Wayne State University

The Humanities Center presents a Symposium: Representation of Health and Disease in the City

Keynote Speakers:

Kristine M. Gebbie, DrPh, RN
Joan Hansen Grabe Dean,
School of Nursing, Hunter College,
City University of New York

Kristin Ross, Ph.D.
Professor,
Comparative Literature,
New York University

An event to acquaint young men and women, particulary those from under-represenetd backgrounds, with the opportunities that science and engineering careers represent.

To register visit escalate.wayne.edu

A colloquium presentation by Prof. Anne Curzan, Department of English, University of Michigan

The history of the English language, in theory, could be broken up into as many historical periods as the imagination allows. In practice, since the nineteenth century, the history of English has traditionally been broken into three or four major historical periods (depending on whether early and later Modern English are viewed as one period or two): Old English, Middle English, Early Modern English, and Modern English. This talk traces the canonization of this one particular schema for periodization, including new findings about James A. H. Murray’s role, and challenges to the schema, addressing specifically what is at stake theoretically in those challenges. The question of periodization in the history of the English language has brought into conversation some of the most eminent historical linguists and historians of English of the past two centuries. This scholarly conversation has raised fundamental questions about the history of English, including: What is “English”? And what qualifies as “linguistic” evidence? Issues at the crux of scholarly debates about periodization include: how the concept of periodization can be reconciled with the realities of language variation and change; the proper criteria for identifying historical periods and/or period boundaries; the best dates to use for both canonical and non-canonical historical models; and the definition of the stated object of inquiry, “English.”

Anne Curzan is Associate Professor of English at the University of Michigan, where she also holds appointments in the Department of Linguistics and School of Education. Dr. Curzan's primary research areas include history of the English language, language and gender, lexicography, and pedagogy. In addition to numerous articles and book chapters, she is the author of Gender Shifts in the History of English (Cambridge UP, 2003); she is co-author of How English Works: A Linguistic Introduction (Pearson/Longman, 2009 (2nd ed.)) with Michael Adams, and of First Day to Final Grade: A Graduate Student’s Guide to Teaching (U of Michigan P, 2006 (2nd ed.)) with Lisa Damour. She has served as co-editor of the Journal of English Linguistics since 2003.