The LCC and WCC hosted a reading of this year’s prize-winning papers on June 14, 2023 via Zoom. Each year, the WCC and LCC recognize published and unpublished work by graduate students and faculty with juried awards that are announced during the opening night party at the SCS annual meeting. The reading group revisits the winning published work in the summer, so that attendees can share reactions, insights for classroom use, and potential applications for research. The winners from this last SCS were Francesca Bellei’s "Omnibus umbra locis adero: Elena Ferrante and the Poetics of Absence” for the WCC’s Barbara McManus Award and Tom Sapsford’s "The Drumming of a Deviant Beat” for the LCC’s Paul Rehak Award. The participants in last month’s reading group represented a range of career stages, from undergraduates to full professors. We had a rich discussion which often turned to what was innovative about the articles and how their methodologies might inform our work or be useful models for teaching. The group found that Sapsford’s analysis of the kinaidos from a theoretical perspective of performance studies that was also rooted in philological methods was fresh and stimulating, and that Bellei’s unconventional approach to reception opened up new avenues of inquiry.
What insights will the 2024 winners grant us? You can help determine the outcome. Have you read, heard, or written any great papers related to the LCC mission? The LCC is accepting nominations for its Paul Rehak, graduate paper, and activism awards until October 31. Self-nominations are welcomed. See here for details.
