education Funding Council for England, with support from Cornwall Council.

For further information about University College Falmouth, please contact Jilly Easterby MCIPR, Head of Public Affairs, Telephone: 01326 213792, or email: jilly.easterby@falmouth.ac.uk

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