Scholars@Duke
Nancy Armstrong

Nancy Armstrong CV

Gilbert, Louis, and Edward Lehrman Distinguished Professor Emerita of English
English
n.b.armstrong@duke.edu
Box 90015, Durham, NC 27708-0015
303 Allen Bldg, Box 90015, Durham, NC 27708
Office hours
CV

Selected Presentations & Appearances

Manuscript Workshop - Franklin Humanities Institute · June 2021 Instructional Course, Workshop, or Symposium Cate Reilly,
Introducing The Prosthetic Imagination - Cambridge University Press · November 18, 2020 Invited Talk Peter Boxall, Webinar
The migrant novel: on becoming what we are not. - American Studies Program · March 2019 Invited Talk USC,
The migrant novel: on becoming what we are not. - Endowed Lecture · December 2018 Invited Talk Occidental College,
Millenium Novels, Global Readers · December 2018 Keynote/Named Lecture University of Bologna,
Growing up Stories, half-hour radio Interview · November 22, 2018 Interview ABC Sydney,
Why the Bildungsroman No Longer Works - The Bildungsroman: Form and Transformations · November 2018 Keynote/Named Lecture University of Sydney,
The migrant novel: on becoming what we are not. - Global F(r)ictions · November 2018 Keynote/Named Lecture University of Bologna,
The Bildungsroman: Gorm and Tranformations · November 2018 Keynote/Named Lecture University of Sydney,
Desire & Domestic Fiction After 30 Years - Special Session of the Modern Language Association · January 2018 Other
Conversation with Anne Garréta - The Novel Project · 2017 Invited Talk Duke University,
Disavowal & Domestic Fiction - Annual Victorian Studies Conference · 2017 Other CUNY,
How American Novels Think Biopolically - The Biopolitical Turn in Literature · 2015 Invited Talk Duke University,
Imagining community without property - Plenary talk · 2015 Invited Talk Cornell University Humanities Institute,
Aspects of the American Network Novel · 2015 Lecture American University,
Journal of narrative Theory dialogues: After Post-structuralism? · 2015 Lecture Eastern Michigan University,
Why Teaching Literature? (Panel sponsored by Division on Teaching Literature) - MLA 2014 · January 9, 2014 Invited Talk Chicogo, MLA Conference

Invited Talk
Property Cannot Be Defended: The Ground of American Fiction - American Studies seminar · 2014 Lecture Uppsala University,
Do wasps just want to have fun?: Darwin on the problem of variation - High Seminar · 2014 Invited Talk Stockholm University,
The Biopolitical Jane Eyre - Brigham Young University · 2014 Invited Talk Brigham Young University

Invited Talk
Faculty Symposium: Early American Aspects of the Novel - Brigham Young University · 2014 Invited Talk American Studies seminar, Brigham Young University

Invited Talk
Early American Aspects of the Novel (Session Sponsored by Division on 20th-Century Literature) - MLA · January 2014 Invited Talk Chicogo, MLA Conference

Invited Talk
Property Cannot Be Defended: The Ground of American Fiction · 2014 Lecture Wake Forest University,
Nancy Armstrong on Gender, Novels, and the Afterlife of a Landmark Book - Humanities Institute Interviews · 2014 Interview Brigham Young University, YouTube
How the novel creates (not just reflects) reality" - Thinking Aloud · 2014 Interview BYU Radio,
Response: Evidence and Argument - NAVSA annual meeting · October 2013 Invited Talk Pasadena

Invited Talk
Keynote lecture: The Networked Novel and What it Did to Domestic Fiction · June 2013 Invited Talk Jane Austen Society Meeting, UNC Chapel Hill

Invited Talk
Keynote Lecture: When Sympathy Fails: The Affective Turn in Contemporary Fiction - Swiss Professors of English Language and Literature--annual conference · April 2013 Invited Talk

Invited Talk
The Conversion Effect - Society for Early Americanists annual conference · March 2013 Invited Talk Savannah, GA

Invited Talk; Armstrong and Len Tennenhouse
Keynote lecture: Darwin on the Liberty and Limits of Biological Life - Victorian Studies Society of Australia · 2013 Invited Talk Macquarie University, Macquarie University, Australia

