Contact: Rick Peterson, Manager of News Services, 920-832-6590
For Immediate Release
February 7, 2000

Changing Attitude Toward Plagiarism Examined in Lawrence University
Lecture


     APPLETON, WIS. -- Imitation may be the sincerest form of flattery,
but "flatter" too much and you run the risk of being branded a
plagiarist.
     Bertrand Goldgar, professor of English and the John N. Bergstrom
Professor of Humanities at Lawrence University, discusses the
attitudinal evolution of plagiarism from the 1700s to today Thursday,
Feb. 17 in a Lawrence Main Hall Forum. Goldgar presents "Plundering the
Past: Imitation and Plagiarism in the 18th Century," at 4:15 p.m. in
Main Hall, Room 109.  The event is free and open to the public. 
     Although plagiarism or "literary theft" was more strongly condemned
in the 
mid-1700's than it is in some intellectual circles today, 18th-century
writers faced the dilemma of traditionally learning their craft by
imitating past authors of note.  In his address, Goldgar will focus on
the literary scandal surrounding John Milton and his masterpiece,
"Paradise Lost," and how attitudes toward plagiarism have shifted since
Milton's time.  He also will discuss the guidelines that emerged from
the Milton scandal as a way of clarifying the confusion surrounding the
difference between plagiarism and imitation and how those guidelines
still carry moral and practical significance today. 
     A member of the Lawrence faculty since 1957, Goldgar is a
specialist in 17th- and 18th-century English literature and is one of
the world's leading scholars on the life and work of "Tom Jones" creator
Henry Fielding.  He earned his Ph.D. from Princeton University.