NEH Summer Seminar: “Romanticism and Aesthetics,” Nebraska

From Steve Behrendt at the University of Nebraska:

Dear Colleagues,

I’d like to call to your attention an NEH Summer Seminar for College Teachers that I will be directing at the University of Nebraska next summer (2010). The seminar will run for five weeks, from 7 June through 9 July, which will leave participants with a large chunk of their summer still intact when we finish. The stipend for this 5-week seminar will be *$3900*.

The seminar title is “The Aesthetics of British Romanticism, Then and Today.” My plan is for us to revisit the broad topic of aesthetics as related to Romantic-era writing in Britain. Especially in light of recovery and reassessment work in both poetry and prose fiction, this is a good time to examine once again — and anew — some of the “principles,” assumptions, and practices involved in assessment and valuation of literary work during the Romantic era, as evidenced by actual documents, both primary and secondary. At the same time, I’d like us also to consider recent critical and theoretical work on aesthetics as related to Romantic-era writing in particular. Participants will have opportunities to work on individual research projects in a pleasant setting with excellent library resources, and in company with other Romanticists actively pursuing related interests and projects. We will have multiple formal sessions (mornings, 3-4 times a week) for presentations and discussions on common topics relating to our subject, in part to help generate both context and shared consultation for the individual projects — which may include pedagogical ones — on which participants are engaged.

To this end, I invite inquiries and applications from colleagues working on individual writers as well as on multiple writers or writing (and reviewing) communities, in all genres, as well as colleagues involved with broader issues of aesthetics and criticism. Furthermore, I welcome inquiries and applications from colleagues in disciplines other than traditional English studies (like Philosophy, Art History, Theatre and Drama, etc.).

*NEW THIS YEAR:* NEH now permits two seminar positions to be awarded to graduate students (presumably at an advanced stage), in addition to the usual ones for college and university teachers and independent scholars. The “full” seminar will therefore be limited to a maximum of 16 participants.

*FOR FULL DETAILS:* I have posted a very detailed description of the seminar, with multiple links to further information, resources, and application instructions and materials, on my website at the following location:
http://www.unl.edu/sbehrend/html/sbsite/projects/NEH2010/Info2010.html
While this site details both the seminar content (as I foresee it) and many details about the resources, accommodations (including housing and meal arrangements), and advantages of the University of Nebraska (and the city of Lincoln) as a site for collegial study, questions may remain. I’ll be happy to try to answer these, and to respond to any and all inquiries, if you will email me.

Please consider participating in this seminar, which appears to be the 2010’s only NEH Summer Seminar for College Teachers specifically in British literature.

And please spread the word to your colleagues and advanced graduate students.

Thanks, in advance, for your interest — and your help.

Cheers–

Steve Behrendt

Exhibition: “A Swinburne Gallimaufry” at Georgetown U. Library

A new Swinburne exhibition at the Special Collections Research Center, Georgetown University:

http://www.library.georgetown.edu/exhibition/swinburne-gallimaufry-selections-john-s-mayfield-papers

A Swinburne Gallimaufry: Selections from the John S. Mayfield Papers

This exhibition marks the centenary of the death of the great Victorian lyric poet, Algernon Charles Swinburne. More exactly, it is a celebration of his work, as well as of the accomplishments of one – if not the – most devoted of his collectors, John S. Mayfield.

The title of the exhibition pays homage to a collection of articles by Mayfield on Swinburne published as Swinburneiana: A Gallimaufry of Bits and Pieces About Algernon Charles Swinburne (1974), which incorporates one of Mayfield’s favorite and frequently used words, “gallimaufry.” That is to say, in Old French, “a ragout”; and in modern English, “a motley assortment.”

Arranged thematically, the exhibition highlights some of Swinburne’s major inspirations, works, and relationships. Selections of rare and limited editions of Swinburne’s works are included from Mayfield’s library.
Exhibit Space:
Howard W. Gunlocke Rare Book and Special Collections Room
Start Date:
October 5, 2009
End Date:
January 8, 2010

The exhibition brochure is available as a PDF.

Acknowledgments:

Exhibition Curator: Lisette Matano

Special thanks to Karen O’Connell, Exhibition Book Curator & Preservationist.

Thanks also to John Buchtel, Department Head; LuLen Walker, Art Curator; Christen Runge, Assistant Art Curator; and David Hagen, graphics & photography.

A debt of gratitude is owed to Mark Samuels Lasner for the generous loan of items from the Mark Samuels Lasner Collection at the University of Delaware Library.

The exhibition is dedicated to Nicholas Scheetz.

CFP: International Byron Society Conference: “Byron and the Book,” Boston 2010

SAVE THE DATE and CALL FOR PAPERS

 

BYRON AND THE BOOK
The 36th International Byron Society Conference
Boston, Massachusetts, USA
26-31 July 2010

‘Tis pleasant, sure, to see one’s name in print;
A Book’s a Book, altho’ there’s nothing in’t.
- Byron, English Bards and Scotch Reviewers

The Byron Society of America is pleased to announce the 36th International Byron Society Conference, Byron and the Book, which will examine Byron’s place in print culture. The conference will be held at Northeastern University, Houghton Library (the principal rare books and manuscripts library of Harvard University), the Boston Athenaeum, and other cultural venues in greater Boston, from Monday, 26 July, through Saturday, 31 July 2010.

Academic sessions might include: Byron’s Reading; Byron’s Readership; Byron as Bibliophile; Byron’s American Reputation; Byron and His Publishers; Byron’s Illustrators; Images of Byron; Byron in Translation; Byron in Fiction; Byron and Contemporary Poetry; Byron on Film; Editing Byron; Byron Online; Collecting Byron; Byron and the Bible; Byron’s Textual History; Byron and the Romantic Book; Byron and the Book of the World; Byron and the Pirates; Byron and Forgery and In Memoriam: The Great Byronists. Proposals for papers on other aspects of Byron and the Book or for other sessions or round tables are welcome.

The academic organizing committee invites paper proposals for the conference. Presentations should not exceed 20 minutes in length. Please send 250-word proposals by 15 February 2010 to Andrew Stauffer at: email or Department of English, University of Virginia, PO Box 400121, Charlottesville, VA 22904. Email submissions are preferred. Please include the subject line: Byron and the Book CFP. Please note that you must be a current member of a national Byron Society in order to submit paper proposals for consideration by the committee.  For example, American and Canadians submitting proposals should be members of the Byron Society of America.

The conference will coincide with a major Houghton Library exhibition entitled “Let Satire Be My Song”: Byron’s English Bards and Scotch Reviewers, curated by Peter X. Accardo.

The conference organizers, Stuart Peterfreund, Northeastern University and Peter Accardo, Houghton Library, Harvard College Library, will be announcing details about the conference over the next several months, so please check the website periodically at www.byronsociety.org.

The content of this email was provided by Peter Accardo.