“Acknowledgements” in “Cultivating Feminist Choices”
Acknowledgements
Any major scholarly and creative undertaking demands the labor, time, and care of many people; in this case, we asked our contributors to join us in an unusual process. Not only were they willing to experiment with styles of writing that were unfamiliar and that took risks, but they were also eager to help us develop the process for a truly collaborative, edited anthology. Our contributors played the roles of author, peer reviewer, editor, and advisor, and they did so with great generosity, ease, and kindness. You will read more about the collaborative process for this volume in the introduction, and for now we would like to extend our gratitude to Martina Anderson, Angelika Bammer, Angelica Fenner, Alison C. Guenther-Pal, Shawn Jarvis, Rick McCormick, Elizabeth Mittman, Monika Moyrer, Lisa C. Roetzel, and Sarah Stephens for their engagement with this project and this process. A special thanks goes to Angelica Fenner, who proposed changes to the title of the volume, which we gratefully accepted.
When we decided to compile this FEminiSTSCHRIFT, we immediately contacted Ruth-Ellen’s colleagues in the Department of German, Nordic, Slavic, and Dutch at the University of Minnesota. Rick McCormick and Arlene Teraoka gave early support by advising us on what Ruth-Ellen’s preferences might be for such a project and by helping vet our early ideas. Cathy Parlin provided us with names and addresses of possible contributors—and was her usual generous self in responding to miscellaneous queries during our work. We missed the collaborative and friendly spirit that we experienced in our years in Folwell Hall, and it’s nice to know that it endures.
Shawn Jarvis worked with Brian Vetruba at the University of Minnesota’s Wilson Library to compile bibliographies of Ruth-Ellen’s books and articles, as well as a list of dissertations that she supervised during her time at the University of Minnesota. We are pleased to be able to share those useful lists with you in the appendices to this volume.
Clint Hutzulak at Rayola Creative gave the volume its flair. We appreciate his work on both the cover design and the overall formatting, in both the print and online versions. We are extremely thankful for his patience with our many revisions.
Financial support for this project was provided by the University of Victoria, the College of Wooster, and Macalester College. The support from the College of Wooster came from a stipend that Beth Ann Muellner received after participating in a Faculty College for Women Associate Professors, and it seems fitting that those funds stem from yet another feminist collaboration, this time with Wooster colleagues Jen Bowen and Angie Bos. We are particularly grateful for the book subvention grants from the University of Victoria that made it possible for us to make this book openly accessible under a creative commons license. We firmly believe in building access through open publishing, but we recognize that this type of endeavor costs money; we are pleased we received the funds to publish this work in a way that reflects the collaborative and open spirit of the project.
Inba Kehoe was our editor at the UVic Libraries. Her keen eye and insistence on consistency improved not only the language of this work but also the underpinning ideas. We are grateful for her constructive feedback as well as her patience with us as we considered her comments. We greatly appreciate her willingness to edit the book under a strict timeline with such efficiency, expertise, and attention to detail.
One of the biggest editorial challenges we had as we worked together—first with each other and then with Inba—was how we should name our mentor, Dr. Ruth-Ellen Boetcher Joeres. We know all too well from our work with Ruth-Ellen that women authors are too frequently called by their first names, while men are almost always referred to by their last. So, what should we do in texts that discuss both personal and professional relationships with Ruth-Ellen, that discuss Ruth-Ellen as a mentor, a scholar, and a friend? Do we write as we would speak and call her Ruth-Ellen? Boetcher Joeres? Joeres? We thank Inba for encouraging us to make our text friendlier and easier to read by using the first name; at the same time, we decided that in certain instances, especially when we refer to Ruth-Ellen as a scholar, we would use the name Joeres. Inba’s invaluable assistance helped us work through these thorny questions, which are so tied up with language and power, an awareness of which stems from the substance of our earlier work with Ruth-Ellen.
Finally, we want to thank Dr. Ruth-Ellen Boetcher Joeres. Without you, there would be no “we” and none of the connections and relationships that have flourished on the pages here—and, of course, in our lives beyond the pages—would be possible. We are grateful that you gently reminded us time and again that naming is an act of power. We thank you, Dr. Ruth-Ellen Boetcher Joeres, with all your names and titles.
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