American Literature Association

19^th Annual Conference

May 22-25, 2008

San Francisco, CA

The Concord Reformers:

Louisa May Alcott was a second-generation reformer in her family; she was schooled in agitation for women’s rights and the abolition of slavery, as well as other reforms including religion, diet, medicine, and labor, by the diligent efforts of her parents and their famed circle of friends—and perhaps even more by a larger, less public network surrounding this circle. The Louisa May Alcott Society welcomes papers addressing what Freda Baum has termed “the scarlet strand of reform” in Alcott’s work and life, and in the larger circles in which she learned to value the reformist spirit. Send abstracts by January 24, 2008 to: Mary Shelden, mlshelden@vcu.edu.

Teaching Little Women:

Several recent landmarks in publication have encouraged serious study of Louisa May Alcott’s beloved masterpiece, most notably the 2003 Norton Critical Edition of Little Women , and the 2005 Library of America edition of the March family trilogy. The Louisa May Alcott Society welcomes proposals for brief presentations for a roundtable discussion of Little Women and pedagogy. Possible subjects include:

• To what age is the novel best taught—elementary school, high school, undergraduate college, graduate school?
• What contextual materials help illuminate the novel?
• In which subjects does Little Women instruct its readers and how does Alcott deliver this instruction?
• What do the Marches and their circle have to tell us about teaching methods, and how can their ideas inform our teaching of the novel?
• With what other primary texts is Little Women most effectively paired in the classroom?

As this is a roundtable emphasizing pedagogy, sharing of syllabi and other course materials will be especially welcome at the session. Send abstracts by January 24, 2008 to: Mary Shelden, mlshelden@vcu.edu.