Evolving Forms
Midwest Victorian Studies Association
University of Iowa
19-21 April 2024
Proposals due: 22 February 2024
MVSA invites proposals for participation in two seminars at our annual conference. The first will be led by 2024 plenary speaker Professor Elizabeth Yale (historian and faculty at U Iowa’s Center for the Book) on the theme “The Evolving Material Text.” The second will be led by MVSA president Andrea Kaston Tange and is an open seminar for Victorian studies projects-in-progress. (Please note: These are in-person seminars at the conference in Iowa City.) These two-hour seminars will run on the Saturday morning of the conference and are limited to accepted participants; participant names and paper titles will appear in the program. Seminars typically have about eight members and foster in-depth discussion in a supportive and intellectually rich environment.
Seminar 1: The Evolving Victorian Material Text, led by Professor Elizabeth Yale
With the industrialization of publishing, expanding literacy and education, new methods of illustration, the development of new long-distance communications technologies, and the continued growth of letter writing and cheap print, periodicals, and newspapers, the Victorian era was a time of rapid evolution in the material textual forms through which people shared and debated ideas and information. How does a close attention to material textual forms recast our perspective on how Victorians approached change, and vice-versa? For this seminar, applicants are invited to propose 10-12 page (double-spaced) papers exploring an aspect of Victorian history or literature in terms of its material textual expression or context. Papers centering textual makers, broadly defined to include authors, readers, editors, inventors, publishers, illustrators, booksellers, letter writers, diarists, and workers in the book, newspaper, and periodical industries, are especially welcome, as are papers concentrating on literature, visual cultures, and/or the history of science. Papers incorporating feminist, queer, Black, and Indigenous sources, scholarship, and methodologies in the history of the book or bibliography, or perspectives from disability studies, labor history, or history “from below” are also warmly invited.
To apply: send a 300-word abstract (as Word or PDF file) and brief (1-2pp) CV to Elizabeth Yale (elizabethyale@uiowa.edu) by Monday, February 22, 2024, with MVSA Seminar 1 in the subject line.
Seminar 2: New Directions in Victorian Studies, led by Professor Andrea Kaston Tange
This seminar features a round-robin of reading. Proposals are invited for drafts of works-in-progress addressing any topic related to the field of Victorian studies, broadly construed. In prior years, participants have brought book proposals, article and chapter drafts, and grant proposals, though any genre of writing is welcome. Accepted participants will submit up to 30 (double-spaced) pages of work by Friday April 5, 2024, identifying key issues on which they would like feedback. Each participant will be assigned to serve as primary reader on ONE other submission, including providing detailed feedback in the form of one page of single-spaced typed notes. In addition, participant will review excerpts of remaining seminar submissions (writers will identify up to 5pp on which secondary readers should focus). Seminar conversation will focus on each paper in turn, as well as considering productive overlaps between them.
To apply: send a 300-word abstract (as Word or PDF file) and brief (1-2pp) CV to Andrea Kaston Tange (akastont@macalester.edu) by Monday, February 22, 2024, with MVSA Seminar 2 in the subject line.
The Midwest Victorian Studies Association is an interdisciplinary organization welcoming scholars from all disciplines who share an interest in nineteenth-century British history, literature, art, and culture. Prospective participants will apply to a specific seminar, communicating directly with the seminar leader. If accepted, participants will need to become members of MVSA and register for the conference. Acceptance decisions will be made by mid-February. Further information about the conference can be found on the MVSA Conference page. A draft program is forthcoming in mid-January, and registration information will follow.