Minutes 2002 – St. Louis, Missouri

Saturday, April 6, 2002

Convoked by the Organizing Committee, an embryonic membership convened the business meeting of the Andrew Marvell Society at 8:35, Saturday, 6th April at St. Louis University in association with the yearly meeting of the South-Central Renaissance Conference. Mark Heumann chaired and called the meeting to order.

Members present

In attendance, in addition to Mark Heumann, were Phoebe Spinrad, Clinton Brand, and Ayn Becze.

1. Approval of minutes

Heumann distributed the agenda for the meeting, together with reporting the minutes from the previous organizational meeting a year previously at the South-Central Renaissance Conference in College Station, Texas.

2. New Business

  1. Heumann reported on the development of the Society’s website (www.stedwards.edu/hum/klawitter/scrc/marvell/marvell.html). Thanks went to George Klawitter for providing the website’s platform through the server at St. Edward’s University.
  2. There followed much discussion of the purposes and goals of the Society, both in the short and the long term. It was broadly agreed that the Society should concentrate in the near future on establishing a membership base through publicity efforts, a mailing list, and the continued sponsorship of special sessions on Marvell at the South-Central Renaissance Conference. There was some discussion of the possibility of developing a listserv for Marvell scholars and enthusiasts and of publishing a special issue of Explorations in connection with the Society. Longer term goals include:
    1. An enriched website containing an array of web-based resources and links for the study of Marvell.
    2. A venue for the publication of an ongoing and regularly updated bibliography of Marvell studies, together with reviews and abstracts of noteworthy books and articles.
    3. A printed newsletter and perhaps eventually a journal.
  3. The meeting came to a conclusion with the election of interim officers for the Society. Mark Heumann was acclaimed President, Phoebe Spinrad was named Vice President, Clinton Brand was designated as Secretary, and James Baumlin, in absentia, was elected Treasurer. The officers agreed to consult one another over the course of the year.

The meeting adjourned with plans to convoke again at the South-Central Renaissance Conference, 2003 in New Orleans.

Respectfully submitted,

Clinton Brand, Secretary