Welcome to our new James Fenimore Cooper discussion group, The Ways of the
Hour. I'm posting this message to give visitors and new members a better idea
of the purposes of the group.

As mentioned on the main page, this group was founded because members of the
James Fenimore Cooper Society expressed interest in having an informal online
discussion network. Cooper fans are scattered far and wide, and apart from
the two major venues for Cooper scholarship--the Cooper panel at the annual
American Literature Association conferences and the biennial James Fenimore
Cooper Conference and Seminar at SUNY Oneonta--opportunities to engage in
conversations about Cooper are few. This site offers a convenient way to stay
in touch, keep informed, and meet new people with interests in Cooper.

This group will also serve as a place where people who may be new to Cooper
can ask questions and get information from the "regulars" here. In this sense
it offers a convenient way to supplement the "Ask Fenimore" feature of the
James Fenimore Cooper Society website so that no one person has to shoulder
the burden (currently, "Fenimore" is Hugh MacDougall, the Society's able
Founder/Secretary/Treasurer/Webmaster, who provides detailed answers to
hundreds of questions about Cooper from the public with patience and grace).
Please be generous in sharing whatever expertise you may have. As questions
and answers accumulate we will build an FAQ file to address the most common
topics.

I should also say a few words about what this group is *not* intended to be.
First, it is not intended to replace tranditional scholarship, only to
supplement it. Though some of our discussions may end up being scholarly in
nature and perhaps quite detailed, the temporary nature of this forum suggests
that when we are onto something rich, we have ventured into territory that is
appropriate for a conference paper, panel, or article. The moderators and
participants here, I'm certain, will be quite helpful in steering participants
toward suitable opportunities and venues for scholarship.

Second, this group is not intended to be a forum for crude bashing of any
kind. Although undoubtedly some of our posts will touch on matters with
political or cultural relevance, or deal with the comparative literary merits
of authors, nobody benefits if our discussion devolves to name-calling over
peoples' political or cultural stances, or simplistic "Cooper Rules! Twain
Stinks!" kinds of literary duels. This means that everyone needs to exercise
good manners, polite restraint, and discipline in keeping our replies
appropriate and on-topic. Be careful about making rash assumptions about the
makeup of our group, and remember that written words are often easy to mistake
in tone.

I think that's enough to get us started...more will come as needed. Let the
posting begin!

Best wishes,
Steve Harthorn (moderator)

__________________________
Steven P Harthorn
Department of English
University of Tennessee
Knoxville, TN 37996-0430
(865) 806-2129
steven.harthorn@...