Election Update and Candidate Statements

Executive Steering Committee Election 2024

Election Update: We have received two applications for the two available senior positions and three applications for the three available postgraduate representative positions. We hereby declare that all five candidates will be elected unopposed at the end of the previously-announced election period, on 28 February 2024.

The candidates for the senior positions are: Rehnuma Sazzad and Luke Seaber

The candidates for the postgraduate representative positions are: Jingjing Cao, Jung-Hsin Hsieh, and Ryan O’Shea

Candidate Statements: Senior Positions

Dr Rehnuma Sazzad

Nominator: Dr Juliette Taylor-Batty, Leeds Trinity University, UK

My vision for BAMS includes my explanation of Global Modernity as an inevitable force, since more syncretic ways of viewing oneself and others are crucial today. Indeed, Global Modernism transcends socio-political contradictions that effect contemporary cultural transformations at local/global levels. If local/global is presently the most clichéd yet dominant of all binaries, it is important to take into account the remarkable dynamism of local/global cultural productions in recording the multifaceted conditions of dwelling in modernity. For example, the Arab-American intellectuals of my first monograph connected the histories of dislocations with the socio-political interdependence of human beings worldwide, as well as brought forward the intersecting points among global cultures. Therefore, my idea of Global Modernism is not influenced by critics like Arif Dirlik, who view the persistence of colonial legacy in the phenomenon. It is inspired by polymaths like Rabindranath Tagore, who suggest that the local and global arts’ credential for enriching collective human sensibility through an ‘openness’ that invites ‘at its table all people from far and near’ is crucial for advancing modernism. With ‘the abode of human joy’ as the objective, I propose to contribute to BAMS in the following way: hosting and attending executive meetings, organizing the annual postgraduate training symposium, connecting BAMS with SAS through cross-over events, guest-editing Modernist Cultures, reading for the essay prize, operating BAMS’s membership, maintaining and developing BAMS’s online presence, supporting existing programmes like modernism seminars, and promoting modernist activity in Britain. Indeed, my agenda is to foster Britain’s leadership in the field.

Biography:

Dr Rehnuma Sazzad is a Research Fellow at the Institute of English Studies, an Associate Fellow at the Institute of Commonwealth Studies, School of Advanced Study (SAS), University of London, and an Associate Tutor at the School of Literature, Drama and Creative Writing, University of East Anglia. She is an Associate Editor and a Reviews Editor of Journal of Postcolonial Writing, and an Editorial Advisory Board Member for English: Journal of the English Association. Her first monograph, Edward Said’s Concept of Exile (2017), adds new depths to discourses of resistance, home and identity. She has published considerably on postcolonial and world literatures (e.g. The International Journal of Human Rights 2021, Interventions: International Journal of Postcolonial Studies 2016, and Interdisciplinary Literary Studies 2015). She is currently completing her second monograph reflecting on nationalism in South Asia, and co-editing Édouard Glissant’s Search for New Horizons of Relation: Visions of Transcultural Archipelago.

Dr Luke Seaber

Nominator: Professor Kristin Bluemel, Monmouth University, NJ, USA

I have an unusual job within British academia and my career path to it has been unusual. I am a permanent full-time teaching fellow on a university foundation year programme for non-UK students only, where I am lucky enough to have a lot of freedom not only to focus on research-led teaching but, because I am not within an academic department and therefore the REF does not apply, to research at my own pace and following solely my interests. I now teach post-1789 European cultural history across disciplines, but my research interest is British literature of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, in which I did my doctorate in an Italian university after an undergraduate degree in both French and Arabic literature. I would like to bring to the BAMS Executive Committee the eclecticism that my career so far has inculcated in me: I envision an Association that is ever more open to texts not in English and disciplinary approaches examining as wide as possible a range of cultural phenomena from the early 20th century. Furthermore, I would like to see BAMS reaching out more to scholars outside Anglophone academia and the Global North, and would like to invite involvement from colleagues with whom I have collaborated in Nigeria, Italy and elsewhere.

If elected, I look forward to the fullest involvement possible, drawing on my experience since 2020 as a member of the Advisory Board of the Space Between Society (the oldest academic society dedicated to the Modernist period). I am now also Co-President (2023-26) of that society, as well as serving on its future conferences committee, and look forward to helping organize BAMS conferences as well as creating more collaboration between the two organizations.

Biography:

Luke Seaber is Senior Teaching Fellow in Modern European Culture on the Undergraduate Preparatory Certificate for the Humanities (of which he is also Senior Co-Ordinator) at University College London. He is author of G.K. Chesterton’s Literary Influence on George Orwell: A Surprising Irony (2012) and Incognito Social Investigation in British Literature: Certainties in Degradation (2017). He has published various articles and chapters on British literature in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, and is co-editor (with Michael McCluskey) of Aviation in the Literature and Culture of Interwar Britain (2020) and (with Nick Hubble and Elinor Taylor) the volume on the 1930s in the Bloomsbury Decades of Fiction series (2021). He also co-wrote (with Kate Macdonald and Daniel Kilburn) the introductions to Handheld Press’s 2022 republication of the complete works of John Llewelyn Rhys. He is Co-President (2023-26) of The Space Between: Literature and Culture, 1914-1945.

Candidate Statements: Postgraduate Representatives

Jingjing Cao

As a PhD student working on modernism, the release of new CFPs, events, or conferences by different modernist studies associations always fills me with excitement about having the opportunity to connect with a group of people with the same interest. Every get-together with a modernist research group not only presents a chance for knowledge exchange but also fosters a sense of belonging within the research community. As an international student, I have found immense value in participating in different research groups and conferences, cherishing every opportunity to meet outstanding researchers and like-minded peers.

