RSVP

The Research Society for Victorian Periodicals

Members News

Congratulations to Our 2020 Curran Fellowship Winners

Last week we announced our Curran Fellowship winners for 2020 via our monthly newsletter. Curran Fellowships are awarded annually to help scholars defray the costs of travel to and research on primary sources and archives in the 19th-century periodical press. Applicants’ projected research may involve study of any aspects of the periodical press in any of its manifold forms, and may range from within Britain itself to the many countries, within and outside of the Empire, where British magazines and newspapers were bought, sold, and read during “the long nineteenth century” (ca. 1780-1914). Awards are made possible through the generosity of the late Eileen Curran, Professor Emerita of English, Colby College and long-time RSVP member.

This year our Curran Fellowship winners embark on a diverse variety of projects, from exploring global interactions to shifting temporal boundaries to uncovering understudied areas of periodical interest. The winning projects are as follows (full abstracts available here):

    • Diana Muriel Cooper-Richet (Centre d’histoire culturelle des sociétés contemporaines, Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines), English-Language Periodicals Published in French Provincial Towns (1818-1912) 
    • Lydia Craig (Loyola University Chicago), Female Philanthropic Knitting:  Lady Harriet Scott’s “Grandmother” Patterns in The Queen    
    • Laura Diaz-Esteve (Universitat Pompeu Fabra), The Southeast Asia British Press and the Philippine-American War (1898-1902)
    • Beth Gaskell, The History of Early Regimental Journals
    • Erica Haugtvedt (South Dakota School of Mines & Technology), Transfictional Character and Transmedia Storyworlds in the British Long Nineteenth Century         
    • Sofia Huggins (Texas Christian University), Blank Spaces: Global Geographies of Moral Capitalism in the Anti-Slavery Reporter, 1831-1833      
    • Haejoo Kim (Syracuse University), Anti-Vaccination Periodicals and the Rise of Lay Medical Agency in Nineteenth-Century Britain
    • Carole O’Reilly (University of Salford), Satirising the City: Civic Humour, Place and Accountability in the Later Nineteenth Century Satirical Press       
    • Neil Ramsey (University of New South Wales Canberra), Romantic Era Military Periodicals and the Emotions of War
    • Maryam Sikander (SOAS University of London),  Punch in India: The Transcultural Life of a British Institution     
    • Matthew Wale, The Natural History Periodicals of Edward Newman (1801-1876)

Thank you to all who applied and congratulations to this year’s winners. We look forward to seeing how you advance our understanding of the Victorian periodical press!

New Year, New Deadlines Announced

RSVP is pleased to announce the deadlines for two of our most popular awards: The Linda H. Peterson Fellowship and RSVP Field Development Grant. Applications for both awards will open February 3, 2020 via our online applications portal. Final applications for each award are due March 15, 2020. So, now is the time to start assembling your ideas and application materials!

Peterson Fellowships for Individual Researchers

In 2020, RSVP will grant one Linda H. Peterson Fellowship of $17,500 to a single researcher for a period equivalent to four, full-time months in calendar years 2020 and/or 2021.

Named for pioneering periodicals scholar and mentor Linda H. Peterson (1948-2015), the Peterson Fellowship supports the study of primary sources from the nineteenth-century British periodical press. Projects range from studying periodicals within Britain itself to the wider Empire where British magazines and newspapers were bought, sold, and read during the “long nineteenth century” (ca. 1780-1914).

The Peterson Fellowship is intended to provide a researcher with the most valuable scholarly resource—time. Funds may be used to supplement sabbatical or other grant income, provide course “buy outs,” and/or conduct travel related to the project.  During the award period, a grantee may conduct secondary research, write, or pursue other scholarly activities related to their proposed project. That said, eligible projects must include substantial research involving nineteenth-century primary sources, whether those sources appear in print, manuscript, or digital facsimile.

Development Grants for Enhancing Periodical Studies

RSVP’s Field Development Grant exists to help one researcher or a team of collaborators create resources that will facilitate the work of other nineteenth-century periodical scholars. The annual grant is made possible by a generous bequest from the late Eileen Curran, Emerita Professor of English at Colby College and an integral member of RSVP.

RSVP intends to grant one Field Development award of up to $27,500 in 2020 to a single researcher or a team of researchers. Two smaller awards may be given if the right projects present themselves. Research must begin during the 2020 or 2021 calendar year and conclude within one year of receipt.

Regardless of method or type, projects supported by the RSVP Field Development Grant must advance the study of the nineteenth-century British periodical press in some way. Typical projects include:

  • Collaborations to produce print or digital publications
  • Demonstration projects that make use of new technologies
  • Research tools such as indices and bibliographies
  • Digitization efforts
  • Workshops or seminars that address research methods for the study of periodicals

While collaboration is not a requirement, the grant is intended to give researchers meaningful opportunities for collaboration. Thus, awards may be divided among participants to be used for things like salary replacement, travel, funding for research or technical assistants, hardware or software purchases, securing permissions or rights, and/or other research expenses directly related to the project.

More Details On Our Website

For application details and full eligibility requirements, please visit our website. All applicants are strongly encouraged—but not required—to become members of RSVP. Please note that Officers and Directors are not eligible to apply for either award. If you have further questions, please don’t hesitate to contact our Society president.

CFP: 2020 Annual Conference on Revolution(s), Evolution(s), Circulation(s)

Start Evolving or Circulating Your Ideas Now

Calling all Victorianists and periodical studies scholars! Our 2020 annual conference call for papers is now available on our website. Proposals relevant to the conference theme of Revolution(s), Evolution(s), Circulation(s) are particularly welcome, though papers and panel proposals that address any aspect of the Victorian periodical or newspaper press are invited.

