Speakers either present a lecture or share a work-in-progress.
Works-in-progress are circulated in advance to listserv subscribers. If you are not a member of the listserv and would like to receive information about WINCS events, please see this website's "Join / Contact" page.
Upcoming WINCS Events | 2025-2026
Wednesday, October 8, 2025 | 5:00 pm | Jackman Humanities Bldg., Rm 616
"The Infrastructure in the Jungle: Habitats of Rejection in Late Henry James"
Work-in-Progress session with Jordan Howie, Postdoctoral Fellow of English, University of Toronto
Jordan’s work will be pre-circulated about 2 weeks before the session to those wishing to participate. Please e-mail Professor Melissa Gniadek for a copy: m.gniadek@utoronto.ca
Thursday, January 29, 2026 | 4:00 pm | Jackman Humanities Bldg., Rm 616
“Feeling Exposed: Early Photography and Privacy in the United States”
Paper Presentation by Sarah Parsons, Professor of Arts, Media, Performance and Design (AMPD), York University
Sarah Parsons is Professor of Art History and Visual Culture in the School of the Arts, Media, Performance and Design (AMPD) at York University in Toronto. Her research and teaching focus on the history of photography, primarily in Anglo-American contexts. She is the author of William Notman: Life and Work (2014), co-author with Sarah Bassnett of Photography in Canada, 1839 - 1989 (2023), and editor of two volumes of writing on photography. She is Principal Investigator of the SSHRC funded grant, "Feeling Exposed: Photography and Privacy in Nineteenth-Century North America" (2019 - 2024) and collaborated with doctoral students on two key outcomes: with Vanessa Nicholas as co-author of an article in the journal History of Photography and with Frances Dorenbaum as co-curator of an exhibition at The Image Centre, Toronto. Parsons also serves as Lead Editor of the journal Photography and Culture.
Affiliated Speaker Series Events
Monday, September 22, 2025 | 5:00 pm | Victoria University Common Room
(89 Charles St. West, on the NE corner of UofT’s campus).
The Common Room is accessible through the doors on the south side of Burwash Hall; signs will be posted.
“David Hume among the British Jacobins: The Uses of History in the 1790s”
Philip Connell, Professor of Literature and History, Cambridge University Prof. Philip Connell is Professor of Literature and History in the Faculty of English, and a Fellow and Director of Studies in English at Selwyn College, University of Cambridge. His research interests range across literature, politics, and intellectual history between 1650 and 1840 with publications on the political and economic thought of British Romantic writers; popular culture in the early nineteenth century; the history of the book; poetry and national identity; literature and science; canon-formation and literary commemoration; poetry, politics and religion. His books include Secular Chains: Poetry and the Politics of Religion from Milton to Pope (2016) and Romanticism, Economics and the Question of 'Culture' (2001). He holds degrees from the University of Liverpool and King's College, Cambridge, and has held Research Fellowships at St John's College, Cambridge and the Centre for Research in the Arts, Social Sciences, and Humanities (CRASSH). He is currently working on revolution and cultural memory in Romantic Britain.
Sponsored by the Toronto Eighteenth-Century Group.
Thursday, March 12, 2026 | 4:30 pm | Jackman Humanities Building, Rm 616
~ The 2026 Vincent A. De Luca Lecture, Department of English, UofT ~
“Title TBD”
Essaka Joshua, Professor of English, University of Notre Dame
Essaka Joshua, PhD, FSA, is Professor of English at the University of Notre Dame, Indiana, USA. She specializes in the literary and cultural perceptions of disability of the Romantic and Victorian periods. Joshua is the author of three monographs: Physical Disability in British Romantic Literature (Cambridge University Press, 2020), The Romantics and the May Day Tradition (Ashgate, 2007), and Pygmalion and Galatea: The History of a Narrative in English Literature (Ashgate, 2001). Professor Joshua is currently working on a monograph on disability in Romantic Theatre and is the general editor of the four-volume series, The Oxford Handbooks of Disability and Literatures in English.
Nineteenth-Century Graduate (NRG) Student Reading Group
The NRG gives junior scholars – C19 Americanists, Victorianists, Romanticists, and beyond – a chance to connect, share research ideas, and develop professionally.
New members are always welcome!
Please visit the UofT Nineteenth-Century Reading Group website, or email:
Andy Chang or Robbie Steele