Doctoral Workshop in Modern and Contemporary Literary Studies in English (5/12)

6 May 2026

Patrick Jones

Dr Patrick Jones, UNIGE

Prof. Simon Swift, UNIGE

Dr. Sofia Baliño, UNIGE

The Modern and Contemporary fortnightly workshop (Mod Con) is a well-attended workshop for PhD students and staff from all CUSO universities. The workshop is popular among doctoral students and early career scholars from the CUSO network. The workshop is a valuable space for the exchange of ideas between doctoral students working on modern and contemporary literatures of the English-speaking world. The 2026 programme will include talks, workshops and professionalisation seminars and it will remain an important space for work-in-progress papers from doctoral students.

Demystifying the archive: Lessons from the Joan Didion and John Gregory Dunne papers.

Exploring the archive of an author can be an exhilarating, rewarding, and even destabilizing experience. But what is archival research like in practice and how can it open up new possibilities for your work? This session will examine the promises and pitfalls of accessing and using archival materials, looking at different approaches that range from in-person site visits to virtual reading rooms and collaborations with remote researchers. It will include concrete examples from dissertation and post-doctoral research, including from analyzing the Joan Didion and John Gregory Dunne papers at the New York Public Library and the Bancroft Library at the University of California, Berkeley, along with analyses of materials by similar authors whose works are housed at the Huntington Library, UCLA, and the University of Toronto.

UNIGE

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