A recent post on the blog associated with Academe, the magazine for the AAUP, discusses the value of social networks for virtual workshopping (mentioning Academia.edu and Mendeley specifically). The idea of opening up our work for peer review, for feedback — essentially workshopping the products of our scholarship in the digital space — is not new; Kathleen Fitzpatrick, of course, did exactly this in her work on Planned Obsolescence (which was then published by NYU Press), and a number of digital scholars have followed suit.
But the post reminded me of the value of using our networks for soliciting feedback on scholarly production: not only in service of producing better work, but to stimulate conversation, to uncover possibilities for collaboration, to grow audience and engage with potential readers. I think this is what we’re trying to do here with the MLA Commons site devoted to the development of Teaching Modernist Women’s Writing.
So, I would encourage anyone interested in potentially contributing to the volume to consider sharing his or her work here. Potential contributors might take the opportunity afforded by this space to reach (hopefully) future readers, find interesting directions to take as the essays develop, and help shape a cohesive volume through conversation.