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This is the roughest of rough drafts of my reading list in Victorian sexualities. There is a lot of work left to do, especially regarding period thinking and theory on sexuality. I am posting it to give a glimpse into what interests me and will inform my project.
The rationale in the list is dreadfully incomplete and contains at least one theoretical error, I am sure of it. So, have a look at the list and perhaps offer a critique or not. Maybe some of the titles you find will have relevance to you or not. Either way, this is a work in progress.
Justin O’Hearn Victorian Sexuality Reading List 1.0 13 Aug 12
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Cheers on putting it all out there like that. We’re in much a similar boat. My phd is in French literature (late 19th, early 20th/avant-garde). We had 1 first year theory exam (pass or be booted), 4 written area examinations (French lit is absurdly prolific for every century), and then an oral examination (3 lists that we create and orally defend as proto-proposal) in order to pass on to candidacy (proposal + thesis). After what seems like an interminably long time, my orals lists are finally situated with a rationale and I’m just waiting for the green light of scheduling a date. It felt like being lost in the woods for ever until over the past 2 months actually everything clicked and I could suddenly see the bigger picture and start outlining my dissertation. You seem to already have a firm grasp on things. Are your professors willing to eye them and give you pointers before the examination?
Thanks for your comment and commiseration. Our program is one year of coursework, four area (qualifying exam) lists, two qualifying papers/oral defenses, then onto the prospectus and thesis. I have a few friends at your stage of the game and I am hearing comments from them that are similar to yours. I am in a weird place right now in shifting the focus of my project which necessitates my finding a, basically, entirely new committee (we have two: a pro tem committee which dissolves after the oral exam and then a prospectus/thesis committee which may or may not contain any or all of your pro tem members) but my present committee is awesomely supportive of what I want to do and they’ve been great in looking at my lists and offering feedback. I don’t like sending them copious drafts of my lists, however, which is part of the reason I took to making them available online. It helps me feel like I’m making progress as well as contributing something to those kindred souls out there who are lost in a PhD wasteland.
I look forward to reading more on your blog. I just read the post you did on teaching first-year courses. Solidarity, my friend.