Invited Talk
Master Class on Armstrong's published work - University of Sidney · 2013 Lecture University of Sidney

Invited Lectures
Public lecture: The Affective Turn of Contemporary Fiction - University of Sidney · 2013 Invited Talk University of Sidney

Invited Talk
Forum: on how to establish a Center for the Study of the Novel - Faculty seminar · 2013 Invited Talk University of Sidney,

Invited Talk
The Affective Turn In Contemporary Fiction · 2013 Lecture University of Sidney,
Master class: literature and the emotions - Doctoral Students in Swiss Universities · 2013 Lecture University of Lausanne

Invited Lectures
Darwin's Garden - Comparative Literature Annual Endowed Lecture · 2013 Lecture Texas Tech University,
Novel Worlds - The State of Things · April 2012 Broadcast Appearance NPR,

with Frank Stasio
Keynote lecture: The Victorian Archive and Its Secret · 2012 Invited Talk The Interdisciplinary Nineteenth Century Association,
Plenary lecture: Darwin's Uncodable Difference - Systems of Life Conference · 2012 Invited Talk Huntington Library, Pasadena

Invited Talk; N. Armstrong
Tocqueville, Foucault, Hawthorne: The Paradox of American Individualism - Center for the Study of the Novel · 2012 Invited Talk Stanford University, Center for the Novel, Stanford University

Invited Talk; N. Armstrong
Endowed Lecture: The Victorian Archive and Its Secret - Brown University · 2012 Invited Talk Brown University
University Lecture: What is Contemporary Fiction? · February 2011 Lecture Cornell University, University Lecture, Cornell University

Invited Lectures
Inside the Outside of Liberal Society - Symposium on Governmentality · 2011 Lecture UC Santa Barbara,

with Warren Montag and Étienne Balibar
What is Contemporary Fiction? - English Department · 2011 Lecture UCLA,
Plenary Lecture: What Can We Do with Bare Life? · 2011 Lecture Yale University, Plenary Lecture, Symposium on René Girard, Yale University

Invited Lectures
Plenary Lecture: Imagining Sovereignty in the Age of Democracy: Toqueville, Foucault, and Hawthorne - Arizona Quarterly · 2010 Lecture University of Arizona,

Invited Lectures
Darwin's Paradox - English Department · 2010 Lecture Yale University,
Keynote lecture: What is the Contemporary Novel? - Institure for Advanced Research, conference on Novel and Narrative · 2010 Lecture University of Freiburg, (Keynote Lecture) Freiburg Institute for Advanced Research, University of Freiburg, Germany

Invited Lectures ; 3-day symposium on "Realism in Contemporary Culture"
Endowed Lecture: Why a Good Man is Hard to Find in Victorian Literature - Vanderbilt University · 2010 Lecture Vanderbilt University
Endowed lecture: Darwin's Paradox - Carnegie Mellon University · 2009 Lecture Endowed lecture, Carnegie Mellon University

Invited Lectures
Captivity and the Question of Sovereignty - Annual Meeting of the Society of Early Americanists · 2009 Lecture Annual meeting of the Society of Early Americanists

Invited Lectures
A future without theory? - Response to President Roth, Wesleyan University · 2009 Lecture Center for the Humanities, Wesleyan University

Invited Lectures
A Gothic History of the British Novel - Conference on Narrative Domains · 2009 Lecture Oxford University Press and the University of Reading, Oxford University Press and the University of Reading

Invited Lectures
A Gothic History of the British Novel - Center for Social Theory · 2009 Lecture University of Kentucky,
How Novels Think · March 2008 Broadcast Appearance Swedish National Radio,

The role of novels in the contemporary world

University Lecture: The Literary Darwin - Victoria University · 2008 Invited Talk
The Literary Darwin - Northeastern University · 2008 Lecture Graduate Program in English, Northeastern University

Invited Lectures
Endowed lecture: Gender Must be Defended - University of Minnesota · 2008 Lecture University of Minnesota

Invited Lectures ; Endowed public lecture and graduate student symposium.
Plenary lecture: Gender Must be Defended - conference on "Book Life" · 2008 Lecture University of Malmo, University of Malmö, Sweden

