Center for Interpretive and Qualitative Research (CIQR -- "seeker")*

  Jan. 18 (Thurs.), 2007

4:30-6:00PM

Rangos 240, Duquesne University

A panel from the Duquesne English Department: 

"More Than Just Comma-Hunting: 

Research Methods in Literary Studies."

Moderator:  Dr. Greg Barnhisel.

Panelists:  Drs. Anne Brannen, Laura Engel, Kathy Glass, and Judy Suh.

Abstract:
 
Research methods in literary studies are diverse and range from nineteenth-century-style philology to mid-1900s close reading to the historical and theoretical approaches that dominate today. In this panel presentation, four active scholars in the field of literary studies will describe their research methods, focusing on the kinds of evidence they search for and the points at which they feel they can draw conclusions. Dr. Brannen studies the records of medieval English drama; Dr. Engel looks at the creation of celebrity, especially through the stage, in eighteen-century England; Dr. Glass focuses on nineteenth-century African-American women writers; and Dr. Suh's work takes as its topic the intersections between the British Union of Fascists and mid-20th-century British writers. The panelists will discuss archival research, paleography, the use of popular culture in the study of literature, and the application of critical theory to the examination of texts both in themselves and as cultural artifacts.