Herman Melville's Clarel has puzzled generations of critics and scholars, including an early reviewer in England who wrote: "'Clarel' is a long poem of about twenty-seven thousand lines, of which we can only say that we do not understand a single word."

But Melville's erudite ruminations on science, religion and philosophy are an enticement to Peggy Dornish, who, after serving as a professor of religious studies at Pomona for 32 years, is at home in the milieu. She plunged into Buddhism early in her career, and was for a time the only one at The Claremont Colleges teaching Asian religions.

In a Zen-like way, as her academic life winds down, Dornish is circling back to her beginnings. As an English major at Smith College, she did her thesis on Clarel, and she plans to revisit it now in retirement. "That poem remains of great interest to me because it's an existentially motivated survey of 19th-century theological and philosophical thought," she says.

Having the freedom to pursue her interests is a welcome novelty to Dornish. "While I was at Pomona, my life wrapped itself around my career," she says. "Now, my academic, scholarly and intellectual interests are going to feed into my life rather than the other way around."

Dornish also plans to continue to study and write on Buddhism, a subject she first took up while attending the Claremont Graduate School, when she began an association with the Blaisdell Institute for the Advanced Study of World Cultures and Religions. "I find Buddhist philosophy and ethics compelling," she says. "I think most people who study Buddhism can't help being influenced by it."

A thorough understanding of the present requires the context of the past, she says, whether the subject is Buddhism, Islam, or other Asian ideologies. "I think people should know not only about the present configurations of cultures and societies in Asia, but also something of the traditions as well. Western thinking has influenced Asia, and Asia's religious and philosophical traditions have at times been very influential in the West," she says.

Dornish has been influential herself, especially in helping to guide the development of religious studies and Asian studies at the College. She was one of the few women on the faculty in the late 1960s. "It really was kind of an old boys' network," she says. But Pomona then had a "warmer, more intimate" ambience that she thinks has diminished because of the increased pressures that faculty and students feel today. Another change, she says, is that "our women students are taking leadership roles much more than they did when I first came."

Having helped shape the thinking of diverse legions of students is a source of satisfaction to her. "I've been teaching, one way or another, since I was 19," she says. "Students whose careers I've influenced were not just in religious studies, but also in music or art or literature. What's most gratifying is to have inspired intellectual curiosity in them, and the commitment to do rigorous work."

As one student wrote of her when she retired, "She helped me find my own voice."

--Michael Balchunas