English grad students write, typeset and print ballads on printing press

This semester, students in ENG 8002, "The Warrior Women Project," had the opportunity to write, typeset, and print an original ballad! This course is taught by English Professor Simone Chess, and through an interdisciplinary collaboration with Art Professor Judith Moldenhauer, graduate students worked with Wayne State's newly restored Vandercook 325 printing press.

In this graduate class, the focus is on 113 early modern "Warrior Women" broadside ballads, all about characters assigned female at birth who enlist in the military as men. Working off a never-before-published catalog created by Professor Dianna Dugaw (U Oregon) in the 1970s, the class is building a searchable database of the ballads and a digital critical edition of the catalogue.

Professor Chess will teach an undergraduate version of the course ENG5190, hopefully featuring another visit with Professor Moldenhauer, in winter 2020!