Words Matter! The 20th Anniversary of the Eldredge Prize

September 12, 2008

This event brought together fourteen winners of the museum’s Charles C. Eldredge Prize, awarded annually to the author of the best book in the field of American art. Each speaker chose a word to muse upon—a word that is a critical term for the field, represents an especially compelling approach for the study of American art, or has galvanized his or her own scholarship. 

Symposium Program

2:00–3:15 p.m.

  • Musings
  • “Words We Write By”
  • Introduction by Sarah Burns
  • Panelists: Wanda M. Corn, Caroline A. Jones, Margaretta M. Lovell, David M. Lubin, Angela L. Miller, Rebecca Zurier

3:30–4:45 p.m.

  • Roundtable
  • “Words that Inspire Scholarship”
  • Moderated by Sally M. Promey
  • Panelists: Anthony W. Lee, Richard Meyer, Edward J. Nygren, Sue Rainey, Alan Trachtenberg

5–6 p.m.

  • Lecture by the 2008 Eldredge Prize Winner
  • “Art Worlds: World Arts”
  • JoAnne M. Mancini
Speakers and Their Words

Sarah Burns, Indiana University

  • words matter

Wanda M. Corn, Stanford University

  • gender

Caroline A. Jones, MIT

  • visibility

Anthony W. Lee, Mount Holyoke College

  • silence

Margaretta M. Lovell, University of California, Berkeley

  • money

David M. Lubin, Wake Forest University

  • pleasure

JoAnne M. Mancini, National University of Ireland

  • worlds

Richard Meyer, University of Southern California

  • censorship

Angela L. Miller, Washington University in Saint Louis

  • reciprocity

Edward J. Nygren, independent scholar

  • place

Sally M. Promey, Yale University

  • conversations

Sue Rainey, independent scholar

  • context

Alan Trachtenberg, Yale University (emeritus)

  • history

Rebecca Zurier, University of Michigan

  • facture