Discovering the recruitment of new PG Reps for BAMS was particularly delightful and encouraging. I would like to join the BAMS PG Reps team and contribute to the vibrant BAMS community with other Reps and colleagues.

I am enthusiastic about collaborating with other Reps to support the upcoming summer conference, “Ephemeral Modernisms”, and other future events. I am keen on acquiring editorial skills and learning how to use WordPress and Slack. Participating in a committee dedicated to constructing a research space and working with people across different departments, universities, or cultures are valuable experiences for me. Having served as a PGR representative for Exeter GCRC and as the chair of the Exeter-Ewha graduate symposium, I have demonstrated my commitment to organizing research events and effectively working within a team. I also run the Twitter/X account for Exeter GCRC during the 2022/23 academic year. I am confident that my previous experiences have adequately prepared me for the responsibilities associated with this role. I would consider it a precious opportunity to contribute to BAMS and work collaboratively with the team.

Biography:

Jingjing Cao is a third year PhD student in Department of English and Creative Writing at University of Exeter. Her dissertation focuses on the cross-cultural literary communications between the Bloomsbury group and the Chinese Crescent Moon Society, with a specific focus on Virginia Woolf and two Chinese female writers, Ling Shuhua and Lin Huiyin, in the context of global modernisms. She has attended conferences, e.g., “Difficult Conversations in Modernist Studies”, “Virginia Woolf & Ecologies II”, etc. Her research interests lie in Sino-Anglo literary interactions, the legacy of Victorianism to modernism, and global modernisms.

Jung-Hsin Hsieh

In my role as a Postgraduate Representative, I aim to make wholesome contributions to BAMS. I really enjoyed participating and presenting my paper at the 2023 New Work in Modernist Studies Postgraduate Conference. Therefore, I would like to engage with BAMS as a doctoral student to sustain a PGR presence within the committee, BAMS’s events, and publications.

Currently, I work as the Public Relations Coordinator for King’s Doctoral Students’ Association (KDSA) at King’s College London. I manage KDSA’s social media platforms to increase awareness of PGR events among postgraduate researchers. Moreover, I cooperate with King’s Centre for Doctoral Studies (CDS) and other relevant societies within and outside of King’s to draw PGRs’ attention to available resources. I hope for the opportunity to apply my PR Coordinator skills to the Postgraduate Representative position at BAMS. This includes organising BAMS and NWiMS conferences, and advertising events and resources offered by the organisation, such as Postgraduate Training Sessions. Furthermore, the transhistorical nature of my PhD project, which investigates expressions of nostalgia for eighteenth-century women’s writings during the British modernist period (1900-1940), potentially facilitates connections between modernist studies and eighteenth-century studies. My vision for the Postgraduate Representative role includes fostering associations between BAMS and other organisations, such as the British Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies (BSECS).

By working with the team at BAMS, I believe I can represent the voice of PhD students specialising in modernist studies, while also co-creating meaningful connections within and beyond BAMS’s modernist community, thereby enriching our literary networks.

Biography:

Jung-Hsin Hsieh is a second-year Ph.D. candidate and Graduate Teaching Assistant in the Department of English at King’s College London. Jung-Hsin’s doctoral research investigates expressions of nostalgia for eighteenth-century literature during the British modernist period (1900-1940), focusing on modernist writers’ reception and literary recovery of eighteenth-century women’s writings. Before joining King’s, Jung-Hsin gained several years of experience in the media industry. She completed her MA in Comparative Literature at University College London and her BA in English at National Taiwan Normal University.

Ryan O’Shea

After presenting at NWiMS, contributing to The Modernist Review, and participating in BAMS’s online events, I have found the association to be a thriving and supportive intellectual community, one which I would love to contribute towards as a Postgraduate Representative.

A focus of mine would be in strengthening connections between early career postgraduates and established academics – a gulf which at times feels a difficult one to cross in the current state of academic precarity.

Postgraduate training days run by academics would be important in this regard. The recent session on ‘Modernist Editing’ was exemplary, and I would suggest increasing the frequency of these events – perhaps in shorter online sessions to make organisation easier. Future topics could be on the use of modernist archives, DEI training, and public engagement.

The Modernist Review has been pioneering in its support of postgraduate research. I would suggest making review articles on modernist conferences a staple, exemplified by the review of 2023s ‘Mapping Mina Loy Studies’ in Issue #48. Frequent conference reviews would present an opportunity for postgraduate reviewers to engage with contemporary research while simultaneously expanding the audience of the conference.

I am proficient in the use of WordPress (online journalism and website creation) and have experience editing (student publications and a 2021 journal issue for Durham Castle Conference). I have a keen organisational ability, having worked to convene Queen Mary’s fortnightly seminar series, inviting speakers and marketing events through its successful Twitter account. I would love to bring these skills to the role.

Biography:

Ryan O’Shea is a second-year PhD student at Queen Mary University of London, funded by the London Arts and Humanities Partnership. His research focuses on mortifications of the flesh in modernist literature, intersecting with spiritual, psychological, and sensory contexts in the twentieth century. The project takes a cross-religious approach, exploring how modernist depictions of the practice interact with different cultural contexts and modes of spirituality. His work has been published in The Modernist Review, Lost Modernists, Research in English at Durham, and the Postgraduate English Journal. He also is a coordinator of Queen Mary English PGRS – a series of fortnightly research seminars by academics hosted at the University.