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Housing and Accomodations at Ohio State University
Over the past dozen years, Ohio State has been host to numerous Summer Seminars, and the English Department and the University have good support systems in place. Participants can get ID cards that grant them the rights and privileges of OSU faculty, including complimentary membership at the Faculty Club. In 2005 the participants had a satisfactory housing experience at The Ohio Stater, a well-managed apartment complex across the street from the University and about 3 blocks from Denney Hall, the building that houses the English Department. The Ohio Stater offers furnished air-conditioned suites containing one or two bedrooms, a bathroom, and a small kitchen area with a full-size refrigerator and microwave; furniture includes bed, dresser, desk, and lamp. The complex also has laundry facilities, a parking garage, and a fitness center. For a six-week period, a one-bedroom suite rents for approximately $1000, a fee that includes utilities and a cable connection. There are many other housing options available in Columbus in the summer for participants who might not want to use The Ohio Stater, including sublets of houses and apartments in a variety of neighborhoods. In the past, I have been able to provide guidance to participants who wanted to explore these options, and I would be glad to do so again.
The Ohio State library, to which participants will have full access, is one of the largest research libraries in the country, and has the leading journals in narrative studies and excellent holdings in the novel and in narrative theory. Although the main library building is undergoing renovation, the collection is still easily accessible both in other locations on or near campus and via campus mail.
Seminarians will have reasonable work space, computer facilities, and e-mail access. Participants will be able to use one of the English Department’s computer laboratories, a room equipped with twenty computers with access to the internet and with state-of-the art equipment for document scanning and other technological needs. If participants encounter any technological difficulties, the English Department’s computer support staff will be available to help them.(back to Welcome Page)
Who Should Apply?
The seminar is designed primarily for college teachers who work on written narratives, both fictional and nonfictional, especially those in English. It would be open, however, to historians, philosophers, lawyers, medical humanities scholars, or others who wanted to learn more about how literary critics think of narrative. Participants need to be experienced readers of narrative, but they need not be advanced students of narrative theory. In the past, the seminar has attracted—and admitted--applicants from many fields, including English, American, French, Spanish, Russian, and comparative literature, classical Greek literature, philosophy, and theology. The variety of perspectives brought to bear on our common interest in narrative has been illuminating and productive, and many participants have gone on to publish essays and books on their seminar projects. I would anticipate attracting a similar range of applicants this time. The two colleagues who have agreed to visit, David Herman and Julia Watson, have also agreed to review applications with me.
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How and When Do You Apply?
Please send or email a request for application information and expanded description. (See below for contact information.) The application deadline is March 1, 2007 (postmark).
Contact Information
Contact me at phelan.1@osu.edu, or contact my assistant, Paul McCormick, at mccormick.150@osu.edu. My mailing address is: 452 Denney Hall, 164 West 17th Avenue, Columbus, OH, 43210. In any correspondence, please include your regular mailing address since you may receive application materials through the mail.
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