Author: Catherine Gander

CFA: Senior editors at EJAS

Posted on by Catherine Gander

Call for applications:  European Journal of American Studies Senior Editor for History, Politics, IR and Social Science.

The European Journal of American Studies is the official journal of the European Association for American Studies, and can be accessed at http://ejas.revues.org

The editorial team is led by three Senior Editors, one covering Literature, Culture and the Arts, one managing the Journal’s interests in History, Politics, Social Sciences and International Relations, and a third co-ordinating the Journal’s web presence.

The current Senior Editor for History, Politics, IR and Social Science, Dr Jenel Virden, is standing down from this position. Members of EAAS will undoubtedly join the Officers and Board of the Association, and the remaining Senior Editors, Marek Paryz and Cara Rodway, in thanking Jenel for her work establishing the Journal on the international landscape of American Studies.

The Senior Editors are supported by Associate Editors, and work with Reviews Editor Theodora Tsimpouki to maintain a flow of work into the Journal’s webpages. The names of the current editorial team can be found at http://ejas.revues.org/9995.

The responsibilities of the Senior Editor for History, Politics, IR and Social Science are:
• In close co-operation with the other Senior Editors to establish, review and maintain a forward-looking strategy for the European Journal of American Studies.
• To identify a team of Associate Editors, and recommend their appointment to the President of EAAS.
• In co-operation with the other Senior Editors, to review and recommend to the President and the Board of EAAS regular updates to the membership of the Editorial Board.
• To engage with Associate Editors, the Editorial Board, EAAS Officers and EAAS Board members to solicit submissions to the Journal from an international range of conferences in American Studies and on American themesand through regular targeted and broad-based calls for papers.
• To encourage proposals for Special Issues of the Journal, and to work with the Guest Editors to ensure the delivery of these Special Issues.
• To delegate relevant actions to the Associate Editors and maintain close contact with them.
• In co-operation with Associate Editors and members of the Editorial Board to identify relevant experts and obtain readers’ reports from them.
• To receive and manage incoming submissions in the relevant disciplines, maintaining a database of submissions and ensuring the prompt progression of the submissions through the Journal’s refereeing and publication system.
• In co-operation with the other Senior Editors to prepare annual reports on Journal activities for EAAS Board meetings.
• In co-operation with the other Senior and Associate Editors, to pursue the indexing of the Journal in relevant indexes and to enhance the journal’s scholarly visibility.
• In co-operation with the other Senior Editors to keep under review the long-term strategy for the Journal, including issues such as the best submission processes, the most appropriate long-term internet platform, and the most useful outreach strategies for the Journal.
• To perform any other relevant duties as required by the Officers and Board of EAAS.

The current term for the Senior Editor for History, Politics, IR and Social Science runs to 2018, with the opportunity to renew at that date for a further 4 year term.

Applications should be no more than 4 pages long. Applicants should explain their vision and strategy for the European Journal of American Studies, explain the personal skills and resources that their appointment would bring to the Journal, and should include a brief CV in their 4 page document. Experience of web-based journal production and/or web-based publications may be an advantage. Applicants must be current members of a constituent organisation of EAAS.

Submissions should be made in the form of a Word document attached to a covering email and sent to president@eaas.eu no later than 12 midnight on Monday 19th October 2015.

Visiting Assistant Professor of American Literature

Posted on by Catherine Gander

Humanities, 300 E College Av, Eureka, IL 61530
http://www.eureka.edu

Visiting Assistant Professor of American Literature
Position— a one-year position as Visiting Assistant Professor of American Literature starting Fall 2015. The successful candidate may also be eligible to apply for a possible tenure track position that is pending approval to begin Fall of 2016.

The College— Eureka is a small residential liberal arts college located in rural Illinois. Eureka currently has almost 700 students enrolled in 30 degree programs. It is associated with the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ). For more information about the College, please visit www.eureka.edu.

Position Requirements: Eureka College invites applications for a one-year appointment in American Literature; specialization in an area before the 19th century is preferred. The normal teaching load is four courses (12 semester hours) per semester. All department members are expected to teach up to half of their load in freshman and junior composition courses. The candidate must possess a Ph.D. by August 15, 2015; teaching experience at a residential liberal arts college preferred. For more details about the position, see the posting on the College website “employment” section.

