Thursday, October 23, 2008

Montreal 2008

In spite of an irritating cold, I enjoyed myself at the Canadian Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies Conference in Montreal. I heard an insightful plenary given by Jack Lynch: "All Shall Yield to the Mulberry Tree: Of Toothpick Cases, Punch Ladles, Tobacco Stoppers, Inkstands, Nutmeg Graters, and the Legend of Shakespeare." I also heard fine papers.

One of the joys of teaching online is that when you get invigorated by a paper you can share your enthusiasm immediately with your students. I also came home with knew ideas about texts to bring into my classrooms and ways to use them.

I was able to spend time with Jack, Laura and their good friend Chris. We took in walks, shared meals and enjoyed the city. Sean and I enjoyed our time with our friends, including our table mates at the conference's Saturday banquet.

I gave a paper, "Samuel Johnson’s Distancing Antiquity through the New World," Saturday morning, and we flew home Sunday, Oct. 19th.

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