This volume honors Don Gifford, master teacher, exacting researcher, and provocative writer. The essays reflect some but not all of the disciplines that Gifford taught - literature, art, ecology, invention, American culture, and the history of ideas. Heeding Emerson’s call to search for facts amid appearances and to pursue the ultimate reason of oall things and experience! these essays illustrate how contemporary scholars in a variety of fields fulfill their role as society’s delegated intellect. Don Gifford, a distinguished teacher, writer, and researcher at Williams College, is best known for his meticulous scholarship in James Joyce and his pioneering study of the history of perception, The Farther Shore.