2020 marks the 150th anniversary of the death of Charles Dickens. The lasting legacy of Dickens’ writing plays a large role at all levels of English education—from the December favorite A Christmas Carol to Great Expectations, Oliver Twist, The Pickwick Papers, and many more, Dickens continues to attract and challenge readers even in the 21st century.
National English Honor Society (NEHS) is pleased to invite all members, as well as those from Sigma Tau Delta and Sigma Kappa Delta, to an evening with Tom Wingate, noted Dickens scholar, who has agreed to lead the next NEHS webinar, “Charles Dickens: Relevance for the 21st Century.” The webinar will be on Thursday, December 3, 2020, starting at 6:00 p.m. CST. Wingate is the founder and head English teacher at the Wingate School in Mexico City; the school is a British-International school founded in 2016. Educated primarily in England with a Master’s degree in Victorian Studies from Birkbeck College, University of London, Wingate is also an honorary member of the Charles Dickens NEHS Chapter at Saint Mary’s Hall, San Antonio, TX, where his nephews attended.
Wingate will share insights into the social consciousness of Dickens, using Oliver Twist as the primary text to show how Dickens attacks the social ills of his time—child labor, oppressive laws affecting the poor, educational disparity, political honesty—and how these same issues remain as challenges for all societies now. Invitations have been sent to all members of the combined “English Honor societies”; do not delay in reserving a spot for this evening of learning.
Suggested Reading
From Penguin Critical Anthologies: Charles Dickens, ed. Stephen Wall (1970)
From Victorian England, W. J. Reader (Putnam, 1964)
