This quarter, our reading group will meet on Thursday, Feb. 20 at 3:30pm in the Simpson Center seminar room (CMU 202). We will focus on questions of respectability arising from Charles Darwin’s work, especially The Descent of Man, which details his theory of sexual selection, and how they manifested in literature and culture. As always, our discussion will be informal and convivial: please read as much or as little as you can of these (pretty short) readings and join us for a chat and a snack.
Our readings will be:
- Excerpt from Darwin, The Descent of Man (1871)
- Mathilde Blind, The Ascent of Man (1889) (Prelude and parts I-IV only)
- Gowan Dawson, excerpt from Darwin, Literature, and Victorian Respectability (2010)
Please email Matt Poland to RSVP and he’ll trade you PDFs of the readings.