A West Virginia University professor has been selected to participate in a Folger Shakespeare Library seminar.

Byron Nelson, associate professor in the Department of English, housed within the Eberly College of Arts and Sciences, will attend”The English Reformation, 1500-1640: One or Many?”May 13-June 11 at the Folger Library in Washington, D.C.

The seminar is being conducted by Diarmaid MacCulloch, a professor of the history of the Church at Oxford University. MacCulloch is a major scholar of the Reformation and the author of books on Archbishop Thomas Cranmer, King Edward VI and most recently the entire European Reformation.

The seminar allows scholars working on Reformation projects to meet and share ideas, Dr. Nelson said, and participants will be able to access the rich collection of books and papers at the library.

Located on Capitol Hill, the Folger Shakespeare Library is an independent research library that is home to the world’s largest collection of Shakespeare’s printed works, as well as collections of other rare Renaissance books and manuscripts on all disciplines.

Currently, Dr. Nelson is working on a book manuscript on the sermons of John Donne, who was the Dean of London’s St. Paul’s Cathedral from 1621-1631. Along with teaching English since 1971, Nelson also works as the editor of the annual journal Shakespeare and Renaissance Association Selected Papers (SRASP), which is supported jointly by the English Department, the Eberly College and Marshall University.

“Byron will represent us well at this seminar, and his participation will, in return, be beneficial for his students in the English Department, the Eberly College and the University,”said Tim Adams, chair of the Department of English.

Nelson added,”This is an exciting opportunity for any scholar who works in the history and literature of Early Modern England. The Folger Library is one of the greatest specialized research institutions in the world.”