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The RSA is hosting online discussion sessions meant to help the Renaissance Society of America better understand how the RSA can be more welcoming to scholars of color and to scholars who work on such issues as race, gender, sexuality, disability, and coloniality in the late medieval and early modern period (1300–1700). Any and all interested scholars and graduate students are welcome, but the RSA is especially eager to count on the participation of BIPOC scholars and scholars of any color or ethnicity who are actively engaged with issues of social and racial justice as researchers, teachers, and/or activists.You will be able to participate in a discussion group from your computer, tablet, or smartphone. To register, please click here and advise as to the meeting you would like to attend. The facilitators would appreciate it if you could also answer the questions posed in the sign-up sheet, so that they can organize the sessions around the interests of the participants. (Note: For those who cannot attend the sessions, but would like to share comments and questions, please fill out this form.)
- Wednesday, July 29, 2020, 12pm–1:30pm Eastern Time
- Tuesday, August 4, 2020, 12pm–1:30pm Eastern Time
- Thursday, August 13, 2020, 12pm–1:30pm Eastern Time
The results of these conversations will inform the RSA’s ongoing effort to address questions of diversity and inclusion. As the Board of Directors states in the Society’s Statement in Support of Social Justice, the RSA’s membership is overwhelmingly white and its intellectual agenda has been shaped by the viewpoints of white privilege. If the study of the early modern period is to remain relevant in today’s society, the RSA must address these shortcomings. Although the Board of Directors has already begun to enact change on several fronts, it is eager to hear from a broad base of scholars and graduate students before developing plans for further action.With thanks from the members of the Working Group on Diversity and Inclusion:
- Ricardo Padrón, Associate Professor of Spanish, University of Virginia, Member of the RSA Board, Chair of Working Group on Diversity and Inclusion
- Celine Camps, Graduate Student in History of Science, Columbia University, Member of the RSA Graduate Student Advisory Committee
- Clare Carroll, Professor of Comparative Literature, CUNY Graduate Center, Immediate Past President of the RSA
- Samantha Chang, Graduate Student in Art History, University of Toronto, Member of the RSA Graduate Student Advisory Committee
- Surekha Davies, Postdoctoral Fellow, Utrecht University, Member of the RSA Board
- Nick Jones, Assistant Professor of Spanish, Bucknell University, RSA Member
- Blake de Maria, Professor of Art History, Santa Clara University, Member of the RSA Board
- Tracy Robey, Director of Meetings, Fellowships, and Grants, RSA
- Cassander Smith, Associate Professor of English, University of Alabama, RSA Member
- Cornesha Tweede, Graduate Student in Romance Languages, University of Oregon, RSA Member
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RSA Webinar: Research in the Age of COVID-19 Webinar
The RSA is hosting a webinar over Zoom for “Research in the Age of COVID-19: Access and Collaboration” on Thursday, July 30 at 12:00 pm EST. The webinar will explore the library closures and travel restrictions and how to address them through digital access and collaboration among scholars. The session will include lightning talks by experts in Renaissance studies digital and special collections research:
- Richard Freedman, Haverford College and RSA Digital and Electronic Media Chair
- Earle Havens, Johns Hopkins University
- Ray Siemens, University of Victoria
- Andie Silva, York College, CUNY
- Vanessa Wilkie, The Huntington Library
RSA members are invited to register by July 23rd. Space is limited. Visit the RSA calendar to register.
The RSA Humanities Commons also has a discussion thread with a few practical solutions for how to conduct research during these challenging times.
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The International Society for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (ISSOTL) Advocacy Committee has compiled a list of resources against racism. The list includes resources for teaching, for deconstructing white privilege, for the emotional implications of the work, for calling out racism in the academy, and to multimedia and recommended books, including books for kids (see the Table of Contents at the top of the linked page for a full list of topics). The list is open access: You are invited to both use the resources and to contribute to the list.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1vKhY1cPRDY7AFiVEqAayShrc6l-xFDcB/view?usp=sharing
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For those struggling with organizing archival document photos and transcriptions, I recommend using Tropy as a research photo management tool. The tool allows you to enter metadata, add tags, enter transcriptions and annotations, and organize the photos into projects and lists. You can also group multiple images under one object and adjust colour contrast, which is useful when taking various photographs of the same page, trying to get the best shot or different angles of objects. Best of all, Tropy is free, open-source software!
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