Linda K. Hughes

MVSA President, 2007-2009 | MVSA Executive Board, 1982-1986, 2005-2013

Addie Levy Professor of Literature, Texas Christian University

Research Interests: Victorian literature and culture with special interests in historical media studies (including poetry and print culture, periodicals, and serial fiction); gender and women’s studies; transnationality

Selected Publications: The Cambridge Introduction to Victorian Poetry
(Cambridge, 2010); Graham R.: Rosamund Marriott Watson, Woman of Letters (Ohio, 2005); The Manyface`d Glass: Tennyson’s Dramatic Monologues (Ohio, 1987). Co-author with Michael Lund, Victorian Publishing and Mrs. Gaskell’s Work (Virginia, 1999) and The Victorian Serial (Virginia, 1991). Editor, Novellas and Shorter Fiction: Cousin Phillis and other Tales from All the Year Round and the Cornhill Magazine, 1859–64, Vol. 4, Works of Elizabeth Gaskell (Pickering & Chatto, 2006). Co-editor, Teaching Transatlanticism: Resources for Teaching Nineteenth-Century Anglo-American Print Culture (Edinburgh, 2015); A Feminist Reader: Feminist Thought from Sappho to Satrapi (Cambridge, 2013)

"Victorian Belief/Victorian Doubt" — 2013 Conference Webpage

2013 Conference “Victorian Belief/Victorian Doubt”  |  Cleveland, Ohio, April 12-14

Upcoming Deadlines:  Early Registration – March 20  |  Discount Hotel Rate – March 22

The 2013 conference will feature presentations, panels, and entertainments from scholars of art, music, history, history of science, and literature on topics related to Victorian belief and doubt. This theme encompasses religions, superstitions, and convictions of all sorts, and their obverse: skepticisms, denials, and uncertainties. With its single, shared session format, MVSA offers a unique opportunity to present work to an undivided audience. Participants are also invited to submit essays for an edited volume of articles based on conference proceedings. Click here to download the official conference program.

The early registration fee for the conference is $120.  To pre-register, use the PayPal feature below to select the appropriate rate and complete the transaction online.  Attendees are kindly asked to become members when registering ($40 for regular members, $30 for graduate students and independent scholars).  Registration includes entrance to all sessions, two keynote addresses, Friday reception, Saturday lunch, and beverages at breaks.  Please indicate if you would prefer a vegetarian lunch option when prompted during the transaction.

Select a conference rate
Regular ($120 fee + $40 membership) | $160.00 USD Grad ($120 fee + $30 membership) | $150.00 USD Registration only (for current members) | $120.00 USD

If you would prefer to pay via check, please complete and submit this form.  The deadline for early registration is March 20.

Plenaries

We are pleased to have as our 2013 plenary speakers Timothy Larsen, McManis Professor of Christian Thought at Wheaton College and author of Crises of Doubt: Honest Faith in 19th-Century England (2006) and A People of One Book: The Bible and the Victorians (2012); and Julie Melnyk of the University of Missouri-Columbia, author of Women’s Theology in 19th-Century Britain (1998) and Victorian Religion: Faith and Life in Britain (2008).

Travel and Lodging

Conference sessions will be held at the Hyatt Regency Cleveland in downtown Cleveland. The hotel is located within the historic 1890 arcade, which was once known as Cleveland’s Crystal Palace. With a Romanesque Revival exterior, the Arcade was the first Cleveland building placed on the National Register of Historic Places. The hotel and arcade are directly across the street from Cleveland’s East Fourth Street dining and entertainment district and just blocks from the lakefront, sports stadiums, and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Hotel Accommodations

King-size and double rooms have been reserved at the Hyatt Regency at a rate of $112 per night before taxes. This rate is good from three days before the start of the conference until three days after the end of the conference.

The rooms and this discounted rate will only be held through March 22. After that date, rooms will be available at the hotel’s regular rate (currently $135 per night). Reservations can be made at an MVSA dedicated Passkey site or via the hotel at 216-575-1234. Change to existing reservations can be made via the Passkey site through April 2; after March 22 new reservations can only be made directly via the hotel.

The hotel is located at 420 Superior Avenue East, Cleveland, Ohio, 44114. Reduced cost valet parking is available for $16 per day with in-out privileges for hotel guests. Room reservations include complimentary Internet access in rooms, use of the hotel health club, a 20% discount at the Chocolate Bar restaurant, and 25% off the spa located in The Arcade. Breakfast is not included in the room rate but is available in the hotel restaurant, 1890 at The Arcade, or nearby restaurants.

There are also several other hotels within walking distance of the Hyatt Regency.

