2013 Dissertation Seminar for Literary Scholars

Edmund Spenser, Faerie Queen, Canto I, 1590, Case 4A 923 vol.1
Edmund Spenser, Faerie Queen, Canto I, 1590, Case 4A 923 vol.1
Center for Renaissance Studies Programs
Renaissance Graduate Programs
Friday, September 27, 2013 to Friday, December 6, 2013

2 - 5 pm on four Fridays, September 27, October 18, November 15, and December 6.

Application deadline: May 15, 2013

Room 101

Directed by Wendy Wall and William West, both of Northwestern University

This seminar aims to create a broad-based community of graduate students at the beginning stages of work on their dissertations in early modern literature. The goal of the seminar will be to offer comments, perspectives, methods, and criticisms from a larger group of specialists than would be available on any single campus, and to encourage broader and deeper use of the unique resources of the Newberry Library and the Center for Renaissance Studies.

Discussions will focus on approaches to research and argument, with an eye to helping fresh Ph.D. candidates articulate the larger intellectual, historical, and theoretical significance of their particular research projects.

Learn more about the seminar directors:

Wendy Wall, Northwestern University

William West, Northwestern University

Limited enrollment by competitive application.

Download a printable PDF flyer.

For Fall 2014, the Center plans a similar dissertation seminar for students in history.

Faculty and graduate students of Center for Renaissance Studies consortium institutions may be eligible to apply for travel funds to attend CRS programs or to do research at the Newberry. Each member university sets its own policies and deadlines; contact your Representative Council member in advance for details.

Learn more about Center for Renaissance Studies programs for graduate students.

Cost and registration information: 

Eligibility: Students working on topics in any European linguistic tradition within the competence of the instructors, between roughly 1500 and 1700, may apply, but we expect English and comparative literature to be most represented.

The seminar will be limited to 12 participants who have passed all examinations and achieved ABD status by the time of the seminar. Applicants should be near the beginning rather than the end of their dissertation research. Students from Center for Renaissance Studies consortium schools have priority, in accordance with the consortium agreement. Fees are waived for students from consortium institutions.

To apply:

  • Complete an Application Cover Sheet and save it with a new name (otherwise it will be blank when reopened).
  • Write a letter that includes your dissertation title and two-paragraph summary, whether you have started archival research yet, and any language preparation you have completed that is necessary to your project.
  • Send both of the above items as email attachments to Karen Christianson at christiansonk@newberry.org, no later than midnight, Wednesday, May 15.

We will notify applicants of the selection committee’s decisions by June 1, 2013.

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