Applications Materials— Submit cover letter, curriculum vitae, statements which address your approach to teaching in a liberal-arts environment and your expectations for further scholarly research and development, and have three letters of reference sent to employment@eureka.edu (please put “American Literature Position” in subject heading). Questions about the position should be directed to the Provost Office, at provost@eureka.edu.

Applications accepted until the position is filled.

Eureka College is an equal opportunity employer committed to achieving diversity within its administration, faculty, staff, and students.

Organisation of American Historians: award announcements

Posted on by Catherine Gander

The Organisation of American Historians (OAH) have announced two awards:

The Willi Paul Adams Award and the

David Thelan Award.

The Willi Paul Adams Award

DEADLINE: SUBMISSIONS MUST BE POSTMARKED BY MAY 2, 2016

The Willi Paul Adams Award is given biennially by the Organization of American Historians to the author of the best book on American history published in a foreign language. The award (formerly the Foreign Language Book Prize) is named for Willi Paul Adams, who was an active member of OAH in Germany and a tireless advocate of the internationalization of American history.

The OAH defines both “history” and “American” broadly. To be eligible, a book should be concerned with the past (recent or distant) or with issues of continuity and change. It should also be concerned with events or processes that began, developed, or ended in what is now the United States. We welcome comparative and international studies that fall within these guidelines. Authors of eligible books are invited to nominate their work. We urge scholars who know of eligible publications written by others to inform those authors of the award. Since the purpose of the award is to expose Americanists to scholarship originally published in a language other than English—to overcome the language barrier that keeps scholars apart—this award is not open to books whose manuscripts were originally submitted for publication in English or by people for whom English is their first language.

Each entry must have been published during the two year period July 1, 2013 through June 30, 2015. The award will be presented at the 2017 OAH Annual Meeting in New Orleans, Louisiana, April 6–9.  For more information on submission procedures, click on the link above.

The David Thelan Award

DEADLINE: APPLICATIONS MUST BE SUBMITTED BY MAY 1, 2017

The David Thelen Award (formerly the Foreign Language Article Prize) is given biennially by the Organization of American Historians to the author of the best article on American history written in a foreign language. The winning article will be published in the Journal of American History. David Thelen was editor of the Journal of American History (1985–1999).

To be eligible, an article may have already been published (during January 1, 2015 through December 31, 2016) or may be an original work that broadens the presentation of American history. The winning article will illustrate how the understanding of American history can be approached differently when it is conceived in the scholarly or public debates of a country other than the United States. Submissions should be interesting, compelling, and highlight a way of thinking or writing about the United States that offers a perspective most American readers rarely encounter. The award is open to roundtables, keynote addresses, conference papers, or other types of scholarship. The manuscript should be framed and communicated to people outside the U.S. and written in a language other than English.

For more information on submission procedures, click on the link above.

 

Job: Curator of Americas at the British Museum

Posted on by Catherine Gander

Curator: Americas

The British Museum – Africa, Oceania and the Americas Department

This is an exciting opportunity to join the Americas Section within the Department of Africa, Oceania and the Americas and work in a dynamic and world-renowned setting.  The British Museum is seeking a Curator: Americas with a specialisation in at least one sub region of North America. They will be responsible for the curation, development, research and presentation of the American collections.

Key areas of responsibility:

  • To curate the Americas collections, improving catalogue and documentation for artefact and pictorial collections.
  • To manage the North America Gallery.
  • Maintain existing and develop new relationships and collaborations with source communities.
  • Attract research funding and produce research output of international significance.
  • To curate exhibitions relating to the Americas collections.
  • To manage and support visits of source community members to the collection, and other research visits.
  • To support loans, exhibitions, galleries and refreshment projects.
  • Answer research and other enquiries, and assist with visitors, public programmes and acquisitions.

