Columns:: Honors and Awards: Meigs Award

Ronald L. Bogue
Professor of Comparative Literature

A student once enrolled in Ronald Bogue’s literary theory class and soon felt he had found himself in “a quantum mechanics

course without any prior training.” By the end of the seminar, however, the student not only knew the material but had a broad-ranging appreciation for literary theory.
That’s the kind of praise Bogue has received since coming to the University of Georgia in 1975. His Meigs Award is only the latest in a long line of honors that stretches back to college, where he was a member of Phi Beta Kappa and Phi Kappa

Phi. Since then, he’s won numerous teaching awards, including, most recently, an Outstanding Honors Professor Award in 2001.
“Hallmarks of Dr. Bogue’s teaching are his ability to clarify difficult material without simplifying it, and his talent for engaging students in the process of critical thinking,” says his department head, Dorothy Figueira. “I was astounded by the number of letters we received [from former students in support of his nomination for the award]. If the great teacher inspires, then clearly Dr. Bogue is a great teacher.”
An internationally known scholar in literary theory, Bogue has also taught numerous courses in his more than quarter-century at UGA. From classes in Western world literature to the history of literary criticism and speculative fiction, Bogue has been at the center of literature that crosses cultural and language boundaries.
His student evaluations have been impressive, consistently among the highest in his department. One student in his 18th-century European literature class wrote: “Dr. Bogue is one of the best teachers I’ve had at UGA. Not only is he extremely well-versed in the subject matter, but he also has a remarkable ability to make the material accessible to the students. . . . I would recommend his classes to anyone.”
Even reluctant students find Bogue’s courses stimulating. “Professor Bogue is the best professor I have had here at the university,” wrote one student in his Western world literature class. “With English being my worst subject, he has brought my enthusiasm for it to a new level. His incredible knowledge of what he teaches and his excitement while doing so make the class thoroughly enjoyable and quite a learning experience.”
Bogue was one of the first in the department of comparative literature to make non-Western literary works a regular part of his survey courses. He seldom teaches the same works, even in introductory survey courses, and has compiled anthologies of fables, parables and maxims for his course in didactic literature, as well as an anthology of European Enlightenment poetry for his 18th-century literature survey course.
One recent student summed up Bogue’s effect: “He is the most stimulating, educated, and insightful professor I have ever had the pleasure to know. He really made the material come alive. He’s a fantastic teacher.”