Transportation and Parking

Public transportation from the Cleveland airport:

The Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority (RTA) provides service to and from Cleveland Hopkins International Airport (CLE). To get to the Hyatt, take the red line from the airport (station is located in the lower level of the main airport terminal) to the Tower City station. The trip takes less than 30 minutes, and trains depart approximately every 15 minutes. One-way fare to Tower City is $2.25.

In Tower City, follow the signs for the Public Square exits, turn right outside the door, and walk approximately two blocks to the Hyatt Regency, which will be on the left side of the street.

Taxi service from the Cleveland airport: 

You can get a taxi from a stand outside door #1 on the baggage claim level of the main terminal.

Fare from the Cleveland airport to the Hyatt is approximately $25, and the ride takes about 20 minutes outside of rush hour.

Parking:

Reduced cost valet parking is available for $16 per day with in-out privileges for hotel guests. For attendees not staying at the hotel, the rate is $23 per day. Numerous parking garages and street parking are also available near the hotel. Just be sure to check posted signs for restrictions, especially in metered street spaces.

Driving directions to the Hyatt Regency are also available on the hotel website.

Directions to Hyatt Regency

Arriving from the East —

From I-80 West, merge onto I-480 West via Exit 187 toward Cleveland/Streetsboro.
Keep right to take I-480 West via Exit 26A-B toward Cleveland.
Merge onto I-77 North via Exit 20B toward Cleveland.
Take the I-90 East exit on the left toward Erie PA/E 9th St.
Take Exit 163C toward E 9th St.
Turn slight right onto E 14th St.
Turn slight right onto Orange Ave/US-422/OH-8/OH-87.
Continue to follow US-422 West/OH-8 West/OH-87 North.
Turn right onto US-20/Superior Ave East/US-322/US-6.
The Hyatt will be on the right.

Arriving from the West —

Merge onto I-90 East via Exit 170B toward Cleveland/Columbus.
Merge onto US-422 West/OH-14 West/OH-8 West/OH-87 North via Exit 171B toward Ontario St.
Turn right onto US-20 / Superior Ave East / US-322 / US-6.
The Hyatt will be on the right.

Arriving from the South —

Merge onto I-77 North via Exit 125B toward Cleveland/Downtown Akron.
Take the I-90 East exit on the left toward Erie PA/E 9th St.
Take Exit 163C toward E 9th St.
Turn slight right onto E 14th St.
Turn slight right onto Orange Ave/US-422/OH-8/OH-87.
Continue to follow US-422 West/OH-8 West/OH-87 North.
Turn right onto US-20/Superior Ave East/US-322/US-6.
The Hyatt will be on the right.

Alternate Hotels

Other downtown Cleveland hotels within walking distance of the conference location include:

Renaissance Cleveland Hotel
24 Public Square
Cleveland, OH 44113
216-696-5600

Cleveland Marriott Downtown at Key Center
127 Public Square
Cleveland, OH 44114
216-696-9200

Hampton Inn Cleveland—Downtown
1460 East 9th Street
Cleveland, OH 44114
216-241-6600

Holiday Inn Express Cleveland—Downtown
629 Euclid Avenue
Cleveland, Ohio 44114
216-443-1000

MVSA-Related Publications

Papers presented at MVSA conferences have been published in the following journals and books:

Perplext in Faith: Essays on Victorian Beliefs and Doubts, edited by Alisa Clapp-Itnyre and Julie Melnyk, published by Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2015.

Victorian Urban Settings: A Collection of Critical Essays, edited by Debra Mancoff and D.J. Trela, published by Garland Press in 1996.

Victorian Scandals: Repressions of Gender and Class, edited by Kristine Garrigan, published by Ohio University Press in 1992.

“Music in Victorian Society and Culture,” a 1986 special issue of Victorian Studies, edited by Nicholas Temperley. This work was subsequently published as The Lost Chord: Essays on Victorian Music by Indiana University Press in 1989.

William and Mary Burgan Prize Winners

2019 — Claire Landes (Texas Christian University), “The (Im)material Feud: Dickens and Elliotson v. Crowe and Martineau”; Aaron Long (University of Kansas), “Biomimicry and Biopower in Jules Verne’s Nautilus

  • Honorable Mention: Heather Asbeck (University of Missouri–Columbia), “‘The Fresh, Unsullied Satin of the Bag’: Privacy, Violation, and Coercive Control in Charlotte Brontë’s Shirley

2018 — Kyle Barton (University of Iowa), “Diagnosing the Monologue: Form as Symptom of Post-Crimean Trauma”; Kate Nesbit (University of Iowa), “Rest and the Resistant Listener: Reading Husbands and Snoring Wives in Late Victorian Literature”

2017 — Rachelle Stinson (York University), “Nostalgic Graffiti: Writing on the University” 

  • Honorable Mention: Brett Beasley (Loyola University), “‘My Taste Was Me’: Gerard Manley Hopkins and the Bitter Taste of Being”

