The Maverick Who Started This

Karen Christensen talks about Marvin Mudrick's vision for CCS, and what he would say about the next 50 years

Marvin Mudrick was a prominent and controversial literary critic who founded the College of Creative Studies (CCS) in 1967. As a student, Karen Christensen wrote an article about CCS that Mudrick curtly told her was “the first piece about the College I’ve liked.” She will talk about the College's vision for undergraduate education in the arts and the sciences arguing it provides a model for the 21st century.

Karen Christensen (CCS Literature ‘81) is an environmentalist, publisher, and author who chose UC Santa Barbara over Yale because of Marvin Mudrick. He asked her to teach a course on literary letters; a few years later she worked on the T. S. Eliot Letters in London.

The College of Creative Studies celebrates its 50th Anniversary by sponsoring a series of events during 2017-2018.