Person Specification:

The successful candidate will have a degree or equivalent in anthropology/archaeology or a related subject; specialising in a region of North America. You will have extensive field experience in the Americas, in relation to Native North American communities and academic publications in anthropology or related subject. You will have worked with or must be able to demonstrate knowledge of indigenous Americas collections and museum curatorial experience. You will also have experience of project management and supervising a curatorial team. You will have an active research profile that includes publications of national/international significance and a track record of attracting research funding.

About the British Museum:

Founded in 1753, the British Museum’s remarkable collection spans over two million years of human history and culture. With over 6.5 million visitors in 2014, the Museum is the top visitor attraction in the UK, and its world-famous collection includes the Rosetta Stone, the Parthenon sculptures, Egyptian mummies, the Admonitions Scroll, and the Amaravati sculptures.

The Museum is an equal opportunity employer, supports a diverse workplace and offers a competitive benefits package including:

  • Membership of the civil service pension scheme
  • Free entry to a wide range of museums and exhibitions
  • Participate in private and public Museum activities, including talks by leading curators from around the world and behind-the-scenes opportunities to learn how museums care for and manage their extraordinary collections
  • Generous annual leave allowance
  • Interest-free season ticket loan
  • Child care voucher scheme
  • Professional & personal development opportunities
  • Employee Assistance Programme
  • Discounts on food and gift shop purchases

If you are a positive individual, passionate about the Museum and would like to know more about this exciting opportunity, please visit the website for further information and details on how to apply. https://www.britishmuseum.org/about_us/jobs.aspx

Closing date: 10th August 2015, Midday

Job: Teaching Fellow in Modern English and American Literature

Posted on by Catherine Gander

University of Reading – Department of English Literature

Start date: 1 September 2015
Interview date: 11 August 2015
Post type: Full-time(1.00FTE)/Fixed term for two years
Grade: 6

The Department of English Literature at the University of Reading is looking to appoint a teaching Fellow in Modern English and American Literature. The successful candidate will teach on a number of courses and modules at undergraduate level, with special emphasis on 19th, 20th and 21st Century American Literature, Modern and Contemporary Anglophone literature, and a wider knowledge of English Literature. He or she will also contribute to appropriate administrative roles, and support the growth of student recruitment into the Department.

You will have:

–       A completed PhD in the area of Modern and Contemporary English and/or American Literature

–       A record of research publication in these areas appropriate to your career stage

–       The ability to teach Modern English, American, and Anglophone Literature at undergraduate and postgraduate levels

–       The ability to teach First-Year modules in a range of English Literature topics

–       The ability and willingness to carry out the administrative duties associated with teaching and assessment, as well as other administrative duties, in a timely and effective manner

–       The willingness to contribute fully to supporting the growth of student recruitment into the Department and at the University of Reading more widely

Informal contact details
Contact role: Head of Department
Contact name: Peter Robinson
Contact phone: +44 (0)118 378 7801
Contact email: p.robinson@reading.ac.uk

Alternative informal contact details
Contact role: Head of Department (elect)
Contact name: Andrew Nash
Contact phone: +44 (0)118 378 7350
Contact email: a.p.nash@reading.ac.uk

To formally apply, please visit www.reading.ac.uk/jobs or contact Human Resources, University of Reading, Whiteknights, PO Box 217, Reading RG6 6AH. Telephone +44(0)118 378 6771 (voicemail)

Profile on David Deacon: recipient of IAAS PG Research and Travel Bursary

Posted on by Catherine Gander

s200_david_deaconEarlier this year, David Deacon, a PhD student at University College Dublin, was the first-place recipient of the IAAS Postgraduate Research and Travel Bursary.    Below, he reports on how the grant has facilitated his work, and offers us a fascinating insight into his research.

 

It is no secret amongst the dedicated community of Cormac McCarthy scholars that the reclusive novelist and playwright is well acquainted with Ireland. Much of The Road (2006) was certainly completed here, with select pieces of his written correspondence during this period appearing on headed paper from The Shelbourne Hotel, amongst other notable locations around the country. At the end of 2005, as the novel neared publication, he writes to his acquaintance and avid book collector, J. Howard Woolmer, stating, “I was in Ireland most of last summer and got quite a bit done. The place has changed a lot. Money will do that.” It seems he didn’t make much of our era of material prosperity. Perhaps a premonition of its imminent decline informed the mood that would bring us one of the most important novels of the decade. Nonetheless, the opportunity afforded to me by the IAAS Postgraduate Travel Bursary ensured a very valuable change in the trajectory of my own thinking and appreciation of McCarthy, quite distinct from those he was so unsure of ten years ago.

