Volume 14, Issue 1, Spring 2017
John T. Ford
Pages 7-15
The "State" of Newman Studies
Following the medical practice of evaluating a person’s “state” of health in terms of prior history, present diagnosis and future prognosis, this essay comments briefly on four areas or—to use medical parlance— “branches” of Newman studies: (1) Autobiographical: Newman as he portrayed himself; (2) Interpretive: Newman as others have depicted him; (3) Motivational: Newman’s life and work as inspiring others; (4) Transcultural: Newman’s life and work as crossing cultures. By way of conclusion, I will share a dream about a digital reading of Newman’s Apologia in the future.