In an influential article from 2004, Ken Jackson and Arthur Marotti heralded the turn to religion in early modern studies, a movement that has largely involved reading early modern literature through the lens of Continental philosophy. Yet well before this development, scholarship on early modern Englishwomen’s writing had already undergone its own turn to religion. As critics have explored and debated the ways that women’s devotional texts participated in the Reformation and the Counter-Reformation, a dynamic subfield has taken shape that studies early modern women’s religious writing. Besides introducing students to seminal scholarship on this subject, this workshop will provide an overview of key methodologies for advanced research on religious writings by and for early modern Englishwomen. Participants will become acquainted with the complexity and variety of early modern women’s religious writings and receive an introduction to the ample resources of the Newberry collection for independent research.
Presented by Jaime Goodrich, Wayne State University and Paula McQuade, DePaul University
Schedule
8:30-9 Coffee and Introductions
9-9:15 Participants Obtain Reader Cards
9:20-11:30 Session 1
11:30-12 Catered Lunch
1-2:30 Session 2
2:45-4 Rare Books Session
4:15-5 Concluding Discussion