Michael, I concur with the wisdom already expressed on this point. What you are missing is this: Alcohol and Addiction Studies does NOT share the respectability of what might be called Diversity Studies, the political correctness of which more or less guarantees space at professional conferences and in hiring pools. Nor does our field qualify as "Identity Scholarship," another approved approach. During the heyday of DIONYSOS, the MLA consistently rejected any and all proposed panels in A&AS; perhaps it still does. Certainly I would not advise a new PhD in English to come out nakedly and solely in our field. It's prudent to regard doing A&AS - at least in an English department -- as a post-tenure luxury. The reasons for this situation are well worth considering, but they are, unfortunately, among those things in academe (and elsewhere) currently filed under "mum's the word": not to be spoken of out loud in public, candor being potentially hazardous to one's professional health. For the sake of younger scholars and of our field, I sincerely hope I've gone a little paranoid in these remarks, that I've bleakly overstated the case. I welcome contrary testimony. John W. Crowley ________________________________ From: Alcohol and Drugs History Society [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Michael Carolan Sent: Tuesday, March 03, 2009 9:37 AM To: [log in to unmask] Subject: Re: literary drinking As a new member of the forum (and, believe it or not, a former student of Professor Wedge's), I appreciate all the recommendations of creative work in here. I wanted to share what a veteran professor had to say about the field in a professional recommendation he wrote for me recently after I developed addiction studies courses at UMass: "Addiction is an area of study not unlike African American studies or Native American studies, and possibly all the more relevant not least because it not yet an established area of study." As I enter the severely shrunken academic job market, I am left wondering why all I see are openings for minority, third world, gay and lesbian studies but none for alcohol, mental illness, and/or addiction? Am I missing something? With deep respect, Michael Carolan University of Massachusetts-Amherst ________________________________ From: Alcohol and Drugs History Society [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of David Fahey Sent: Saturday, February 28, 2009 1:19 PM To: [log in to unmask] Subject: Re: literary drinking [Personal papers of George Wedge] Database: University of Kansas Libraries Main Author: Wedge, George F. <http://catalog.lib.ku.edu/cgi-bin/Pwebrecon.cgi?SC=Author&SEQ=200902281 21723&PID=nZT-3bbxeXgav16B8dUssxr0H2ka&SA=Wedge,+George++F.> Title: [Personal papers of George Wedge] Linked Resources: Finding aid <http://ead.diglib.ku.edu/xml/ksrl.ua.wedgegeorge.html> Publisher: 1958-1993. Format: Archival/Manuscript Material Description: 12 linear ft. Indexes: Finding aid available on the Internet. General Notes: Wedge taught English at the University of Kansas from 1958-1993. This collection consists of writings, manuscripts, research, and correspondence. Margaret Wedge; gift; 2003. ________________________________ Location <http://catalog.lib.ku.edu/help/location.htm> : Spencer Library (University Archives) Call Number <http://catalog.lib.ku.edu/help/callnum.htm> : PP 408 <http://catalog.lib.ku.edu/cgi-bin/Pwebrecon.cgi?SC=CallNumber&SEQ=20090 228121723&PID=nZT-3bbxeXgav16B8dUssxr0H2ka&SA=PP+408> Status <http://catalog.lib.ku.edu/help/status.htm> : Item details not available On Thu, Feb 26, 2009 at 11:11 AM, Crowley, John <[log in to unmask]> wrote: There is, of course, no shortage of examples of alcoholic characters and alcoholic behavior in twentieth-century American literature. Just look into the recent wave of memoirs. One early success, Mary Karr's THE LIAR'S CLUB, is everywhere redolent of her father's whiskey breath. The one I most admire and the one I've taught most often is DRINKING: A LOVE STORY by the late Caroline Knapp (who died much too young, but not from drinking after all). This topic reminds me of George Wedge (U of Kansas), one of the true founders of Alcohol and Addiction Studies within the "discipline" of English. For many years he compiled a bibliography of drinking/drunken writers and their stories. (I hope it's gone into the Kansas library.) Unfortunately, George never published very much of what he knew; but all of us owe him an intellectual debt. Toward the end of his life, George was thinking about the idea that AA had possibly distorted the early scholarship in the field (including, for instance, mine!): by subtly introducing an unduly righteous tone toward unregenerate alcoholic authors as well as the possibly rigid notion that sobriety goes with superior literary production, in terms of quantity and quality too. Perhaps a dubious idea; for some writers (e.g. Styron) report the virtual necessity of alcohol in their literary inspiration. Simply denial? Just an excuse? Maybe not? That's the direction George would have taken. Any fellow travelers? (I once tried out this approach in a short piece on James Whitcomb Riley, all of whose best poetry was written under the influence and none of whose sober poetry has ever been considered worth a damn.) John W. Crowley, U of Alabama -- David M. Fahey Professor of History Miami University Oxford, Ohio 45056 USA