The Hull-House settlement opened its doors in 1889 and welcomed the use of its rooms as a gathering place to share ideas and culture. Today, the museum continues that tradition, hosting programs and events that highlight the arts and political thought.
Adults studying in english class. 1937. Seven Settlement Houses, Database of Photos, University of Illinois at Chicago.
The Hull-House Seminar in American Literature welcomes work that explores the formal ambitions and the political commitments of literary and critical practice. Our primary focus is the United States but we welcome contributions with a broader range. We are interested also in literary critical topics of whatever provenance that might have an impact on what Americanists do today. The seminar’s conveners are Walter Benn Michaels (UIC) and Ken Warren (U of Chicago). The seminar meets several times a semester in Hull-House’s historic Residents’ Dining Hall. Papers are distributed so that they can be read in advance; the format for discussion is a brief statement by the presenter, a response by a designated participant and then general discussion. For a copy of the paper, or to contribute a potential paper, contact either convener (wbm@uic.edu or kwarren@uchicago.edu).
Upcoming Seminars:
March 15th: James Dorson (Kennedy Institute, Berlin) Reading for the Project in the Business Romance.
Abstract:
Taking its departure in Chicago writers Samuel Merwin and Henry Kitchell
Webster’s business romances around the turn of the twentieth century, this
essay examines how their novels comprise an overlooked archive of
reflexive project thinking that sheds light on the cultural appeal of the
project form, which over the last four decades has become a predominant
way of organizing life and work in deindustrializing societies.
April seminar, TBD with Jennifer Fleissner, (Department of English, Indiana University).
Past Seminars:
Thursday, October 19th, 4:30 - 6 pm: Marta Koronkiewicz, University of Wroclaw (Poland). “Between the Workers and the People: the role of the author in a socialist state."
Wednesday, November 8th, 4:30pm 6 pm: José Antonio Arellano, United States Air Force Academy, “Race Class: Reading Mexican American Literature in the Era of Neoliberalism, 1981-1984.”
