Prof. Beres Rogers discussed her work on George Crabbe’s treatment of gender and intellectual disability. She will be presenting her thoughts at an international conference in late October. Prof. Julia Eichelberger elaborated on her research into Eudora Welty’s correspondence.
Prof. Kathleen Beres Rogers has been at the College since 2008. Her exploration of George Crabbe’s poem “The Poor of the Borough” focuses on the character Ellen Orford and her daughter. Through her deft analysis of the idiot maid trope, Rogers connects Crabbe’s portrayal of Ellen and her daughter to modern-day issues such as rape culture, the treatment of women, and our attitudes toward intellectual disability. She will present her findings at a conference later this fall.
In Crabbe's time, people assumed that a child conceived in rape indicated the mother's consent #cofcenglish #findyourvoicecofc
— CofC English Dept (@EnglishCofC) September 19, 2017
https://twitter.com/symbolizejwbc/status/910224614592319488
Then and now, intellectually disabled people (esp. women) are more vulnerable to violence #cofcenglish #findyourvoicecofc
— CofC English Dept (@EnglishCofC) September 19, 2017
Rogers: intellectual disability was viewed as one point on the spectrum of insanity, treatment was largely moral #cofcenglish
— CofC English Dept (@EnglishCofC) September 19, 2017
https://twitter.com/symbolizejwbc/status/910226471419023363
Prof. Julia Eichelberger joined the deparment in 1992. Many of her projects, past and present, have looked at the Southern writer Eudora Welty. At the colloquium, Eichelberger focused on Welty’s prolific correspondence and what these charming letters can tell us about her life as an artist. Eichelberger’s book Tell about Night Flowers illuminates Welty’s love of gardening and how gardening language in her letters often stands in for her creative process. Archival research is not easy, but as Eichelberger has shown it can yield rich insight.
Eichelberger: Welty wrote 31+ boxes of letters, prolific correspondent #cofcenglish #findyourvoicecofc
— CofC English Dept (@EnglishCofC) September 19, 2017
Eichelberger: Welty and her agent Diarmuid Russell loved to correspond about gardening, and her art by extension #cofcenglish
— CofC English Dept (@EnglishCofC) September 19, 2017
Eichelberger: Welty thought of her work and gardening as the same – unpredictable, rambling, growing #cofcenglish #findyourvoicecofc
— CofC English Dept (@EnglishCofC) September 19, 2017
Eichelberger: Welty, like many women in the 40s, was expected to be patient & self-deprecating towards men suffering from PTSD #cofcenglish
— CofC English Dept (@EnglishCofC) September 19, 2017
https://twitter.com/symbolizejwbc/status/910232880982446080
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