Graduate Conference on American Empire and Imperialism Held at Maryland

On November 7 and 8, a team of graduate students from Robert Levine's Spring 2008 seminar held a national conference on the theme of "Rethinking Empire and Imperialism in 19th Century American Literature."

Twelve professors and forty students from nineteen universities participated. Amy Kaplan (University of Pennsylvania) delivered a keynote address and Jesse Alemán (University of New Mexico) delivered a plenary session with a response from Caroline Levander (Rice University). "These are some of the leading scholars who have been shaping the critical conversation on these big issues," says Levine.

The reins were turned over to graduate students who were put in charge of all details related to the conception, promotion, and development of the conference. Ph.D. student Sarah Sillin was among the conference organizers. Sillin says, "This conference gave us a chance to see where this scholarship is headed and to hear feedback on our work." Eleven Maryland students presented papers alongside students from Columbia, Duke, Michigan, Northwestern, University of North Carolina and other schools. Topics ranged from racial ambiguity and national identity in James Fenimore Cooper to political cartoons during the Spanish-American War.

Director of Graduate Studies Kandice Chuh says, "The highlight of the conference for me was in hearing the work of our students and recognizing their genuinely original research and lively critical thinking." Chuh says that Maryand's students did an excellent job representing themselves and the University, and that the experience is critical for the development of literary scholars. "The opportunity for students not just to participate in, but to organize and engage with other students and faculty, is a hugely important way of situating one's scholarship within intellectual communities."

Networking done at the conference will serve as a springboard for further academic opportunities. Says Sillin, "[Ph.D. student] Christy DeSanctis and I are working on putting together with one of the participants from Cornell and another graduate student. Hopefully, we'll be able to present at the American Literature Association's conference. Regardless, our conference motivated me to figure out what my work has in common with that of other students and to talk through these ideas."

The conference committee consisted of Fernando Benavidez, Christy DeSanctis, Mark Hoffmann, D. Seth Horton, Joseph Kautzer, Tasos Lazarides, Rebecca Lush and Sarah Sillin.

A recap of the conference and more photos are available at the Graduate Studies blog.