Andrew Marvell Society Annual Meeting
April 12, 2024 (on-line via Zoom at noon, CST)
The outgoing President, Blaine Greteman, welcomed participants to the first on-line annual meeting of the Andrew Marvell Society. Twenty-two people attended: Matthew Augustine, Maria Capecchi, Lucina Chen, Jennifer Chibnall, Hyunyoung Cho, Kathryn Crim, Christopher D’Addario, Robert Dulgarian, Daniel Emerson, Alex Garganigo, Stephen Hequembourg, Ruby Lowe, Ryan Netzley, Joanna Picciotto, Amy Sattler, Michael Schoenfeldt, Anita Sherman, Emily Stelzer, Alex Walton, Julianne Werlin, and Steven Zwicker. Brendan Prawdzik, the Society’s Secretary, could not attend and was missed.
The President’s Report followed. AMS had a good year with four well-attended panels at The Renaissance Society of America in Chicago, each of which had four presenters. These panels drew diverse contributors—from abroad (France, Korea, Turkey) and from outside academia, furthering the goal of AMS’s executive board of a welcoming, inclusive and international organization. The President raised two questions with respect to RSA panels next year. Should we have only three presenters per panel to allow more time for discussion? In that case, should we offer a fifth panel next year? He suggested this could be an “at large” panel, welcoming a wide range of topics. The last question had to do with the institutional “home” of AMS. Do we stay involved with the South Central Renaissance Society, and if so, how? Recalling the debate last year about where our loyalties should lie and how this was a “trial” year at RSA, the President opined that AMS should continue focused on RSA. Despite it being a far larger conference and hence less intimate and less conducive to community-building, its broader reach and higher visibility offset SCRC’s advantages. A “Call for Papers” for the Andrew Marvell panels at RSA will be issued next month.
Ryan Netzley, Editor of Marvell Studies, reported on the state of the journal, inviting all and sundry to submit their essays and promising a quick turn-around. He noted that Volume 9 was delayed, owing to a slow-down in typesetting over the December holidays, but would come out soon.
The President thanked outgoing members of the Executive Committee for their service (Brett DeFries, Ruby Lowe, Julianne Werlin, Brendan Prawdzik) and prepared on-line voting (through the Zoom Polls feature) for the new members. Votes were cast. The new officers were then welcomed: the new President, Christopher D’Addario, the new Vice President, Julianne Werlin, and the new Secretary, Matt Augustine. New at large members of EC elected were Jahidul Alam and Lottie Page.
Questions were solicited from the members. Anita Sherman asked how tenured faculty might contribute money towards the Graduate Student Essay Prize, as last year Joanne Picciotto had recommended that this feature be available on the Society’s website. Blaine Greteman explained that the question of opening a bank account in the Society’s name was tricky and that he hoped—in his new capacity as Dean at the University of Tulsa—to be able to open an institutional account from within the Dean’s Office. He compared the Andrew Marvell Society to the Milton Society, observing that they charge dues, host swanky dinners at RSA, and have a bank account. He pointed out that one “up side” to AMS not charging any fees was that the Society was accessible to the wider community of Marvell lovers. During RSA, panelists and members gathered for a dinner open to all at an informal restaurant.
Matthew Augustine reported that he had been able to secure some funds for a graduate student from Saint Andrews who would be tasked with updating the website. The website has good traffic.
Chris D’Addario asked whether anyone at the meeting had attended SCRC in Savannah the prior weekend. No one had. Chris then invited members to send him ideas for RSA panels, reminding them about RSA’s August 15 deadline. Chris queried whether there would be interest in a “round-table” focused around one poem, as in past years. He also proposed that we think about hosting a two-day conference dedicated to Andrew Marvell at a university, inviting members to volunteer their own institutions.
After 45 minutes, the meeting concluded with the outgoing President thanking various past officers: Matthew Augustine, Alex Garganigo and Joanna Picciotto. The incoming President thanked the outgoing President.
Next year, the RSA will have a joint meeting with the SAA (Shakespeare Association of America). See you in Boston!