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The Feminisms Reading Group at UCL aims to give students and researchers at all levels access to rich feminist discussions as well as insight into exciting current research being undertaken.
The Feminisms Reading Group is a collaborative initiative led by two PhD students from UCL's English department, Ilona Mannan and Sarah Edwards. You can email us at sarah.edwards.19@ucl.ac.uk or ilona.mannan.10@ucl.ac.uk. The group is open to anyone, staff or student, from UCL and beyond, and is brand new as of the 2022 Autumn term.
The sessions predominantly cover different aspects of feminism, work by women writers, feminist theory and criticism, and depictions of women in literature. One PhD researcher or academic delivers each reading group session which is then chaired by the convenors, Ilona and Sarah. The format of the reading group is not set and can be changed depending on the preferences of each researcher. Formats so far include: a guest giving a short paper and then providing attendees with some short extracts to discuss, and a guest providing attendees with extracts and running a commentary and analysis session based on those extracts. No matter the format the session takes they are absolutely an occasion for networking, discussion and connecting with researchers and students.
Preparatory reading is not mandatory so please do come along regardless. However, speakers do often provide some preparatory reading materials for attendees and you will most likely find you get more out of the reading group sessions if you have been able to spend a little time with the materials prior to the session. You may wish to prepare questions to ask the speaker about the topic as Q&A sessions are immensely rewarding, especially when you can discuss issues of interest to you with an expert.
Schedule for Term 2, 2023
21 March 2023, 4:00pm on zoom: led by Eleonora Rossi
Afrofuturistic imaginaries
14 March 2023, 4:00pm on zoom: led by Dr Katie Goss
Plasticity in contemporary novels
28th February, 2.30pm on Zoom: led by William Burn
Focusing on Adrienne Rich's Snapshots of a Daughter-in-Law (1963)
21st February, 1:00pm on Zoom: led by Sarah Chambre
Elizabeth Robins 'The Coming Woman': Collaboration and unattributed authorship in the women of Henrik Ibsen and Henry James.
Schedule for Term 1, 2022
The reading groups take place on Tuesday evenings at 4pm on Zoom.
4th October: Kate Kinley
‘A Vision of Loneliness and Riot’: Fame, Friendship, and Fear in Margaret Cavendish’s Sociable Letters (1664)
18th October: Rawan Althunyan
Silence in the Saudi and Nigerian Contemporary Novel
1st November: Emily Vincent
‘Communities of Grief: Child Loss and the Impulse to Spiritualism in Late Nineteenth- Century Women's Ghost Stories’
8th November: Zoe Miller
‘Violated Vehicles: Metaphors of Sexual Violence in Modernist Literature’ and The Waste Land
22nd November: Katharine Cheston
Living with complex, poorly-understood medical conditions: Experiences of shame and stigma