The Cavendish Collective Virtual Workshop

The Cavendish Collective Virtual Workshop

The Cavendish Collective is a virtual reading group dedicated to investigating the philosophical writings of Margaret Cavendish, Duchess of Newcastle (1623-1673). Our participants are primarily PhD students from several universities working on Margaret Cavendish and adjacent authors in the early modern period. We are excited to host our second annual virtual workshop to promote collaboration among researchers interested in the philosophical writings of Margaret Cavendish.

The event will be held virtually on Saturday, June 15, 2024 and will consist of a series of presentations arranged thematically by topic. Each participant will receive 20 minutes of presentation time followed by 20 minutes of discussion.

Workshop Schedule

Note: All listed times are in Eastern Daylight Time (EDT)

Opening Remarks: 8:55 AM

9:00 AM - Speaker: Daniel Whiting (Southampton)
Title: "Margaret Cavendish on Music"

9:50 AM - Speaker: Mary Purcell (Duke)
Title: "Freedom, Infinitude, and Order in Margaret Cavendish"

10:40 AM - Speaker: Aisling O'Leary (Harvard)
Title: "Margaret Cavendish on Conceivability"

11:30 AM - Speaker: Jan Forsman (Iowa)
Title: "Margaret Cavendish's Mitigated Skepticism"

Lunch Break: 12:10 - 1:00 PM

1:00 PM - Speaker: Lily Batty (Bryn Mawr)
Title: "A New World: Cavendish's Blazing World and Contemporary Colonial Influences"

1:50 PM - Speaker: Allauren Forbes (McMaster)
Title: "Margaret Cavendish's Feminist Utopias: Speech, Silence, and Gendered Space"

2:40 PM - Speaker: Toby Sandoval (UT Austin)
Title: "Going Through the Motions: Memory and Remembrance in Cavendish"

3:30 PM - Speaker: Jessica Tooker (Indiana, Bloomington)
Title: "Stability from Flux in Assaulted and Pursued Chastity" 

To register for the event, please submit your e-mail address using the registration form on our website: