Teresa Brennan papers (Ms.2009.014)

The Teresa Brennan papers contain a broad range of materials dating between 1965 and 2002. Letters, research notes, institution building materials, syllabi, lecture notes, manuscript drafts, and other such material comprise the largest component of this collection. The papers are arranged into seven series, some with multiple subseries.

Series 1, Professional Materials, is arranged into three subseries. The first subseries, Teaching, contains syllabi, lecture notes, and other teaching materials from Brennan's various teaching positions at Brandeis, Harvard, and the New School for Social Research. Most of this material is dated between 1994 and 1998.

The second subseries, Florida Atlantic University, contains a variety of materials dating between 1994-2002. Brennan was one of the founding members of the Public Intellectuals program at FAU and as such had a great deal of material about the design and creation of the program, as well as the continual changes that took place as the program grew. These items include meeting agendas, drafts of program publications, memos between faculty and administration, budgets, and travel documents. Also included in this section are materials related to the controversy around the Schmidt Foundation and UNESCO funded professorship at FAU, in which Brennan played a great part. In subseries three are the appointment books and dossiers of Brennan.

Correspondence is the second series in the Teresa Brennan papers. This series contains handwritten and typed letters, as well as printed email. It is divided into three different subseries. The first subseries, Personal, contains a large number of Brennan's personal correspondence with friends, family, former colleagues and students, and other people with whom she initiated a relationship. The letters date from 1972 and 2002.

Subseries two, Academic Correspondence, is comprised of letters related to Brennan's professional life in academia. These letters are about department development, course content, speaking engagements, publications, conference organization and other like material. This correspondence is dated between 1975 and 2001. People who corresponded with Brennan include, but are not limited to, Kelly Oliver, Drucilla Cornell, Alice Jardine, Judith Butler, and Anthony Giddens.

Subseries three contains the correspondence, chapter drafts, and galleys of the Oxford University Press series entitled, Readings on Feminism, of which Brennan was an editor. The letters are primarily between Brennan, the Oxford UP, and the editors of the individual editions. These correspondents include Ann Kaplan, Drucilla Cornell, Kelly Oliver, Evelyn Fox Keller, Anne Phillips, Londa Schiebinger, Genevieve Lloyd, and Joan Wallach Scott. Correspondence in this subseries clearly demonstrates the development of a themed series of publications and the publication process, as well as the genealogy of feminist thought.

Series three, Writings and Research, contain materials written or collected by Brennan for research purposes between 1974-2000. Included in this series are drafts of and notes about many of Brennan's books, including The Interpretation of the Flesh, History After Lacan, Exhausting Modernity, The Transmission of Affect, and Globalization and its Terrors.. The other materials are drafts of articles, book introductions, and chapters of edited publications. Along with these writings are Brennan's research materials for Brennan's 2002 book, Globalization and its Terrors.

Brennan also had a large collection of others' writings and international journals, which comprise Series Four. The materials range from 1968 to 2000.

Series five, Conferences and Organizations, contains items related to Brennan's involvement in the American Sociological Association, International Women's Resource Agency, Inc., the World Health Organization, and other groups. Also in this series are materials from conferences at which Brennan presented at or attended.

Series Six, Books and Media, contains copies of Brennan's books, as well as books that contain a great deal of marginalia by Brennan. Also in this series are disks, CDs and cassette tapes containing materials by Brennan and materials to which Brennan listened.

Series Seven, Personal, is made up of four subseries. The first subseries, Early Academics and Writings, has materials written by Brennan during her undergraduate studies in Australia, as well as her early Master's work. Other materials include theatre reviews and editorials written by Brennan for various Australian newspapers.

Subseries two, Flora Brennan, contains notebooks, books, and letters of Flora Brennan, the aunt of Teresa Brennan. Subseries three, Photographs, is comprised of snapshots of Brennan with friends, family, and colleagues. The photographs appear to range in date from 1985 to 2002. In subseries four, Newsclippings, are many clippings of various newspapers relating to the events in New York City, the Pentagon, and Pennsylvania on September 11, 2001. Also in the subseries are some clippings around the "Juanita" case from 1970s Sydney, Australia.