Conference Program
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Friday (Rockefeller Institute, 411 State St.)
8:30am – 9:00am Coffee and Registration
9:00am – 9:15am Welcome by Robert E. Bullock, Deputy Director, Rockefeller Institute and
Randall Craig, Chair, Department of English, University at Albany
9:15am – 10:30am Genres of Democracy
Chair: Richard Barney, English, University at Albany
1. Wendy Raphael Roberts, English, University at Albany, "The Secularization Narrative and Democratic Poetics”
2. Ashley Barnes, English, Williams College, “What’s So Naive About Mimeticism?: Uncle Tom's Cabin,
Twelve Years a Slave, and the Claims of the True Story”
3. Mort Schoolman, Political Science, University at Albany, “Whitman’s Discovery: Aesthetic Education through
the Visual Image”
10:45am – 12:20pm Nature and the Matter of Politics
Chair: Patricia Chu, English, University at Albany
4. Jennifer Greiman, English, University at Albany, “Feeling Green: Melville, Goethe, and the Color of Democracy”
5. James Lilley, English, University at Albany, “The Thermodynamics of Poe’s Pym”
6. Brendan Mahoney, Writing Program, University at Albany, “’Daily to be Shown Matter’: Environmental Aesthetics
and the Ethics of the Sublime”
7. Rachael Nichols, English, Skidmore College, “Animal Affinities”
12:20pm – 1:30pm Lunch
1:30pm – 2:45pm Anti-fascist Poetics
Chair: Joel Sodano, English, University at Albany
8. James Bellflower, English, University at Albany, “Disgusted Community: An Affective Collective in
Charles Reznikoff’s Holocaust”
9. Eric Keenaghan, English, University at Albany, "Affective Dis/Positions: Modernism's Legacy in Postwar
Political and Poetic Spectacle--The Case of William Carlos Williams"
10. Ilka Kressner, Literatures, Languages and Cultures, University at Albany, “Walter Benjamin’s Untimely Presence
in Latin America”
2:45pm – 3:15pm Break
3:15pm – 4:45pm Keynote Address
Introduction, Erica Fretwell, English, University at Albany
Keynote Speaker, Shirley Samuels, Cornell University, "Looking at Lincoln"
Conference Banquet: Umana, 236 Washington Ave.
Saturday (Milne Hall 200, 135 Western Ave)
8:30am – 9:00am Coffee and Light Breakfast
9:00am – 10:45am Philosophical Affinities
Chair: Peter Breiner, Political Science, University at Albany
11. Andrea Haslanger, English, Tufts University, “There Is No Perpetual Peace: Cosmopolitanism
Beyond Optimism”
12. Steven Affeldt, Philosophy, Le Moyne College, "Ascent and Resignation: The Structure of
Liberation in Emerson's 'The Poet’"
13. Kir Kuiken, English, University at Albany, “‘The Power of a Form of Thought that Has Become
Foreign to Itself”: Rancière, Romanticism and the Partage of the Sensible”
14. Torrey Shanks, Political Science, University at Albany, “Material Words and Political Passions”
11:00am – 12:15pm Myths of the Aesthetic
Chair: Mike Hill, English, University at Albany
15. Anjuli Raza Kolb, English, Williams College, “Dirty Ink: Camus’s Phenomenology of Terror"
16. Bina Gogineni, Skidmore College, "Modernity, Enchantment, and World Literature"
17. Charles Shepherdson, English, University at Albany, “Killing the Medusa”
12:15pm – 1:30pm Lunch
1:30pm – 2:45pm Roundtable
2:45pm – 3:00pm Break
3:00pm – 4:30pm Keynote Address
Introduction, Kir Kuiken, English, University at Albany
Marc Redfield, Brown University, “The ‘Cultured Nazi’ and the Cut of the Shibboleth: Inglourious Basterds
and the Globalization of English”
4:30pm – 5:00pm Reception
Friday (Rockefeller Institute, 411 State St.)
