In a happy coincidence, both Tulsa Studies in Women’s Literature and the James Joyce Quarterly mailed their latest issues this week. Together, These journals form one of the cornerstones of advanced humanities research at the University of Tulsa and contribute, in particular, to the global reputation of our Faculty of English. As this blog recently noted, the JJQ will soon be linked more closely to the International James Foundation as the latter returns to its original home at TU. An equally significant change is coming to Tulsa Studies as well.
In this issue, Professor Laura Stevens pens her final Preface as she steps down from an illustrious decade as editor. Her reflective, often moving envoi deftly interweaves her thoughts on the journal’s changing mission, the still flickering visibility of women’s writing, the challenges of global scholarship, and the risks of recent calls for open access. Tulsa Studies in Women’s Literature, she writes,
is about the importance of being seen….There is a difference between including some women in a male-dominated canon and rewriting the history of literature so that it includes women alongside men with full attention to the impact of sex and gender on individuals’ access to the means of writing and the pathways through which they can bring their work to the attention of others.
This entire preface is feely available at the journal’s website, so take a moment to read it, to learn something about the vital mission of this journal, and to spend some time with an accomplished editor working through the complex challenges and exciting opportunities that now inform feminist scholarship.
With the next issue, the journal’s editorship passes to Jennifer Airey, Associate Professor of English at the University of Tulsa and an expert on women’s writing in the eighteenth century. She inherits a rich legacy clearly made stronger by Professor Stevens’ able, innovative leadership.