James Baldwin’s essay recounts his brief imprisonment in late 1940s Paris, exploring institutional systems, race, and being American in Europe.
10 October 2019 by Dorothy Butchard
Category: Page Breaks
Page Breaks: The Machine in the Garden (Wed 23 Oct)
In this chapter from his 1964 book The Machine in the Garden, Leo Marx examines American pastoral, Elizabethan travel narratives, and Shakespeare’s Tempest.
10 October 2019 by Dorothy Butchard
Works Loved: Halloween Edition (Wed 30 Oct)
For the Halloween edition of Works Loved, we’ll be sharing some texts that explore elements that are eerie, unsettling, or downright terrifying. These might be fiction, theory, or something else – and you’re also very welcome to bring a non-spooky text you’ve enjoyed.
9 October 2019 by Dorothy Butchard
Page Breaks: Goodness and the Literary Imagination (Wed 9 Oct)
Toni Morrison’s essay on altruism and the literary imagination explores the role of goodness in fiction and reflects on why “evil has a blockbuster audience”.
1 October 2019 by Dorothy Butchard
Works Loved: How Texts Matter to Us (1:30pm, Wed 3 July)
In the latest of our regular ‘Works Loved’ sessions, we will each bring and read from and discuss a text that proved foundational to our research.
2 July 2019 by Dorothy Butchard
The Trouble With Wilderness (Wed 26 June, 2pm)
We continue reading William Cronon this week, with his short essay “The Trouble with Wilderness”. Cronon explores the historical “taming” of wilderness spaces.
25 June 2019 by Dorothy Butchard
Ghost towns, ecology and environment (Wed 19 July, 1pm)
William Cronon’s essay about ghost towns in “Kennecott Journey: The Paths Out of Town” explores ecology, environmental crisis and the American West. Many thanks to Will Carroll for suggesting our reading this week.
13 June 2019 by Dorothy Butchard
Flaneuse (Redux) (2pm, Wed 12 Jun)
Continuing our discussion of Lauren Elkin’s Flâneuse, this week we’ll read the book’s introduction, which explores the territorial complexities of walking in the city.
6 June 2019 by Dorothy Butchard
Flaneuse (Thu 6 June)
This week we discuss a chapter and epilogue from Lauren Elkin’s book Flâneuse: Women Walk the City in Paris, New York, Tokyo, Venice, and London (2016). Many thanks to Liam Harrison for suggesting our reading this week.
4 June 2019 by Dorothy Butchard
Hierarchy (2pm, Wed 22 May)
We’re moving from heroes to hierarchies this week, discussing a chapter from Caroline Levine’s Forms.
21 May 2019 by Dorothy Butchard