Nineteenth-Century Synergies: Ventures at Home and (Ad)Ventures Abroad

Linda Hughes graduated from Wichita State University in 1970. She received her BA degree summa cum laude , with a GPA above 3.9 . Her Master’s degree and Doctorate were both received from University of Missouri in Columbia, in 1971 and 1976 respectively. Beyond the obvious 19th century British literature, her interests in research and teaching extend to studies in gender and sexuality, womens’ writing, and transatlantic literature. Hughes has in fact edited several publications on these subjects – such as the fourth volume of A Feminist Reader: Feminist Thought from Sappho to Satrapi , and Teaching Transatlanticism: Resources for Teaching Nineteenth-Century Anglo-American Print Culture. Her work is extensive and detailed in the study of the Victorian serial form of writing, and she has been said by multiple students to have taught them how to “read like a Victorian”. She is presently working on an edition of The Cambridge Companion To Victorian Women’...

Professor Rosemarie Morgan is the current President of the Thomas Hardy Association and the Vice President of the Thomas Hardy Society. She is the Editor of the Thomas Hardy Association’s publications and the Director of The Thomas Hardy Association Resources, Thomas Hardy Association News Updates, Thomas Hardy Association Map of Wessex. She is the Editorial Consultant to Rivista di Studi Vittoriani, and “Years Work” essayist for Victorian Poetry. Professor Morgan has published the holograph manuscript of Far From the Madding Crowd. She has also published scholarly essays on Charlotte Bronte, Toni Morrison, Mary Chestnut and the women writers of the American Frontier. Her major works include Women and Sexuality in the Novels of Thomas Hardy (1988), Cancelled Words: Reconsidering Thomas Hardy (1992) and Student Companion to Thomas Hardy (2006). Rosemarie Morgan earned her Ph.D from The University of St. Andrews, UK, in 1983. She was a Postdoctoral Fellow at Yale Unive...

 Dr. Joanne Shattock is the Emeritus Professor of Victorian Literature and Director of the Victorian Studies at the University of Leicester. She was the Founding President of the British Association for Victorian Studies.  Prof. Shattock has more than twelve books and editions to her name. She has researched extensively on book history, 19th century periodical press and women writers, specifically upon Margaret Oliphant and Elizabeth Gaskell. She is the General Editor of the works of Elizabeth Gaskell and co-General Editor with Elisabeth Jay of the 25 volumes edition of Selected Works of Margaret Oliphant published by Routledge and supported by a grant from the British Academy and a Leverhulme Emeritus Fellowship. She is the Editor of the Nineteenth Century Series for Routledge and the immediate past President of the Research Society for Victorian Periodicals. Prof. Shattock has researched and published extensively on 19th century women's life and writings. Her ...

Professor Karen Steele, started her career in literature as a Bachelor's student in English at St. Olaf College, in May 1988. Since then, there was no looking back, as she went on to complete her Master's and Ph.D., both from University of Texas at Austin. It seems rather uncanny that all the above three achievements saw fruition in the month of May, with a gap of four years between each. Right after receiving her last degree, Prof. Steele started working for Texas Christian University (TCU) in the capacity of Assistant Professor of English, becoming Associate Professor of English in the year 2003. She became the Professor of English at TCU in 2009, a position she holds till date. Apart from teaching, Prof. Steele is a voluminous writer, focusing on Modern British and Irish literature, Irish women’s cultural production and media history, 19 th -21 st century British literature, women's writing, gender and sexuality studies. She explores the literary and ...

One of India’s most historic and cosmopolitan cities, Kolkata has been at the centre of activity of various civilizations at different points in time. Large populations of Chinese, Armenian, Jewish, and other immigrant communities have all called Kolkata home, and the city’s stunning architecture pays testament to its social, political, and cultural richness. Kolkata has many heritage buildings and antique monuments which date back to the Victorian times like the awe-inspiring Victoria Memorial ,Town Hall, Calcutta High Court ,St Pauls Cathedral etc but The Writer’s Building has its own colonial grandeur as the hotbed of political and social life in Bengal. The Writers’ Building in Kolkata attracts thousands of tourists from across the world, drawn to its stunning architecture and design. However, the colonial-era building has a history that’s just as interesting. While today the Writers’ (as it’s also known) houses the State Government of West Bengal, it has served multiple ...

In 1864, Henry Coxwell, pioneer in aviation, announced a demonstration of one of his scientific achievements in Leicester. He planned on releasing into the sky a massive hot air balloon he had created. As is predictable, such a demonstration drew an enormous crowd from multiple sections of Victorian society. Knowing that the Victorian Era was characterised by science, rationality and technological advances, however, may be only half of the story. Students of Presidency University have attempted to narrate what is known of the events of the demonstration – which quickly developed into violence and mayhem – the opposite of everything that was thought of as “Enlightened”. Victorian society’s definition of self was one depending almost entirely on the differences it claimed between itself and other civilisations. This semi-fictional piece tries to question those differences, and by extension, the Victorian self-definition. July 10 th , 1864 from the scientific notes of H...