"Women and Manuscript Culture in the Digital Age"
This panel will explore female sociability in eighteenth-century manuscript culture, and the way it invites the reader to participate in a dynamic way, whether by editing, commenting, transcribing, or sharing the manuscript text. We are especially interested in the way modern digital scholarship reflects eighteenth-century manuscript culture. Some questions we would like to raise include: what are some examples of women participating in manuscript culture as writers, readers, editors, and transcribers? what kind of social and literary networks did manuscript culture create among women? in what ways has digital scholarship opened up our study of women in manuscript culture? what specific opportunities has digital scholarship created or made possible in studies of women in manuscript culture? how do our own collaborations with one another in the digital age reflect eighteenth-century manuscript culture?

Please submit 250-500 word proposals to cassiechilds@mail.usf.edu and jlcook4@mail.usf.edu by September 15, 2015.