Invited Lectures
The Literary Darwin - Interdisciplinary 19th-century Circle · 2008 Lecture Northwestern University,

Invited Lectures
Planetary Lecture: The Barbary Captivity Narrative and the Form of American Fiction - Conference 20 years of "American Literary History" · 2008 Lecture University of Illinois, University of Illinois

Invited Lectures ; Conference celebrating 20 years of the journal "American Literary History."
The Wilde Side of Dickens - Johns Hopkins University · 2008 Lecture Johns Hopkins University

Invited Lectures ; ELH Colloquium series
Endowed lecture: Why a Good Man is Hard to Find - Notre Dame University · 2008 Lecture Notre Dame University

Invited Lectures ; Joseph Duffy memorial lecture
The Politics of Incorporation at the Dawn of Individualism - Clark Library · 2008 Lecture UCLA, Clark Library, UCLA

Invited Lectures
Plenary lecture: Evolution's Other Narrative - Symposium on Making History · 2008 Lecture Rutgers University, Rutgers University

Invited Lectures ; Keynote address at Conference on "Making History."
Darwin's Paradox - Center for the Humanities, Wesleyan University · 2008 Lecture Center for the Humanities, Wesleyan University

Invited Lectures ; Endowed public lecture and symposium.
Endowed women's studies lecture: Gender Must be Defended · 2008 Lecture University of Maryland at Baltimore, Baltimore

Invited Lectures ; Endowed Women's Studies lecture.
What's the Word - MLA Radio · February 2007 Broadcast Appearance NPR,

What the advent of photography did to the relationship between words and things
Charles Darwin, Novelist - English Department, Duke University · 2007 Lecture Duke University
Gender Must Be Defended - Conference on The Novel: Democracy's Form · 2007 Lecture Sussex University, Sussex University
The Gothic Austen - Harvard University · 2007 Lecture Harvard University
Gender Must be Defended - UCLA · 2007 Lecture UCLA
Charles Darwin, Novelist - University of Connecticut · 2007 Lecture University of Connecticut
The Problem of Masculinity in Victorian Fiction - Englisches Seminar · 2006 Lecture Universitat Freiburg, Universitat Freiburg
The Dark Side of Modern Individualism - University of New Hampshire · 2006 Lecture University of New Hampshire
Illustration - Center for the Study of the Novel · 2006 Invited Talk Stanford University, Stanford University
Publishing in Anglo-American Journals - Conference on Publishing in English Studies · 2006 Invited Talk University of Freiburg,
On the Dark Side of Modern Individualism · 2006 Other American Comparative Literature Association,
The Necessary Gothic · 2006 Other American Society for Eighteenth Century Studies,

Paper Read
Conference on the Africana Novel - Distinguished Interlocutor · 2006 Invited Talk University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh University
Writing for Publication - Annual Graduate Student Symposium · 2006 Invited Talk USC, University of Southern California
The Future of a Forum on Fiction - Conference on Humanities Journals: Past and Future · 2005 Invited Talk University of Virginia, University of Virginia
The Gothic Darwin - Series on Evolution · 2005 Lecture Temple University, Temple
The Dark Side of Modern Individualism - English Department, Duke University · 2005 Lecture Duke University
The Politics of Incorporation at the Dawn of Individualism · 2005 Other Clark Library, UCLA, UCLA
Publishing Literary Scholarship - Annual Graduate Student Symposium, USC · 2005 Other University of Southern California
Keynote lecture: Civilized Savagery:The Violence of Victorian Fiction - Conference on Violence and Recuperation · 2005 Invited Talk McGill University, McGill University

Keynote lecture
Feminism, Fiction, and the Utopian Promise of Dracula - Harvard University · 2004 Lecture English Department, Harvard University
Feminism, Fiction, and the Utopian Promise of Dracula - University of South Dakota · 2004 Lecture University of South Dakota
Image and Empire - Visual Studies Conference · 2003 Lecture Michigan State University,
Feminism, Fiction, and the Utopian Promise of Dracula · 2003 Lecture University of North Carolina-Greensboro, University of North Carolina at Greensboro
Plenary: Feminism, Fiction, and the Utopian Promise of Dracula · 2003 Lecture North America Victorian Studies Associatioon,
What's New In American Feminism - Faculty Seminar with Ellen Rooney · 2003 Invited Talk University of Coimbra (Portugal), University of Coimbra, Portugal
Feminism, Fiction, and the Utopian Promise of Dracula - Futures of Utopia Conference · 2003 Lecture Duke University
Novels and the Middle Class - Odyssey · December 17, 2002 Broadcast Appearance NPR , Chicago