Prior to my visit to McCarthy’s archives in The Wittliff Collections, located at the State University of Texas, San Marcos, I attended and presented a paper at “God and the American Writer,” an American Literature Association conference held in San Antonio. The paper argued for the presence of “difficult atheism” flowing through the author’s later prose. This concept was informed by Christopher Watkin’s 2011 book, in which he suggested that atheism, materialism and secularism are being thought of anew in contemporary philosophy — an assertion that I transposed to McCarthy’s philosophical prose. The panel was chaired by Stacey Peebles, and saw lengthy and passionate discussion between all panelists, along with notable McCarthy scholars Steven Frye and Allen Josephs, who were in attendance.

The Wittliff Collections kindly facilitated my week long visit to McCarthy’s archive, where I began by immersing myself in the collection of letters between the author and J. Howard Woolmer, mentioned above. These letters afford the scholar a rare glimpse of the thought process and laconic humour possessed by the quasi-ascetic novelist, from reports of hunting bears with hounds, to dreading the cessation of his MacArthur grant in the mid-1980s because he’d “gotten used to eating regularly.” The visit also afforded me the opportunity to acquaint myself with the unpublished screenplay, Whales and Men, the only copies of which reside in the Wittliff Collections. In it, his protagonists muse upon the communicative abilities of whales, and as such McCarthy’s astounding knowledge of and obsession with linguistics becomes evident to the visiting researcher. The unique, intrinsic, and central capacity of language to human experience, and the manner in which it can convey meaning, whilst simultaneously expressing the utter lack of it available to our conscience when subjected to a postmodern critique, forms a recurrent theme and concern in the extensive notations on drafts. Wittgenstein receives several mentions, whilst his love of Plato, Aristotle, and Nietzsche are in plain sight throughout, reminding us of the philosophical erudition that informs all of his writing. It is this richness which will keep scholars visiting and revisiting the archive for the foreseeable future.

With assistance from the IAAS, I was able to explore and contemplate these sources. They will undoubtedly inform and enrich my own PhD thesis, in part investigating McCarthy’s appropriation of religious ritual and sentiment, creating a postsecular tension in his later writing. My sincere thanks go to everyone at the Association.

Job: Lecturer in Twentieth/Twenty-first Century American Literature

Posted on by Catherine Gander

University of Leicester – Centre for American Studies

Centre for American Studies and School of English

You will undertake undergraduate and postgraduate teaching to be determined in conjunction with the Director of the Centre and the Head of School and deliver specialist modules in Twentieth-Century and/or Twenty-First Century American Literature at all levels of the BA and MA degrees. You will also carry out research and administration that contributes to and supports the work of the Centre and the School in developing and enhancing their reputations both internal and external to the University.

You will have a PhD relevant to the discipline, be a high quality teacher, and will demonstrate the ability to develop and deliver publications in peer-reviewed journals and monographs. You will be expected to develop ideas for future external research bids in cooperation with colleagues, and to collaborate in the demonstration of research impact.

Click here for more information

Informal enquiries are welcome and should be made to Dr George Lewis, Director of the Centre for American Studies, gdgl1@le.ac.uk, or Dr Philip A. Shaw, ps209@le.ac.uk, Head of the School of English.

Closing date for applications is midnight Monday 3rd August 2015.

Job: Teaching Fellow in Latin American Politics and Society (fixed term)

Posted on by Catherine Gander

University of Bath – Politics, Languages & International Studies

Interview Date: Monday 27 July 2015

The Department of Politics, Languages and International Studies at the University of Bath seeks to appoint a Teaching Fellow in Latin American Politics and Society, who will be responsible for the teaching of whole or parts of undergraduate Units on our programmes.

