Category Archives: Conferences

Feminism, Pedagogy, and the New Modernist Studies

We’re pleased to share some details in advance of our roundtable on teaching modernist women’s writing at MLA next week.

EDITED TO ADD:  Did you miss our roundtable at MLA?  Check out the notes here!

Thursday, 5 January
56. Feminism, Pedagogy, and the New Modernist Studies
 1:45–3:00 p.m., 106B, Pennsylvania Convention Center
Presiding: Julie Elaine Goodspeed-Chadwick, Indiana Univ.–Purdue Univ., Columbus
Speakers: Steven Ambrose, Michigan State Univ.; Melissa Dinsman, Univ. of Notre Dame; J. Ashley Foster, Haverford Coll.; Amanda Golden, New York Inst. of Tech., Old Westbury; Kristina Quynn, Colorado State Univ., Fort Collins; Tamara L. Slankard, Baker Univ.; Vicki Tromanhauser, State Univ. of New York, New Paltz

This session considers women’s writing and modernist studies from a pedagogical perspective. Speakers, talented teacher-scholars in modernist studies and twentieth-century women’s writing, cross boundaries between disciplinary concerns and teaching practice, theorizing teaching modernist women’s writing and sharing opportunities, challenges, strategies, and praxis.
Prompts to consider:
+ how have the shifts in modernist studies affected the ways in which you teach in the discipline?
+ how, as a teacher, do you conceptualize the role of women’s writing in the teaching of modernism?
+ how do you see the work of those invested in feminist modernist studies informing your teaching?
+ is there a role for feminist pedagogy in the modernist studies classroom and what might it be?
+ what practical strategies have you developed for the teaching of modernist women’s writing?
+ what challenges and opportunities does the teaching of modernist women’s writing present?
+ how do you engage students in your work as a scholar of modernist studies, and what directions in that work do you envision as being important in the coming years?
Potential session outcomes:  The outcomes of this discussion may include collaborating on a deeper conceptualization of the intersections among pedagogy, feminism, and modernism, as well as a sharing of specific teaching strategies.  Audience members who may find this roundtable of interest might include emergent as well as seasoned teachers of modernist and 20th-century studies especially those looking to expand their repertoire; those interested in the relationships among gender and sexuality and the teaching of literature; and those interested in the theory and practice of feminist pedagogy.

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Heading to MSA or MLA? Come Find Us!

We interrupt our summer hiatus to share some great news:  #teachingmodwomen (hopeful) contributors will be speaking at MSA and at MLA in the coming months.

These roundtables will consider women’s writing and modernist studies, treating the topic specifically from a pedagogical perspective. Speakers, talented teacher-scholars in modernist studies and 20th-century women’s writing, will cross boundaries between disciplinary concerns and teaching practice. They will conceptualize teaching modernist women’s writing from a theoretical perspective, interrogate the place of women’s writing and feminist pedagogy in modernist studies/modernist cultures, and share opportunities, challenges, strategies, and praxis.

Here’s the lineup:

  • MSA 18, November 2016, Pasadena, CA

“Teaching Women’s Writing and the Modernist Studies Culture Industry”

Lois Cucullu

Geneviève Brassard

Steven Ambrose

Jennifer P. Nesbitt

Kristina Quynn

Sarah Cornish

  • MLA 2017, January 2017, Philadelphia, PA

“Feminism, Pedagogy, and the New Modernist Studies”

** updated to add:  We’ll be featured as one the Presidential Theme sessions! **

Julie Goodspeed-Chadwick, Presider

Amanda Golden

Melissa Dinsman

J. Ashley Foster

Vicki Tromanhauser

Steven Ambrose

Kristina Quynn

Tamara Slankard

Resource: Feminist inter/Modernist Association and Feminist Modernist Studies

Great news for those of us interested in teaching modernist women’s writing:  the founding of a new professional organization and journal devoted to feminist modernist studies.fima_flyer1

We announced this back in July, and in the months since there has been a lot of movement by those involved:  Anne Fernald and Cassandra Laity, who will serve as the editors of Feminist Modernist Studies, as well as Sarah Cornish and Julie Vandivere, who have been integral to the organizing of the new society. There’s a new website, a listserv, and a flyer calling for members and contributors.

Visit the FiMA site, and join the listserv to keep current on this exciting development.

 

MSA 17: Teaching Modernist Women and Thinking Back through Our Mothers

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.

Women’s Writing and MSA 17

Have you registered for the annual conference of the Modernist Studies Association yet?  Early registration ends September 15, and there are several seminars that might be of interest to potential TMWWE readers and contributors:

  • All Together Now:  The Multimedia Avant-Garde (organized by Lori Cole and Bibiana Obler)
  • Global Modernists on Modernism (organized by Alys Moody and Stephen Ross)
  • Print Culture and Popularity (organized by Faye Hamill and Mark Hussey)
  • Resistance and Reform:  Modernist Women and Social Engagement (organized by Deirdre Egan-Ryan and Julia Lisella)
  • Rethinking Character in Modernist Life Narratives (organized by Claire Battershill and Daniel Newman)
  • Revolutions in Reproduction (organized by Fran Bigman and Karen Weingarten)
  • Thinking Back Through Our Mothers:  Feminist Revolutions in Modernism (organized by Linda Camarasana and J. Ashley Foster)

In addition, Helen Sword will be running another of her popular writing workshops — perhaps a great opportunity to craft your TMWWE proposal!

I’ll be heading to Boston myself, and would love to meet with anyone interested in this project while I’m there.  Please get in touch!

Resource: The Space Between

The Space Between is a scholarly society devoted to the interdisciplinary study of literature and culture between the two world wars.  The society hosts an annual conference, and publishes an open-access scholarly journal, The Space Between: Literature and Culture 1914-1945.  The study of modernist women writers is a major category of interest for members of The Space Between.