The Albert M. Greenfield Digital Center for the History of Women’s Education is excited to announce a forthcoming talk by Professor Elaine Showalter, Bryn Mawr College class of 1962, Avalon Foundation Professor Emerita, Princeton University. This is part of the Friends of the Library exhibition program in which we also hosted Professor Helen Horowitz to open the show.  Taking Her Place will run until June 2nd 2013, finishing with a series of dedicated tours as part of Alumnae Reunion Weekend.

Professor Showalter, a renowned feminist literary historian, theorist and critic, will speak on the following: “Bryn Mawr Before Betty Friedan: The Problem Without a Name in Women’s Higher Education, 1958-1962”. Known chiefly for her work on women writers of the past and her invention of the genre ‘gynocriticism’, Professor Showalter will discuss the period in which she experienced higher education at Bryn Mawr, a time of social upheaval, changing social values and the dawning of the ‘Swinging ’60s’.

Professor Elaine Showalter at her 50th Reunion at Bryn Mawr College. Photograph courtesy of Elaine Showalter.

Professor Showalter’s long and successful academic career saw her produce many of the foundational texts in feminist research in literary historical studies. Included in her body of published work are Toward a Feminist Poetics (1979), The Female Malady: Women, Madness, and English Culture (1830–1980) (1985), Sexual Anarchy: Gender and Culture at the Fin de Siecle (1990), Hystories: Hysterical Epidemics and Modern Media (1997), Inventing Herself: Claiming a Feminist Intellectual Heritage (2001) and A jury of her peers: American women writers from Anne Bradstreet to Annie Proulx (2009) among many other scholarly articles and books. To explore more of the Bryn Mawr College Library’s holdings of Showalter‘s work, follow this link. The cover image of her seminal book, A Literature of their Own (1977) is a poster for the play, The New Woman by Sydney Grundy and is shown as part of the Taking Her Place show.

The talk will be held on Thursday April 18th 2013 at 5:30pm in Carpenter Library B21.

Professor Showalter’s lecture will be followed by a reception at the Taking Her Place exhibition, Rare Book Room Gallery, Canaday Library, at 6.30pm. All are welcome to attend.

For directions to the campus, please see http://www.brynmawr.edu/campus/visiting.shtml

There is no need to RSVP, but please direct any questions you have about this talk to greenfieldhwe@brynmawr.edu and don’t forget to follow us on Twitter for regular updates – @GreenfieldHWE