The successful applicant will have a first degree and have or be working towards a PhD in a relevant area, and native or near-native ability in Spanish.

You will have experience of teaching Latin American Politics and Society in a higher education context, will be passionate about teaching and be able to share that passion with others, motivating students and working as part of a team.

This is a full-time post, fixed-term for the period 01 September 2015 – 30 June 2016.

Further details:

Bath, proud to be an Equal Opportunities Employer, Best Campus University and 1st for Student Satisfaction

Profile on James Cronin: recipient of IAAS PG Research and Travel Bursary

Posted on by Catherine Gander

james croninJames G.R. Cronin, a part-time doctoral history student under the supervision of Professor David Ryan, Head of the School of History at University College Cork, was the recipient of an IAAS Postgraduate Research & Travel Bursary in May 2015, along with David Deacon of UCD.

James’s study focuses on the social criticism of American writer Thomas Merton (1915-1968). James is concentrating on Merton’s essays on war and peace specifically written to mobilize American public opinion against the arms race in the year prior to the Cuban Missile Crisis during October 1962. He is especially interested in exploring how Merton employed independent media networks of production and distribution to circumvent the normalizing discourses circulated by the mass media throughout American society at the height of the Cold War (1947-91). James has used the IAAS bursary to support his research at the Thomas Merton Center at Bellarmine University in Louisville, Kentucky. For information on this archive and the writings of Thomas Merton please visit http://merton.org/

CFP for EAAS 2016: Where American Art meets American Writing

Posted on by Catherine Gander
Negotiating the Seen and the Felt: where American Art meets American Writing

Chairs: Catherine Gander and Philip McGowan, Queen’s University Belfast.

‘Once we start thinking, talking and writing about …art, we discover that the line between abstraction and representation is no more impermeable than the line between images and words.’ (James A.W. Heffernan, Cultivating Picturacy [2006]).

‘Art is the objectification of feeling.’ (Herman Melville)

This panel seeks to bring together papers whose focus is on modern and contemporary American works that address the space between expression and experience in both written and visual terms. This may include imagetext works, literary works that respond to visual arts, or visual arts that respond to literary works.

The recent turn in American literature and art has been toward affect: a position that privileges an embodied encounter of the artwork as an experiential interface rather than as an object removed from the practice of everyday life.  According to such approaches, the human body is positioned as central and unbounded; affect is understood to exist in constant motion between it and other bodies, be they human or otherwise. This has meant a renewal of Maurice Merleau-Ponty’s primacy of perception, leading to a methodological shift in the connected fields of ekphrastic creative writing, aesthetics, art writing, curatorship and literary studies. In recent years, negotiations between discursive and immersive practices have sought to move beyond old paradigms of the sublime or transcendent influence of aesthetic experience to an understanding of materiality that still acknowledges the persistence of the ineffable. Despite these innovations, however, the spaces in which affective literary and visual practices overlap remain largely untheorised.

Contiguous to this turn is the reappraisal of the physical space of the aesthetic encounter itself. Contemporary installations and exhibitions increasingly take into account the participatory needs of the art-viewer, whose full sensorium is engaged in an often interactive experience. Likewise, creative literature, especially that responding to the visual arts in ekphrastic or critical terms, seeks methods of attending to cross-currents between visual and verbal expression that include visual poetics, the use of three-dimensional space, and the intersections of photography and text, for example.

Papers are therefore encouraged to attend to the interplay between the felt and the seen in American texts that work at the intersections of the written and the visual. Topics may include, but are not limited to, the following:

  • Synaesthesia
  • New directions in ekphrasis
  • Spaces of experience, for example the gallery or the street
  • Silence and noise
  • Curatorship and display
  • Embodied aesthetics
  • Contemplation and participation
  • New aesthetic approaches to existent artworks

This panel is proposed for the biennial conference of the European Association for American Studies, to be held in Constanta, Romania, 22nd-25th April, 2016.

Abstracts of 250 words, plus a brief biography, should be sent to Dr Catherine Gander (c.gander@qub.ac.uk) by 12 June 2015.