Saturday, March 10, 2007
President of the Society, Nicholas von Maltzahn called the meeting to order at 8:30 a.m.
Members present
In attendance were: Nicholas von Maltzahn, Sean McDowell, George Klawitter, Matthew Harkins, Michael Berntsen, Elizabeth Bobo, Jacob Blevins, Joan Faust, Marian Hillar, Byron Nelson, Arlen Nydam, Annabel Patterson, Nigel Smith, and Timothy Raylor.
The president distributed an agenda for the meeting.
1. Approval of Minutes
The minutes of the March 2006 meeting (Houston) were corrected to reflect the lack of any vote then abolishing the position of Past President and instituting a Second Vice-President.
2. Business Arising from Minutes
- Appointment of Executive Secretary (a)
President von Maltzahn noticed the appointment of Timothy Raylor to the position of Executive Secretary. - MLA Slot and Multiple Sessions at S-CRC (b and c)
The President offered thanks to Professor Nigel Smith for arranging a session on “Marvell and the Politics of Allusion” at the 2007 MLA meeting in Chicago. Professor Smith announced that several papers for that session had been received. Discussion ensued concerning the requirements for a society seeking affiliate status at MLA and about the requirements once such status had been achieved (two sessions at each MLA meeting, one of which might be a meeting?). Suggestions for increasing the level of submissions were offered by Vice-President Sean McDowell, who proposed instituting an Executive Committee to involve more people in the process, and by Professor Annabel Patterson, who proposed inviting all those who had published on Marvell during the past five years to consider joining the society. President von Maltzahn suggested that our immediate goal was to aim for three sessions at the next meeting of S-CRC. - Website (d)
President von Maltzahn thanked Past President Klawitter for his work on the society’s website, and for his offer to update it during the summer of 2007.
3. New Business
- Topics for next year’s S-CRC
Topics to include: Marvell and Cavalier Poetry, Marvell and Elegy, Marvell and Government. A suggestion for a session focused on ways read and/or teach a particular poem led to Professors Joan Faust, George Klawitter, Sean McDowell and Jacob Blevins proposing a 2008 session on “The Garden” / “Hortus.” - Hull City Archives
President von Maltzahn noted the forthcoming merger of several Hull city archives and libraries and raised the question of whether the society might not lobby for this new collection to be named after Marvell. The President urged that we support the City Library by sending them copies of our Marvell-related publications, and invited other suggestions; these could be sent either to the President or the Executive Secretary. - A Marvell issue of Explorations?
Past President Klawitter noted that both the Elizabeth I Society and the Renaissance Art History Society have already put together special issues of the S-CRC journal, Explorations, and suggested that it would be appropriate and timely for the Marvell Society to do the same. Discussion ensued about the viability of such an undertaking. Past President Klawitter will consult with Explorations with a view to our returning to the matter at next year’s meeting.
The President adjourned the meeting at 8:57 a.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Timothy Raylor
Executive Secretary