Frances Gandy

Librarian and Curator

Research and Teaching Interests

Research themes

Librarians get very little research time, but recent projects have focussed on the work of William James, on Gertrude Stein, and on the nineteenth-century historical and literary backgrounds to the work of Cormac McCarthy. My key research area is the work of Wallace Stevens.

Teaching responsibilities

In the limited time available for teaching, I supervise in English and American Literature for Girton and other Cambridge colleges, and I lecture for the Faculty of English.

Other

I acted as Project Coordinator for the extension to the Library, and was closely involved in the design development process and the fundraising. The building went on to win three national awards – RIBA, Civic Trust and SCONUL.

I have been a Fellow at Girton since 1987 when I was appointed Librarian and Curator. This means that I am Head of Department for the care and promotion of the College's collections – libraries, archive, special collections and pictures. I am part of the team responsible for the Lawrence Room antiquities collection, and I also work with the Royal Society of Portrait Painters in curating the People's Portraits exhibition, which is housed permanently in Girton. I was an undergraduate Tutor for 10 years and have been Graduate Tutor for Sciences since 2003.