Creighton University and the Kingfisher Institute for Liberal Arts and the Professions continued the “Frankenweek” celebration by reading the entirety of the 1818 edition of Mary Shelley’s “Frankenstein” on Wednesday. 

Between 8 a.m. and 5:30 p.m., students and faculty read the book aloud in the Skutt Student Center for 15-minute time slots.

“A lot of organizations across the world are doing it together like the Library of Congress is doing a read-a-thon all day,” said Charise Alexander Adams, program planner for the Kingfisher Institute. “It is a way to bring it to the public and involve a lot of people.”

While it was a literature-based event, Alexander Adams hoped for the event to bring all fields together. Staff and faculty from every school and college on campus participated in the event, and Creighton President the Rev. Daniel Hendrickson, S.J., even read for a time slot. 

“This work embodies what the Kingfisher institution is about which is the intersection of the liberal arts and their profession,” said Alexander Adams. “It’s a great intersection of science and technology, culture and art.”

The read-a-thon is a part of the 200^th-anniversary celebration of Shelley’s work and attracted faculty and staff for an array of reasons.

“With any kind of literature anything can be forgotten,” assistant professor in the College of Arts and Sciences Trey Moody said. “It’s important to be reminded of some of our most monumental works in the language when the occasion arises.”

While Moody’s reason focused on the remembrance of literature, others took a more political approach to their reasoning.

“I think there’s a lot to be said about Mary Shelley’s particular approach to class society at the time of ‘Frankenstein’ and how that reflects our particular epoch currently,” said MC Raterman, junior in the College of Arts and Science. “There’s a lot to be said for the literature itself and its importance to the English language and to literary culture, but to the history of politics as well.” 

The read-a-thon was the last scheduled event for “Frankenweek,” however, FrankenWAC took place during the event and the writing contest winners were also announced in the afternoon of the event.