It was a big year for Bob Dylan. In 1997, he was nominated for a Nobel prize, had an audience with the Pope, won three Grammys and nabbed the Kennedy Center's lifetime achievement award.
But all that was nothing compared to Dylan's arrival as a subject of academic scrutiny. In January, some 400 enthusiasts came to Kresge Auditorium for the first international conference on the man who, according to his Nobel nominators, "changed the history of the world." Thinkers at the daylong symposium dissected his politics and poetry, rhythm and religion. Keynote speaker Christopher Ricks, a Boston U. professor, said Dylan's work stands with the likes of Tennyson and Keats.
The session was organized by drama Associate Professor Rush Rehm and German studies grad student Tino Markworth. "We want to establish Bob Dylan in the academic canon," says Markworth, who taught a continuing ed course on Dylan last year with Rehm. Some scholars scoff at the thought. Says English Professor Ron Rebholz: "As much as I enjoy Bob Dylan, he doesn't warrant serious academic study."
