Dissolution, Aesthetics, & Method Acting Discussed at Roundtable

On October 9, the Fordham Graduate English Association held its second annual student-faculty roundtable, at which six graduate students presented papers that engaged with the recent scholarship of three faculty members: Mary C. Erler, Edward Cahill, and Shonni Enelow. 

Speaking to a room of thirty graduate students and faculty, Elizabeth Light, Samantha Sabalis, Ozge Canbul, Christy Pottroff, Caitlin Cawley, and Peter Murray gave presentations that spanned a range of topics, methodologies, and historical periods.  Speaking on Mary Erler’s panel, for instance, Light and Sabalis extended Erler’s historical and bibliographic readings of medieval and early modern monastic texts during the understudied years of the Dissolution.  Canbul and Pottroff then continued Edward Cahill’s investigation of aesthetics in eighteenth- and nineteenth-century American literature with scrupulous readings of an Edgar Allan Poe story and the anonymously published novel The Hapless Orphan.  Lastly, Cawley and Murray examined manifestations of Method Acting, the topic of Shonni Enelow’s monograph, in American new journalism and presidential politics.

Professors Erler, Cahill, and Enelow also began each panel by discussing their projects’ origins, development, and critical interventions.  In so doing, they offered insights into the history of their books, ranging from initial inspirations to the organization of chapters.

The event fostered an exciting atmosphere of collaboration throughout the entire department, which was evident in the lively conversations during Q&As and the ensuing reception.

The Graduate English Association received generous funding for this event from the Office of the Provost and the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences.

This story was written by Kevin Stevens.