CFP: The Discourse and the Representations of the University in Novels
by Women in the Early American Republic, 1789-1850 (MMLA, November 7-9,
2003, Chicago)
In Hannah Webster Foster's The Boarding School (1798), Anna
Williams, attends a Commencement Address at Cambridge University and
pens a letter describing the event. Anna, herself a recent graduate
from boarding school, observes the Commencement with skepticism as she
complains about the graduates' infatuation with women's dress. As Anna
performs the role of observer at the Commencement, her epistle reminds
the reader of the exclusionary practices of the early educational
system. Instead of Cambridge University, novels became the ideal place
where girls were instructed and educated. For my panel, I am seeking
papers that demonstrate how the early American novel enacts the role of
the university. In other words, I am interested in papers that explore
how the woman author fulfills the pedagogical role of a preceptress.
Most women authors in this period dedicate their novels to the "new
American fair" with the hope that the young female reader will emulate
the virtues portrayed in their novels. This panel, then, will consider
the ways American women writers engage in the instruction and education
of their readers; represent the university; depict women's education;
demonstrate alternatives to education; critique the practices of the
university; and encourage women to seek education and self-sufficiency.
Send one-page abstracts of your paper by June 15, 2003, to Jennifer
Desiderio at desiderio.3@osu.edu or The Ohio State University,
Department of English, 421 Denney Hall, 164 West 17th Avenue, Columbus,
Ohio 43202.
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CFP@english.upenn.edu
Full Information at
http://www.english.upenn.edu/CFP/
or write Erika Lin: elin@english.upenn.edu
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