Bartleby the Scrivener book cover
Aine Donovan, Director of the Ethics Institute and Dartmouth College Research Associate Professor
Topic 

This timeless short work of fiction by the great American writer, Herman Melville, seems to capture a feeling in society at the moment: “I prefer not to.” Whether the aversion is to politics, social debate, or aesthetics, Melville’s existential insight is as timely today as it was in the 19th century.