Daniel Ruppel, J.M. Stuart Fellow

As the academic year drew to a close, we bade farewell to Dan Ruppel, who had been at the JCB since September working on his dissertation, “Probable Histories and Virtual Performances: Festival Books and the Performance of Historiography in Early Modern France.” The J.M. Stuart Fellowship is offered annually to a Brown graduate student in the Humanities or Social Sciences whose research pertains to the JCB’s collections.

Ruppel found his experience to be transformative. “As a scholar of Performance Studies with an undergraduate background in History, coming to the JCB felt at once like returning to my roots and shaking myself out of disciplinary entrenchment,” observed Ruppel. “There is a vast breadth of scholarship that goes on within the walls of the JCB, pursued by a diverse group of scholars. Their erudite guidance, offhand remarks, and shared curiosity have served to refine my current research paths, and trace out new ones that will influence my scholarship long into the future.”

“I depart the Library this summer to present at two conferences in Brazil. The first is the annual meeting of the International Federation of Theatre Studies, an organization I have worked with for some time now. The second is the International Conference in the History of Cartography, one I would not have known about, let alone felt competent to speak at, were it not for the support and the opportunities offered by the JCB throughout this past year.  This fellowship has given me chance to explore new domains of knowledge, and chart new paths in my scholarship. To be part of the JCB community, to participate in the unique trans-Atlantic, trans-American scholarship that this Library supports, was a transformative experience unlike any other offered at Brown."