Mod/Con
The Mod/Con Working Group is coordinated and funded by the Department of English.
Mod/Con, Penn English's Modernist and Contemporary Literatures Reading Group, is a working group devoted to the discussion of cultural and literary problematics in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. Our critical and historical interests range from the late nineteenth century through to the present day, across early and high moderism, postmodernism, and beyond. Each semester, we work to develop ways of thinking about these period markers—how they differ, what they share—through invited lectures and works-in-progress by graduate students and faculty in and outside of the Penn English community. In tandem with these works-in-progress, Mod/Con frequently hosts reading events of scholarly monographs as well as works of short fiction and poetry. We hope you can join us for an event!
For more information or to be placed on the Mods listserv, please contact Christos Kalli (kallic@sas.upenn.edu) and Rylee Smith (rylees@sas.upenn.edu).
Upcoming Events
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Michael Watkins WIP
April 9, 2026 - 5:00pm to 6:30pm -
Ailin Jain WIP
April 24, 2026 - 5:00pm to 6:30pm
Past Events
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"Experiments in Ownership," with a focus on Proust -- CANCELLED: NEW DATE TBA
Ravit Reichman (Brown University)February 13, 2014 - 5:00pm to 6:00pm -
Mock Job Talk: "Mid-Century Illustration and the Modernist Surface"
Emily Hyde (University of Pennsylvania)January 24, 2014 - 2:00pm to 3:00pm -
Rita Felski (University of Virginia)
November 21, 2013 - 6:30pm to 7:30pm -
WIP: "Leopold Bloom's Two Drawers in 7 Eccles Street"
Philip Tsang, Graduate Student, University of PennsylvaniaOctober 22, 2013 - 5:00pm to 7:00pm -
WIP: "Beginning Again with The Making of Americans: Towards a Queer History of Modern Epic"
Vaclav Paris, Graduate Student, University of PennsylvaniaOctober 1, 2013 - 6:00pm to 7:30pm -
"Translation's Readers"
Rebecca Walkowitz, Rutgers University, Professor of EnglishSeptember 18, 2013 - 5:00pm to 7:00pm -
The Twentieth-Century Job Market: A Roundtable
September 18, 2013 - 2:00pm to 4:00pm -
Peter Nicholls (New York University) "Skeptics, cynics, and pessimists: a pre-history of modernism" Lunch to be provided (Cosponsored by Theorizing.)
April 18, 2013 - 12:00pm to 1:30pm -
D I S A B I L I T Y & M O D E R N I S M A two day conference.
Drinks reception, Faculty Lounge, FBHMarch 15, 2013 - 5:30pm to 6:30pm -
D I S A B I L I T Y & M O D E R N I S M A two day conference.
Closing Discussion Moderator: Jed Esty, Professor of English | University of PennsylvaniaMarch 15, 2013 - 4:45pm to 5:30pm

Department of English
