Hiram Caton, Giles Gunn, and Robert ter Horst continue the conversation on the Gilded Age, the period from the end of the Civil War through the early twentieth century. They examine American historian Henry Adams (1838-1918), viewed by many cultural critics as a sort of intellectual weather vane of his times. Adams reacted to the material developments of the Gilded Age with misgivings, questioning the direction of American institutions such as education, science. and commerce; and he wondered about the future of religion in a time of increasing secularism.
At the time of this interview, Caton, a Fellow at the National Humanities Center (1982-83), was professor of the humanities at Griffith University, Australia. Gunn was professor of religion and American studies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Ter Horst, also a Fellow at the Center (1982-83), was professor of Spanish and Portuguese at the University of Arizona.
This edition of Soundings was conducted by Wayne J. Pond.
