MVSA: History and Activities
History and Activities
Midwest Victorian Studies Association
Founded by a small group of scholars
in 1977 under the
leadership of English Professor Lawrence Poston of the University of
Illinois-Chicago, the Midwest Victorian Studies Association (MVSA) has
flourished for almost thirty years. The MVSA now has a roll of about
200
members from more than 100 colleges and universities throughout the
Midwest and beyond. Dedicated to the multidisciplinary study of the
Victorian Period in Britain, the association's
membership is comprised primarily of teachers, scholars, and students
of
history, literature, art history, music, philosophy, and
religion--specialists
and generalists alike. Over the years, the MVSA's principal purpose has
been to foster new understandings and appreciations of the Victorians
by
hosting an annual conference and by otherwise encouraging and
facilitating
scholarly exchange, collaboration, and publication.
In addition to organizing a Victorian studies
conference each year, the MVSA publishes a newsletter, compiles an
annual directory of members, and maintains this website, providing
valuable ways and means for members to share ideas and information and
to keep current with
each other's work. Also, committed to the support of graduate research
in Victorian studies, the MVSA has funded a dissertation research award
which is presented each spring at the annual meeting. In 2007, the MVSA created
a first-book prize to recognize outstanding work by newer scholars in the field
of Victorian studies.
Return to MVSA home page