Professor Anne O’Neil-Henry’s Book Manuscript Workshop:
On June 2, 2025, Professor Anne O’Neil-Henry (Department of French and Francophone Studies), one of the 2024-25 GHI grant recipients, convened a workshop on her book in progress.
Professor Anne O’Neil-Henry shared the following reflection with us about the event:
“Thanks to support from GHI, I participated in a manuscript workshop on June 2nd for my book project that studies the discourse about fuel and energy systems at the five nineteenth-century Parisian universal expositions (1855-1900). In it, I show the contested and at times contrasting ways in which narratives about developments in energy were crafted and disseminated at these major global events. To do so, I analyze journalistic reporting from the Expositions and popular literary works and souvenirs that represented the energy on display there, alongside case studies of the inventions and attractions featured at the five Expositions.
The book workshop was exciting and generative, and I benefitted greatly from the feedback given from two outside specialists from the field of nineteenth-century French studies—Andrea Goulet of the University of Pennsylvania and Masha Belenky of the George Washington University—as well as from my department chair, Susanna Lee.
Based on this workshop, I have been able to revise several chapters of my book this summer and prepare a book proposal to submit to publishers.”
Best wishes to Prof. O’Neil-Henry for the completion of her manuscript