Ula Klein

1. How has the pandemic changed your research agenda or writing process, if at all?
My next project is meant to be on the idea of queer tourism, and I had a lot of travel planned that I wanted to do for the project, but that’s had to be put on hold, clearly! Aside from that, though, I also had a baby in the middle of the pandemic, so my son’s arrival paired with the pandemic has really forced me to think about how I allocate my time. I’m much more protective of my time now, and I’ve had to say “no” to several invitations for work not directly related to my personal projects.

2. Any recent developments/publications/interests/pets you would like us to publicize?
My book Sapphic Crossings: Cross-Dressing Women in Eighteenth-Century Literature is out now (UVA Press, 2021). It’s my first book, and I am incredibly proud that it’s out in print now. I also have a chapter in Misty Kreuger’s edited volume Transatlantic Women Travelers 1688-1843 on female pirates and an article out with SEL entitled “Fanny Price as Disabled Heroine in Mansfield Park.”

3. How can institutions change orientation sessions in 2021 to help new students and faculty acclimate to their new school, college, or university from afar/remotely?
Having started a new job during the pandemic, I think that online sessions are important for helping faculty acclimate—including “fun” sessions like happy hours with breakout sessions on Zoom or similar video platforms. HR orientations should be offered frequently especially in July and August before the semester starts. Additionally, it is really helpful if the department receiving the new hire has individuals reach out to them and either have a virtual chat or else invite them out for a socially distanced hangout, weather permitting. It can be very lonely starting a new job in a pandemic!

4. What have you seen as effective in terms of how scholars use social media? In terms of how scholars remain productive in challenging times?
I enjoy having those connections on social media in between conferences. I think to really make effective use of social media especially on, for example, Twitter, it’s important for scholars to make connections with non-academics who work in their field of study. I follow Regency romance and historical fiction authors, museum curators, tour guides and costumers who specialize in eighteenth-century clothing because many of these people have done research into the material culture of the eighteenth century. Sometimes I’ve managed to find sources and information through those channels rather than through scholarly ones.

5. Any advice on prioritizing work objectives, or declining professional requests/ "saying no”?
My best advice is to always think: what will be the payoff and will I enjoy it? In our productivity-centered world, we tend to focus on output at the expense of pure enjoyment. Additionally, our society often pressures women to take on various kinds of service and to downplay our use of our own time. I’m trying to undo some of that thinking by prioritizing projects that I want to write, and to say no to anything that is not either directly related to those projects or which I would not enjoy. I still do service to the profession, but I try to say yes when it matters and when the timing is right for me.

6. Any suggestions for what the Women’s Caucus and its members can do to support adjuncts/instructors/junior faculty/independent scholars/K-12 teachers (take your pick)--both as an organization and as individuals?
​Protecting vulnerable individuals at the ASECS annual meeting and also making them feel welcome is so important! Inviting them to lunch or dinner (and paying for them), including them in your circle at reception, introducing them to other scholars…these are seemingly small things that can make a difference in cultivating the next generation of scholars. Beyond that, I think that the NTT Fund is a good start, but I’d like to see ASECS be even more accessible. The Caucus might consider how to make ASECS membership and the conference fee free for adjuncts and contingent faculty and to expand the travel funds to the conference for such individuals. Equally important is a conversation about how to make it possible in the future to attend ASECS digitally for scholars who are unable to attend physically.

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