"To Know Her Own History": Book Talk on Thursday, October 25

You Are Invited . . . 

What:  A book talk by Professor Kelly Ritter on To Know Her Own History: Writing at the Woman's College. 1943-1963.

When: Thursday, October 25 at 4 pm

Where: Hodges Reading Room, Jackson Library

 

As Professor Kelly Ritter (English Department) describes in her introduction, "To Know Her Own History is a sociohistorical study that focuses on the intertwined histories of first-year composition and creative writing at a public Southern women’s college in the mid-twentieth century in order to examine how evolving definitions of literacy, as well as evolving views of women as writers, shaped American college writing instruction during the postwar era. I offer new historical insight into the historical happenings in women’s writing postwar through an extended case study of the English department of the Woman’s College of the University of North Carolina, and spotlight the national curricular trends and local institutional conditions that affected this college’s students and faculty. These include the difficult economic conditions inherent to a Southern women’s college during this financially precarious postwar period, wherein large,coeducational universities that served a variety of populations effectively grew to dominate the American educational landscape."

The book draws on interviews with alumnae as well as the extensive records held in the Martha Blakeney Hodges Special Collections and University Archives of the University Libraries.

Join the Friends of the UNCG Libraries as we celebrate the publication of this book and the important history of writing at Woman's College.