Prioritizing Pedagogy in Victorian Studies

Abstract

This essay argues that practical discussions about pedagogy in the field of Victorian studies warrant a regular place in major field-based conferences and journals as well as greater attention in graduate programs at large to maintain our discipline's viability. While conversations about and tools to help with teaching have become more prominent in digital projects like Undisciplining the Victorian Classroom and COVE, these topics continue to be minimized at conferences like NAVSA and are often relegated to special issues of Victorian studies journals. By “defamiliarizing” pedagogy, we ask the field of Victorian studies to reckon with the ways its systems of prestige and recognition sideline teacher-scholars working at teaching-intensive institutions, community colleges, high schools, and minority-serving institutions. We assert that, given the current state of the job market, more space must be dedicated to pedagogical research, and requirements for tenure/promotion need to recognize pedagogy as a viable field of research. Such attention to pedagogy will contribute to efforts to decolonize Victorian studies, attend more deeply to gendered and racialized labor politics, and mobilize for collective action.