The annual meeting was held at Emmanuel College, Cambridge on 27 and 28 March.

PROGRAMME

Friday 27 March

2.15pm           Committee Meeting

4pm                  Business Meeting

4.30pm           Solzheitsyn and the Russian Literary Tradition, Irina Kirillova (Newnham College, Cambridge)

7pm                  Conference Dinner

8.45pm            The Haunted Screen, Dr Michael Minden (Jesus College, Cambridge)

Saturday 28 March

9.30am           Molière’s faux raissoneurs, Dr P.J. Ford (Clare College, Cambridge)

11.30am         Hofmannsthal’s Lebenslied, Dr N. Paxton (formerly Manchester Grammar School and Huddersfield Polytechnic)

THE 1987 SURVEY

The Society conducted a general survey of its members at this meeting, seeking their opinions on the Society and the annual meeting.

When asked why they had joined the Society, members cited various reasons ranging from the social to the intellectual. Then as now, networking with colleagues was particularly valued, as was the Cambridge setting. But members were keen on spending more time in conversation with Faculty representatives. The Society Committee hoped that this would be achieved by adopting the recommendation that the President should invite six Faculty members to the Conference Dinner as guests of the Society.

The content of the lectures apparently caused “a considerable rift” between those who thought that the Society ought to avoid “anything narrowly pedagogic” and those who valued the opportunity to keep up with the university’s latest ideas, especially those concerning examinations and entrance requirements.