8:30am – 9:00am Coffee and Registration
9:00am – 9:15am Welcome by Robert E. Bullock, Deputy Director, Rockefeller Institute and
Randall Craig, Chair, Department of English, University at Albany
9:15am – 10:30am Genres of Democracy
Chair: Richard Barney, English, University at Albany
1. Wendy Raphael Roberts, English, University at Albany, "The Secularization Narrative and Democratic Poetics”
2. Ashley Barnes, English, Williams College, “What’s So Naive About Mimeticism?: Uncle Tom's Cabin,
Twelve Years a Slave, and the Claims of the True Story”
3. Mort Schoolman, Political Science, University at Albany, “Whitman’s Discovery: Aesthetic Education through
the Visual Image”
10:45am – 12:20pm Nature and the Matter of Politics
Chair: Patricia Chu, English, University at Albany
4. Jennifer Greiman, English, University at Albany, “Feeling Green: Melville, Goethe, and the Color of Democracy”
5. James Lilley, English, University at Albany, “The Thermodynamics of Poe’s Pym”
6. Brendan Mahoney, Writing Program, University at Albany, “’Daily to be Shown Matter’: Environmental Aesthetics
and the Ethics of the Sublime”
7. Rachael Nichols, English, Skidmore College, “Animal Affinities”
12:20pm – 1:30pm Lunch
1:30pm – 2:45pm Anti-fascist Poetics
Chair: Joel Sodano, English, University at Albany
8. James Bellflower, English, University at Albany, “Disgusted Community: An Affective Collective in
Charles Reznikoff’s Holocaust”
9. Eric Keenaghan, English, University at Albany, "Affective Dis/Positions: Modernism's Legacy in Postwar
Political and Poetic Spectacle--The Case of William Carlos Williams"
10. Ilka Kressner, Literatures, Languages and Cultures, University at Albany, “Walter Benjamin’s Untimely Presence
in Latin America”
2:45pm – 3:15pm Break
3:15pm – 4:45pm Keynote Address
Introduction, Erica Fretwell, English, University at Albany
Keynote Speaker, Shirley Samuels, Cornell University, "Looking at Lincoln"
Conference Banquet: Umana, 236 Washington Ave.
Saturday (Milne Hall 200, 135 Western Ave)
8:30am – 9:00am Coffee and Light Breakfast
9:00am – 10:45am Philosophical Affinities
Chair: Peter Breiner, Political Science, University at Albany
11. Andrea Haslanger, English, Tufts University, “There Is No Perpetual Peace: Cosmopolitanism
Beyond Optimism”
12. Steven Affeldt, Philosophy, Le Moyne College, "Ascent and Resignation: The Structure of
Liberation in Emerson's 'The Poet’"
13. Kir Kuiken, English, University at Albany, “‘The Power of a Form of Thought that Has Become
Foreign to Itself”: Rancière, Romanticism and the Partage of the Sensible”
14. Torrey Shanks, Political Science, University at Albany, “Material Words and Political Passions”
11:00am – 12:15pm Myths of the Aesthetic
Chair: Mike Hill, English, University at Albany
15. Anjuli Raza Kolb, English, Williams College, “Dirty Ink: Camus’s Phenomenology of Terror"
16. Bina Gogineni, Skidmore College, "Modernity, Enchantment, and World Literature"
17. Charles Shepherdson, English, University at Albany, “Killing the Medusa”
12:15pm – 1:30pm Lunch
1:30pm – 2:45pm Roundtable
2:45pm – 3:00pm Break
3:00pm – 4:30pm Keynote Address
Introduction, Kir Kuiken, English, University at Albany
Marc Redfield, Brown University, “The ‘Cultured Nazi’ and the Cut of the Shibboleth: Inglourious Basterds
and the Globalization of English”
4:30pm – 5:00pm Reception