What is Public Scholarship?

a new episode series and our September events

Happy September! It’s officially Fall (in our minds), and we’re gearing ourselves up for a fantastic season of learning with a brand new episode format you’ll be seeing on the main feed more often.

Today’s episode is a part of our new Modern Readers series, aimed at exploring the modern literary landscape using the framework, language and criticisms we often use in the classroom. We think this will be a fun and interesting way to explore contemporary reads with close readings and applying literary lenses as well as fostering discussions about what we’re noticing as we look at the world of books and publishing more broadly.

For our first episode, we have a in-depth discussion that aims to answer the question: what is public scholarship? We talk about how public scholarship is broadly defined, what it means for the podcast, for this semester, and beyond. You’ll also hear about our recent reads that surprisingly fit the theme of today’s discussion, and we’ll share some additional titles and you can take on your journey as a public scholar. (Yes, you are a public scholar, too!)

Make sure to listen to today’s episode wherever you get your podcasts!

Public Scholarship Anytime, Anywhere

Thinking about how to take your public scholarship to the next level? Not sure where to start? Over the summer, we shared five fun and accessible ways to engage with the classics and enhance your reading. While summer is wrapping up, these friendly tips are good all year long.

Patreon Events for September

Our Patreon community is a great space to get extra nerdy with classic texts and an enthusiastic community of readers. Each month we release additional bonus episodes as well as host classes and a book club for our monthly book election. A new feature we’re adding to Patreon is that all classes will be available in BOTH video and audio format, perfect for learners on the go! Note: our book club events are not recorded for the comfort and privacy of everyone on screen, but we often share discussion notes and continue the conversation on Discord for those who cannot attend a meeting.

Curious about our September events? Here is what’s happening:

Sep 13 @ 7 pm ET | Class: Literary History from Modernism to Postmodernism

Delve into literary and historical context for this season’s book selections with a class on Modernism (early 1900s-1940s) and Postmodernism (post WWII-1990s). We will cover major world events that shaped authors’ lives, key figures in the art and literature movements who championed new modes of expression, and distinct characteristics in theme, style, and structure from classic novels published in each time period. Rather than break Modernism and Postmodernism into separate classes, we will focus on the later part of Modernism and early part of Postmodernism in order to examine how literary movements shift and change before our eyes. (Recorded)

Sep 27 @ 7 pm ET | Book Club: Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier

This anxious and suspenseful novel chronicles the story of a young woman whose life is changed when she meets a wealthy and handsome widower who proposes marriage and whisks her away to his estate. Easily attributed as an origin text for domestic thrillers and literary suspenses, Rebecca pushes back on literary tropes and plays with archetypes from classic texts like Jane Eyre, opening the door for many unreliable narrators to come.

If our September events sound intriguing and you want to be a part of one of the nerdiest communities on the internet, we would love to have you join. Your support at $10 a month gives you access to all our bonus content, including live events, and allows us to continuing working on putting out quality content. Annual discounts of are available, so make sure to head over to patreon.com/novelpairings to sign up today!

Final Words

We hope that you enjoyed our exploration into public scholarship as we think about our mission and purpose as life-long teachers and learners. We’ll be back next week with our abundant fall preview episode and back list pairings. Until then, we declare after all, there is no enjoyment like reading. How much sooner one tires of anything than of a book!

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Thank you for supporting the podcast and our work to make public scholarship fun and accessible. If you would like to stay connected to what’s happening at Novel Pairings, make sure to subscribe to this Substack and follow us on Instagram. Make sure you never miss an episode by subscribing to the show wherever you get your podcasts. And if you love the work we’re doing, please consider leaving us a review on Apple Podcasts!