Cheryl Weaver
Election
Position
Name
Cheryl Weaver
Candidate statement
My interest in Emily Dickinson began years ago and continues through my doctoral work. I have workshopped and presented papers at previous EDIS conferences of my Dickinson research related primarily to her familial ties and, more recently, for a dissertation exploring her childhood connections from Amherst including her “circle of five,” Emily Fowler Ford, and Helen Hunt Jackson. This latest project is an exciting journey that has begun by communicating with various archives during our global pandemic—fact-finding from afar—and will progress next month with the first step of my physical journey to Grand Rapids, Michigan, in search of Dickinson’s “lost sheep” Hattie Merrill. I hope to share my work at future conferences and meetings and will be participating in a roundtable discussion next year on Dickinson’s epistolary correspondent Helen Hunt Jackson.
Most particularly, I am eager to assist in the upcoming meetings and conferences, “‘Stratford on Avon’ - accept us all!”— Dickinson and Shakespeare and “Dickinson and Foreignhood” to be held in Seville, Spain. (I am especially interested in this conference as a student of the Spanish language!) I hope to contribute to these conferences in addition to planning events related to Dickinson’s girlhood through her kinship and acquaintance connections, sharing what my research reveals through the archives and through absences in the archives. I am committed to working with EDIS and the goal of extending the influence and appreciation of Dickinson’s work in educational institutions in the United States and abroad. As an instructor at an International Baccalaureate high school and at Buffalo State College, I have the unique vantage point of a wide audience for Dickinson’s work in terms of age range and a global context through the international program. I plan to work on projects that extend to events hosted by EDIS and the Emily Dickinson Museum.
My research interests in education, nineteenth century epistolary practices, and nineteenth century American literature lead me to Dickinson’s work again and again, and I would like to meaningfully contribute to EDIS as a Member-at-Large. I believe that I will successfully be able to assist EDIS in its goals, notably increased interest and membership, through my work with a high volume of students at various levels in order to foster interest, literary contributions, and historical preservationist practices.
Most particularly, I am eager to assist in the upcoming meetings and conferences, “‘Stratford on Avon’ - accept us all!”— Dickinson and Shakespeare and “Dickinson and Foreignhood” to be held in Seville, Spain. (I am especially interested in this conference as a student of the Spanish language!) I hope to contribute to these conferences in addition to planning events related to Dickinson’s girlhood through her kinship and acquaintance connections, sharing what my research reveals through the archives and through absences in the archives. I am committed to working with EDIS and the goal of extending the influence and appreciation of Dickinson’s work in educational institutions in the United States and abroad. As an instructor at an International Baccalaureate high school and at Buffalo State College, I have the unique vantage point of a wide audience for Dickinson’s work in terms of age range and a global context through the international program. I plan to work on projects that extend to events hosted by EDIS and the Emily Dickinson Museum.
My research interests in education, nineteenth century epistolary practices, and nineteenth century American literature lead me to Dickinson’s work again and again, and I would like to meaningfully contribute to EDIS as a Member-at-Large. I believe that I will successfully be able to assist EDIS in its goals, notably increased interest and membership, through my work with a high volume of students at various levels in order to foster interest, literary contributions, and historical preservationist practices.