The Kate Chopin International Society

Our mission

The mission of The Kate Chopin International Society is to provide a network and forum for the study of American author Kate Chopin (1850-1904). The society encourages and supports scholarship and activities that illuminate Chopin’s contribution to the American literary tradition, and it seeks to preserve her literary significance for future generations.

Our history--we are five years old now!

The Society was formed in 2004 by Heather Ostman and Avis Hewitt, both English professors at American universities, after the convention of the American Literature Association, an organization made up of scholarly societies devoted to the study of American authors. Most better-known American authors have a society of their own, and Heather and Avis thought Kate Chopin deserved a scholarly society focused on her work, even though the Kate Chopin Society of North America, with a different emphasis, already existed in St. Louis.

The Kate Chopin International Society sponsored a session at the 2005 ALA convention and created an advisory board made up mostly of Chopin specialists. It sponsored sessions at the 2006, 2007, and 2008 ALA conventions and will sponsor two at the 2009 convention. You can learn about those sessions through the link on the left.

Our officers

Heather Ostman continues as president of the society and Avis Hewitt acts as secretary.

On the advisory board are Heather (State University of New York: Westchester Community College) and Avis (Grand Valley State University), Thomas Bonner (Xavier University of Louisiana), Barbara Ewell (Loyola University of New Orleans), Bernard Koloski (Mansfield University of Pennsylvania), John May (Louisiana State University), Kathleen Butterly Nigro (University of Missouri--St. Louis), Mary Papke (University of Tennessee), John Staunton (University of North Carolina at Charlotte), Helen Taylor (Exeter University, UK), and Emily Toth (Louisiana State University).

Our members, 2009

Melanie M. Austin
Seattle University

Thomas Bonner, Jr.
KCIS Board Member
Xavier University of Louisiana
tbonner@xula.edu

Christina G. Bucher
Berry College
cbucher@berry.edu

P. K. Collier
Author; Niantic, CT
PKcollier@yahoo.com

Suzanne L. Disheroon
Cedar Valley College, Lancaster, Texas
drsusiedish@gmail.com
sdisheroon@dcccd.edu

Kate S. Flynn
English Teacher, Roosevelt High School, Saint Louis
KateSFlynn@gmail.com

Meredith Frederich
Northern Illinios University
mfrederi@niu.edu

Avis Hewitt
KCIS Board Member
Grand Valley University
Avis.Hewitt@gmail.com

Lenora Hobbs
Kate Chopin Society of North America

Bernard Koloski
KCIS Board Member
Mansfield University of Pennsylvania
bkoloski@katechopin.org

Sonja Lynch
Wartburg College, Waverly, IA
sonja.lynch@wartburg.edu

John R. May
KCIS Board Member
Louisiana State University
jmay2@lsu.edu

Kerry Meehan McCann
Northern Regional College, Northern Ireland
Kerry@mccannfamily.plus.com

Crescida McCue
Humble High School
Houston Baptist University
crescida.mccue@humble.k12.tx.us

Tom Morgan
University of Dayton
morgantz@notes.udayton.edu

Cindy Murillo
University of New Mexico, Albuquerque
ccmur@unm.edu

Kathleen Butterly Nigro
KCIS Board Member
University of Missouri--St. Louis

Kelli Purcell O’Brien
University of Memphis
Kobrien1@memphis.edu

Kathryn O’Donoghue
CUNY Graduate Center, New York, NY
kathryn.erin.odonoghue@gmail.com

Heather Ostman
KCIS President
Westchester Community College, SUNY; Valhalla, NY
Heather.Ostman@sunywcc.edu

Mary Papke
KCIS Board Member
University of Tennessee
papke@utk.edu

Debby Rosenthal
John Carroll University, Cleveland, OH

Meg Sempreora
Webster University, St. Louis, MO

Reinaldo Silva
University of Aveiro, Portugal
reinaldosilva@ua.pt

Martha Sledge
Marymount Manhattan College, New York, NY
msledge@mmm.edu

John Staunton
Eastern Michigan University
jstaunto@emich.edu

Helen Taylor
KCIS Board Member
University of Exeter, UK
helen.taylor@exeter.ac.uk

Emily Toth
KCIS Board Member
Louisiana State University
etoth@lsu.edu
emtoth14@yahoo.com

Join us?

We have no dues, but a donation of $10 or more, sent to Heather Ostman, would help us with our work.

Heather.Ostman@sunywcc.edu

Other scholarly organizations

ALA: The American Literature Association

MLA: The Modern Language Association

SSAWW: The Society for the Study of American Women Writers