with Judith Smith and Sanjay Joshi
Who are the Victorians and why do they appeal to us? - Odyssey · October 19, 2002 Broadcast Appearance NPR , Chicago
The Rise of the Novel: A Comparative Assessment - The Center for the Study of the Novel · 2002 Lecture Stanford University, Stanford University
The Object Dependency of Enlightenment Letters · 2002 Lecture MLA ,
The Polygenic Imagination - Graduate Student/Faculty Seminar · 2002 Invited Talk Stanford University, Stanford University
Endowed Lecture: Why a Good Man is Hard to Find... - Bryn Mawr College · 2002 Lecture Bryn Mawr College
How Novels Think - In Honor of Homer O. Brown · 2002 Lecture UC Irvine, UC Irvine
Structuralism's Unfinished Business - Program in Cultural Studies. Liverpool John Moore's · 2002 Lecture Liverpool John Moores University
Authenticity After Photography - Student-Faculty Seminar · 2002 Invited Talk Liverpool John Moore's University, Liverpool John Moores University
Plenary Lecture: Image and Empire: A Brief Genealogy of Visual Culture - International Institute for Visual Theory and Cultural Studies · 2002 Lecture National Chiao Tung University, Taiwan, National Chiao tung University, Taiwan
Plenary Lecture: Structuralism's Unfinished Business - Conference on American Literature · 2002 Lecture University of Arizona, Univerity of Arizona
Plenary lecture: Structuralism's Unfinished Business · 2001 Lecture Dartmouth Institute in American Studies,
Vampire Nation - Strathclyde University · 2001 Invited Talk Strathclyde University, Scotland
How Novels Think · 2001 Invited Talk Harvard University Humanities Center,
Monarchy In the Age of Mechanical Reproduction - University of British Columbia · 2001 Lecture U British Columbia
Why a Good Man is Hard to Find in Victorian Fiction - Pembroke Center conference · 2001 Invited Talk Brown University, Pembroke Center Conference
When Novels Made Nations - Glasgow University · 2001 Lecture Glasgow University
Public Lecture: Monarchy in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction · 2001 Invited Talk Liverpool John Moore's University,
Malthusian Gothic - International Gothic Association Meeting · 2001 Invited Talk University of British Columbia,
Why a Good Man is Hard to Find - Canadian Victorian Studies Association · 2001 Lecture Simon Fraser University,
The Bad Subject - Comparative Eighteenth-Century Literature Division Meeting · 2001 Lecture Modern Language Association,
Public Lecture: Why a Good Man is Hard to Find · 2001 Lecture Liverpool John Moore's University, Liverpool John Moore's University
Fiction in the Age of Photography - Night Waves · January 25, 2000 Interview BBC Radio 3,
Plenary Lecture: Why a Good Man is Hard to Find in Victorian Fiction - Conference on Nineteenth-Century Literature · 2000 Lecture UCLA,
Surviving the Photograph - Roundtable Speaker · 2000 Lecture Princeton University, Princeton University
For Disciplinarity - Roundtable on Interdisciplinarity: The Competing Claims of Literature and History · 2000 Invited Talk American Society for Eighteenth Century Studies,
Keynote Lecture: When Novels Made Nations - Conference on The Romantic-Era Novel · 1999 Lecture University of Groningen, Netherlands
Plenary Lecture: The Discourse Thing - Conference on Liberalism and Cultural Studies · 1998 Lecture Whitney Humanities Center, Yale University,
Keynote Lecture: The Victorianism of Queen Victoria's Writing - Annual Conference on Women Writers · 1998 Lecture University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill
History is in the Shot · 1997 Lecture MLA Conference,
Monarchy in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction - Queen Victoria Symposium · 1997 Invited Talk Yale British Art Center,
The Picturesque Imperative · 1997 Lecture North American Society for the Study of Romanticism,
Keynote lecture: Fiction in the Age of Photography - International Narrative Conference · 1997 Lecture University of Florida,
Plenary lecture: Fiction in the Age of Photography · 1997 Lecture Victorian Studies Conference, CUNY, CUNY
Keynote lecture: Captivity and Cultural Capital - International Eighteenth-Century Conference · 1997 Lecture University of Groningen, Netherlands

