Ruth apRoberts

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Professor Emerita Dr. Ruth apRoberts was a scholar of Victorian and religious literature. Her work focused on 19th century British literature as it intersected with philosophical issues and spiritual traditions.

She was born Ruth Heyer in Vancouver, British Columbia in 1919, the widow of Dr. Robert apRoberts, a noted scholar of Welsh descent who taught medieval literature at California State University in Northridge. They had four children:

Alison apRoberts
Lucy apRoberts
Mary Garnett West
Evan apRoberts

Ruth apRoberts received her bachelor's degree from the University of British Columbia and her master's degree from UC Berkeley. After raising her children, she received her Ph. D. in English from UCLA.

At the University of California in Riverside, she held the positions of Graduate Advisor and Chair of the English Department. She taught courses in Victorian literature, the Aesthetic Movement, and the Bible as literature. She held a Guggenheim Fellowship (1978-79).

She was awarded the UCR Distinguished Teaching Award in 1977, and the Distinguished Emeritus Award in 1995.

Professor apRoberts wrote the following books:

a) "The Moral Trollope" (Ohio University Press 1971) which explored the aesthetic and ethical dimensions of the novels of Anthony Trollope, finding the books richer and more serious than previous readers had realized

b) "Arnold and God" (University of California Press 1983) which probed the anti-literal understandings of religion that permeate all of Matthew Arnold's poetry and social criticism. This book was selected by Choice as an Outstanding Book of 1983.

c) "The Ancient Dialect" (University of California Press 1988) which analyzed the writing of Thomas Carlyle in relation to the study of comparative religions.

d) "The Biblical Web" (University of Michigan Press 1994) which provided a purely literary analysis of the Christian Bible and the Hebrew Torah, focusing on the resonances and influence of their language.

She died on March 26, 2006, aged 86. It is not clear if she ever became a U.S. citizen.

[edit] Quote in re Professor Ruth apRoberts

"Ruth apRoberts helped shape the intellectual culture of our department. As a scholar of the highest reputation and accomplishment, she led by example. She was a generous colleague and committed teacher whose passion for literature and intellectual inquiry exemplified our shared mission" (see [1]), Professor Katherine Kinney, current chair of the Department of English at UC Riverside.