Covers, Titles, and Tables
Dr. Kenneth M. Roemer, English
February 23, 2011

The “canon wars” of the 1980s and 1990s spilled over into highly publicized political debates about what types of literature should “represent” Americans and what is the “best” of our literature and culture. Unfortunately, the debaters frequently based proclamations about the death or revitalization of American culture on flimsy evidence. A team of librarians and graduate students lead by Professor Ken Roemer is addressing this problem by working to create a fully searchable and comprehensive digital archive of the tables of contents of American literature anthologies that will offer significant evidence about when live women of color and dead white males; complex poems and folk songs; “classic” novels and obscure diaries became the voices of American culture. This presentation also features Bethany Schaffer and Lori Jacobs of the English Department.



NOTE: Recorded in whole or in part without restrictions or limitation for any educational or promotional purpose which The University of Texas at Arlington, and those acting pursuant to its authority, deem appropriate.