    2016 — Grace Stevens (Loyola University), “‘In Earnest or in Jest’: the Graphic Serialization of Tess of the D’Urbervilles as a Commentary on Censorship”

    2015 — Lindsay Wells (University of Wisconsin–Madison), “The Sensual Use of Color in D. G. Rossetti’s Venus Veritcordia

    • Honorable Mention: Shannon Draucker (Boston University), “Acoustical Power and the Folk World in Hardy’s The Return of the Native

    2014 — Ruth M. McAdams (University of Michigan–Ann Arbor), “Napoleonic History on the Surface in Vanity Fair and The Trumpet-Major

    • Honorable Mention: Jessica Queener (West Virginia University), “Violence and British Identity in Yokohama’s Expatriate Community: Charles Wirgman’s Japan Punch, 1862-1876”

    2013 — Michelle Taylor (University of Iowa), “God Spelled Backwards: Dog as Divinity in Michael Field’s ‘Whym Chow: Flame of Love'”

    2012 Lee Anne Bache (Indiana University–Bloomington), “Properties of the Self: Aurora Leigh, Intellectual Property, and Women’s Autobiography”

    2011 — Laura Golobish (University of Georgia), “Building a Pocket Cathedral”

    2010 — Alisha R. Walters (University of Toronto), “Racial Diversity and British Nationality in Wilkie Collins’s Armadale” and Joseph Stubenrauch (Indiana University), “Evangelical Geographies: Religious Tourism and Souvenirs in Early Victorian Britain”

    2009 — Jennifer Warfel Juszkiewicz (Notre Dame), “The Iron Library: Victorian England and the Creation of the British Institution”

    2008 — Philip Steer (Duke University), “Guerrillas in the Midst: Settler Colonization and the British Invasion Novel”

    2007 — Kimberly Hereford (University of Washington), “G.F. Watts’ Female Portraits and the Grosvenor Gallery: A Union of Style and Symbolism”

    2006 — Teresa Huffman Traver (Notre Dame), “When Autobiography Does Theology: Development in Newman’s Apologia”

    2005 — Marty Gould (University of Iowa), “Around the World in 80 Plays: Drama and Empire in the Nineteenth Century”

    2003 — Marty Gould (University of Iowa), “Rational, National Show: The Theatrical Career of the Great Exhibition”

    2002 — Sara L. Maurer (Indiana University), “Redefining the Bounds of Property, Re-enforcing the Borders of Empire: Ulster Custom, ‘Ancient Law’, and the Land Act of 1870”

    2001 — Sarah Heidt (Cornell University), “Executing Autobiographies: The Case of John Addington Symonds and Margaret Oliphant”

    Walter L. Arnstein Prize Winners

    2020 — Menglu Gao (English), Northwestern University

    • Honorable Mention: Claire Arnold (History), Northwestern University

     
    2019
    — Lindsay Wells (Art History), University of Wisconsin–Madison

    • Honorable Mention: Avigail Moss (Art History), University of Southern California; Kate Nesbit (English), University of Iowa

    2018 — Victoria Wiet (English), Columbia University

    2017 — Amanda Shubert (English), University of Chicago

    • Honorable Mention: Shannon Draucker (English), Boston University

    2016 — Doreen Thierauf (English), University of North Carolina–Chapel Hill

    • Honorable Mention: Martha J. Groppo (History), Princeton University


    2015 — Erin Johnson-Hill (Music), Yale University

    2014 — Caitlin Silberman (Art History), University of Wisconsin–Madison

    • Honorable Mention: Ruth M. McAdams (English), University of Michigan–Ann Arbor

    2013 — Erin Nerstad (English), University of Chicago

    2012 — Winter Jade Werner (English), Northwestern University

    2011 — Anna Stenson (English), University of Iowa

    2010 — Karen Laird (English), University of Missouri–Columbia

    2009 — Joseph Steubenrauch (History), Indiana University

    2008 — Kevin Morrison (English), Rice University

    2007 — Christopher Ferguson (History), Indiana University

    2006 — Danielle L. Coriale (English), Brandeis University

    2005 — Robert Bell (English), McMaster University

    2004 — Anna Henchman (English), Harvard University

    2003 — Debra Gettelman (English), Harvard University

    2002 — Narisara Murray (History & Philosophy of Social Science), Indiana University

