This year’s MSA annual meeting in Boston was a rejuvenating experience. I got to have many exciting conversations with scholars and teachers interested in TMWWE, and I learned more about what readers might be hoping for from the volume. I was really humbled by the brilliant ideas suggested at sessions and during coffee breaks by those teaching modernist women’s writing.
One high point was attending a seminar held in honor of the life and work of Jane Marcus. In the seminar “Thinking Back Through Our Mothers,” led by Ashley Foster and Linda Camarasana, I got helpful feedback on a draft introduction for this prospectus, as well as some new ideas on the work that the introduction might do. I felt really fortunate to be in a room with former students of Jane’s, because they shared insights, remembrances, and reflections on her teaching and mentoring. This was a hospitable place in which to consider pedagogy, and the place of modernist women’s writing in the classroom.
Some questions and thoughts from participants:
- why this book, and why now?
- has feminism altered our understanding of modernism, and how?
- what are the implications of feminist pedagogy for our practice?
- is this really all about canon, or are the stakes higher?
- how can teaching modernist women’s writing help us mentor, and help us stage interventions into some of the pressing issues facing our world vis a vis sexism, racism, homophobia, hatred, violence?
I’ll be thinking about these questions as I work on the prospectus after the December 1 deadline — and I’d welcome any thoughts in the comments.