From Primary Sources to Publication: an online workshop for scholars of early America
Three sessions for early career scholars in finding, reading, interrogating, and incorporating archival materials with archivists and editors from the John Carter Brown Library and the Omohundro Institute.
Who should apply: early career scholars with a focus on the early Americas, broadly understood, from ABD to pre-tenure status, who would like to learn more about the collections at the JCB and how to work with archival materials in both digital and physical form when framing scholarly arguments. Applicants should not have already been fellows at either the JCB or the Omohundro Institute. The workshop will be limited to 12 participants.
Participants in the workshop will each receive an honorarium of $300.
Submit an abbreviated c.v. and a 1-page description of your work in progress to the Omohundro Institute. Please direct questions to the OI at oieahc@wm.edu.
Deadline to apply: September 15. Applicants will be notified of the committee’s decisions by October 2. [APPLICATIONS ARE NOW CLOSED]
The workshop will take place online over three successive Thursdays in November 2020 (time TBD). Each session will consist of two modules and last approximately 2.5 hours in total with a break in the middle.
Session 1: Exploration of JCB collections with Neil Safier and JCB curators. Discussion of new uses of archival materials in scholarly publishing with Karin Wulf and the OI editorial team.
Session 2: Participants select a single source from the JCB’s collection – based on or inspired by the previous week’s presentations – and write a short (2-page maximum) piece that is circulated in advance, where possible arguments and historiographical approaches are discussed (in breakout sessions). In larger group, individuals present their sources, approaches, and participate in a broader discussion led by Neil Safier and Karin Wulf.
Session 3: Participants examine pre-circulated essay(s) and discuss how primary sources shape the published work then conduct a lightning round where each person pitches a project that relies on research materials available via the JCB (or in other collections). A guest lecturer discusses the sources used to construct their (published) argument.