    2001 — Amy Woodson-Boulton (History), UCLA

    2000 — Elizabeth MacLeod Walls (English), Texas Christian University

    1999 — Kristin Brandser (English), University of Iowa

    1998 — Lydia Murdoch (History), Indiana University

    1997 — Nadja Durbach (History), Johns Hopkins University

    1996 — Susan Paton Pyecraft (History), Central Michigan University

    1995 — William R. McKelvey (English), University of Virginia

    1994 — Brenda J. Assael (History), University of Toronto

    1993 — Martha Stoddard Holmes (English), University of Colorado

    1992 — Anne Helmreich (Art History), Northwestern University

    Past Officers and Board Members

    Officers

    Presidents

    • 2013-2015 — Julie Codell (Art History), Arizona State University
    • 2009-2011 — Tom Prasch (History), Washburn University
    • 2005-2007 — James Sack (History), University of Illinois–Chicago
    • 2001-2003 — Susan Thach Dean (Special Collections), U.S. Naval Academy
      • 1999-2001 — Kristine Ottesen Garrigan (English), DePaul University
      • 1997-1999 — Richard W. Davis (History), Washington University
      • 1995-1997 — Frederick Kirchhoff (English), Metropolitan State University
      • 1993-1995 — Debra N. Mancoff (Art History), Beloit College
      • 1990-1991 — James J. Barnes (History), Wabash College
      • 1988-1990 — Lawrence Poston (English), University of Illinois–Chicago
      • 1986-1988 — M. Jeanne Peterson (History), Indiana University–Bloomington
      • 1984-1986 — Martha Vicinus (English), University of Michigan
      • 1980-1982 — John R. Reed (English), Wayne State University

      Executive Secretaries

      • 2003-2005 Anne Windholz (English), Augustana College
      • 1998-2003 Robert Koepp (English), Illinois College
      • 1996-1998 Keith Welsh (English), Webster University
      • 1992-1996 Dale J. Trela (English), Roosevelt University
      • 1984-1988 Kristine Ottesen Garrigan (English), DePaul University
      • 1980-1984 Frederick Kirchhoff (English), Indiana University-Purdue University–Fort Wayne
      • 1977-1980 Lawrence Poston (English), University of Illinois–Chicago

      Treasurers

      • 1995-2017 Julie Melnyk (English), University of Missouri–Columbia
      Web Coordinators
      • 2012-2022 — Emily K. Cody (English), The Ohio State University–Columbus
      Graduate Representatives
      • 2012-2020 — Emily K. Cody (English), The Ohio State University–Columbus
      • 2020-2022 — Rachel Stewart (English), The Ohio State University–Columbus

      _______________________________________________________________________

      Executive Board Members

      (Alphabetical by last name)

        • Joan Bassin (Art History), Kansas City Art Institute, 1980-1983
        • Florence Boos (English), University of Iowa, 1977-1982, 1998-2002, 2009-2015
        • Joe D. Burchfield (History of Science), Northern Illinois University, 1977-1980
        • Julie Codell (Art History), Arizona State University, 1988-1991, 2011-present
        • Emily K. Cody (English), The Ohio State University–Columbus, 2012-2022
        • Jeffrey Cox (History), University of Iowa, 1994-1998
        • James E. Cronin (History), University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee, 1977-1982
        • Richard W. Davis (History), Washington University, 1989-1994
        • Susan Dean (Special Collections), Newberry Library and Chicago Public Library, 1982-1986; University of Colorado, 1992-1996
        • Lynette Felber (English), Indiana University-Purdue University–Fort Wayne, 1996-2000
        • Kristine Ottesen Garrigan (English), DePaul University, 1995-1997
        • William Gatens (Music), Church of St. Luke and the Epiphany, Philadelphia, 1991-1995
        • Anne Helmreich (Art History), Case Western Reserve University, 2004-2011
        • Linda K. Hughes (English), Texas Christian University, 1982-1986, 2005-2013
        • Cynthia Huff (English), Illinois State University, 2012-2015
        • David C. Itzkowitz (History), Macalester College, 1988-1992
        • Jody Lamb (Art History), Ohio University, 1994-1998
        • Patrick Leary (History), VictorianResearch.org, 2003-2010
        • Debra N. Mancoff (Art History), Beloit College, 1984-1988
        • William R. McKelvy (English), Washington University, 2000-2004, 2007-2015
        • Julie Melnyk (English), University of Missouri–Columbia, 1995-2017
        • James Murphy (English), DePaul University, 2004-2008
        • Harold Perkin (History), Northwestern University, 1986-1989
        • Tom Prasch (History), Washburn Univerity, 2000-2004, 2007-2015
        • James J. Sack (History) University of Illinois–Chicago, 1998-2002
        • Lowell Satre (History), Youngstown State University, 1983-1984
        • Barbara Quinn Schmidt (English), Southern Illinois University–Edwardsville, 1990-1994
        • Robin Sheets (English), University of Cincinnati, 1986-1990
        • Carol Simpson Stern (Interpretation), Northwestern University, 1977-1980
        • Rachel Stewart (English), The Ohio State University–Columbus, 2020-2022
        • Judith Stoddart (English), Michigan State University, 1997-2000
          • Mary Beth Tegan (English), St. Xavier University, 2008-2012