The Center for American Literary Studies “Unprecedented” webinar series grew out of the online-only days of the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition to “Unprecedented,” Americans during that period heard a lot about “Isolation,” in one of two ways. First, physical isolation, so as to stop the spread of the virus. Second, social isolation, or the feeling of loneliness and seclusion that followed from physical isolation. In the first CALS webinar of the year, three scholars whose work touches on isolation will gather to help us think about isolation generally by sharing how the word informs their scholarship specifically.

Catherine F Belling is associate professor of medical education at the Feinberg School of Medicine at Northwestern University. Her most recent work focuses on hypochondria, pain, and folk horror films. From 2013 to 2018, she edited Literature and Medicine.

Hester Blum is professor of English at Penn State. Her latest monograph is The News at the Ends of the Earth: The Print Culture of Polar Exploration. She will present work from a new project, “Castaways,” which is a meditation on “female Robinson Crusoe’s.”

Brenda Jo Brueggemann is the Aetna Endowed Chair of Writing at the University of Connecticut. Her 2009 book, Deaf Subjects: Between Identities and Places, is a landmark text in disability studies. Her more recent work focuses on deaf studies, disability studies, and disability art and creative expression. She is the co-editor of Disability Studies.