Service to the Profession

External PhD Committee Member - University of Lausanne · 2020 Committee Service
External Examiner - M. Phil · 2016 Committee Service University of Sydney,
Founder and executive board member. - Society for Novel Studies, and International learned society · 2011 Event/Organization Administration
Member: NEASC accrediation team, Harvard University · 2009 Other

Service to the Profession
University Tenure, Promotion and Appointments · 2007 - 2009 Committee Service Brown University,
Chair - External Review Committee English Department · 2007 Committee Service Dartmouth University,
Member - NEASC team to accredit · 2006 Committee Service Brandeis University,
External Examiner - President's Tenure Committee · 2006 Committee Service Harvard University,
External Examiner - English Department · 2004 Committee Service Michigan State University,
External Examiner - M.A. in English Studies · 2004 - 2006 Consulting University of Hong Kong,
NEASC Team to Accredit - Tufts University · 2003 Committee Service
External Examiner - Provost's Tenure · 2003 Committee Service Committee. Columbia University,
External Examiner - Tenure Review Committees · 2003 Committee Service Brandeis University, University of Toronto, University of Melbourne,
Editorial Board - Publication of the Modern Language Association · 2001 - 2003 Editorial Activities
Radcliffe Fellowship Selection Committee · 2000 Committee Service
Mary Ingraham Bunting Fellowship Selection Committee · 2000 - 2015 Committee Service
President - Society for Critical Exchange · 2000 - 2001 Event/Organization Administration
External Review Team - Department of English · 2000 Committee Service University of Oklahoma,
External Examiner - Fundacao para a Ciencia e a Tecnologia · 1999 - 2003 Committee Service Humanities Departments and Centers in Portugal,
Member - NEASC team to accredit · 1999 - 1999 Committee Service Dartmouth University,
Chair - James Russell Lowell Prize Committee · 1997 - 1999 Committee Service Modern Language Association,
Editor - Novel: A Forum on Fiction · 1996 - 2018 Editorial Activities
Editorial Board - NINES: Network Infrastructure for Nineteenth-Century Electronic Scholarship · 1990 Editorial Activities
Editorial Board - Eighteenth-Century Studies · 1990 Editorial Activities
Editorial Board - Victorian Studies · 1990 Editorial Activities
Editorial Board - Modern Language Quarterly · 1990 Editorial Activities
Editorial Collective - Cultural Critique · 1990 Editorial Activities
Editorial Board - Differences · 1990 Editorial Activities
Editorial Board - Victorian Literature and Culture · 1990 Editorial Activities
Editorial Board - Nineteenth-Century contexts · 1990 Editorial Activities
Editorial Board - Victoriographes: A Journal of Nineteenth-Century Writing · 1990 Editorial Activities
Co-editor - Genders · 1989 - 1991 Editorial Activities

Service to Duke

Provost's Committee on Tenure and Promotion Standards (University) · 2017 Committee Service Duke University,
Search Committee for History and Theory of the Novel (Department) · 2015 - 2016 Committee Service
Appointments,Tenure, and Promotion Committee APT (University) · 2014 - 2017 Committee Service
Co-Director . The Novel Project at Duke · 2014 - 2018 Event/Organization Administration
Co-Director (University) · 2014 Committee Service The Novel Project, Duke University
Search Committee for Seventeenth-Century British Literature (Department) · 2014 Committee Service
Associate DGS English (Department) · 2012 - 2015 Committee Service
Executive Council of the Graduate Faculty (University) · 2012 - 2013 Committee Service
Named Chairs Committee (University) · 2010 - 2013 Committee Service
Graduate Committee (Department) · 2010 - 2015 Committee Service
Search Committee for an assistant professor of contemporary literature (Department) · 2010 Committee Service
Graduate Admissions Committee (Department) · 2010 - 2015 Committee Service