Proposals for 20-minute papers or panels should be submitted no later than February 14, 2020 at our online application portal. In addition to a short information form, applicants should include the following documents in their applications:

  • Individual papers: A 250-word abstract with a title, plus a separate 75-word biographical statement.
  • Panel proposals: A set of three or four 250-word abstracts with titles, plus a general title for the session. Additionally, include 75-word biographical statement for each participant on the panel.

 

All those giving papers at the RSVP conference are required to be members of the Society.

Conference Funding Opportunities

Graduate students and independent or retired scholars may indicate on the form that they wish to be considered for RSVP travel awards to attend the conference and present a paper.

See our Conference page for more details or download the official CFP here. We’re looking forward to hearing your revolutionary ideas!

We Need More Nominations!

Following a unanimous vote to approve the amended Constitution, Bylaws, and Transition Plan at our Annual General Meeting in Brighton last month, we are still looking for nominations to fill several open elected positions and appointed positions. We’re also calling for volunteers interested in serving on RSVP’s ad hoc committees, such as the conference program committee and the award selection committee. Details on these positions are below.

We hope you’ll consider nominating your colleagues or yourself! RSVP benefits from having a wide range of members participate in leadership roles, and our new process will hopefully help us do so in a fair and open way. If you have any questions, please email the Nominations Committee at nominations@rs4vp.org.

Elected Officers and Other Directors

Nominations due August 23, 2019

The RSVP Nominations Committee invites nominations and self-nominations for the following elected positions:

    • Vice-President/President Elect (a 1-year term to align with the current President’s term)
    • Treasurer (3-year term)
    • Recording Secretary (2-year term)
    • Five Directors (one 1-year term, and four 2-year terms to bring the Board to four members being elected in even/odd years)

Current members of RSVP are eligible to serve as Directors and Officers, except as noted below. Because the RSVP’s investments are held in US financial institutions, the Treasurer must be a United States citizen. Candidates for President and Vice President must have previously served as a Director. All Officers also have the status of Directors, as noted in the Constitution. Terms of service for Officers and Directors begin on September 15 and end on September 14.

Please note that members of the Senior Advisory Council are not eligible to serve as Directors or Officers.

Upon being notified of their nomination, members may choose to accept or decline the nomination. Each candidate who agrees to stand for election shall provide the Nominations committee a brief statement (75-100 words) indicating areas of expertise, qualifications, and interest in the position.

To submit nominations and self-nominations, please email nominations@rs4vp.org by August 23 for Directors with the name of the person and the specific position for which you are nominating them.

Appointed Positions

Nominations due August 30, 2019

The RSVP Nominations Committee also invites nominations and self-nominations in serving for the following appointed positions:

    • Student Representatives (2 positions: one 1-year term for someone in North America and one 2-year term for someone in UK/Europe/other locations, in order to align with the alternating schedule set in the bylaws)
    • Marketing Coordinator (2-year term)

All current members of RSVP, including Directors and members of the Senior Advisory Council, are eligible to serve in appointed positions. Terms of service for appointed positions begin on September 15 and end on September 14.

To submit nominations and self-nominations, please email nominations@rs4vp.org by August 30 with the name of the person and the specific position for which you are nominating them.

Volunteers for Committee Service

Nominations due September 30, 2019

Finally, the RSVP Nominations Committee invites expressions of interest in serving on RSVP’s ad hoc committees, which include the conference program committee and the selection committees for the Curran Fellowships, the Peterson Fellowship, the Field Development Grant, the Colby Prize, and the dissertation fellowship.  These ad hoc committees are appointed throughout the year for limited terms of service (typically 2-4 months).   

To volunteer to serve on an ad hoc committee, please email nominations@rs4vp.org by September 30.

Questions? Contact the Nominations Committee

Please contact the committee at nominations@rs4vp.org with any questions or to submit nominations or self-nominations. The members of the Nominations Committee are:

  • Laurel Brake
  • Bob Nicholson
  • Joanne Shattock
  • Natalie Houston (the President chairs the committee without a vote)

 

2019 Linda H. Peterson Fellowships announced

In 2019 RSVP has awarded two Linda H. Peterson Fellowships, to Alexis Easley (University of St. Thomas) for New Periodical Print Media and the Rise of the Popular Woman Poet, 1830-50 and to Lorraine Janzen Kooistra (Ryerson University) for The Dial Digital Edition on Y90s 2.0.  Abstracts of their projects are available.

The Peterson Fellowship committee received many strong applications this year and also shortlisted two projects: Trev Broughton (University of York), Periodical Selves: Autobiography, Journalism, and Print Culture in the Nineteenth Century and Jennifer Phegley (University of Missouri-Kansas City), Magazine Mavericks: Marital Collaborations and the Invention of New Reading Audiences in Mid-Victorian England.

RSVP 2019 Annual Conference CFP Announced

The Research Society for Victorian Periodicals is pleased to announce the call for papers for our next annual conference.

The conference, entitled ‘Work/Leisure, Duty/Pleasure’, will be hosted by the University of Brighton, UK, and will take place 25-27 July 2019. 

Proposals are invited for 20 minute papers or panels of three or four related papers that address any aspect of the Victorian periodical or newspaper press. Proposals relevant to the Conference theme of Work/Leisure, Duty/Pleasure would be particularly welcome. For more information about the conference theme and how to submit a proposal please visit our conference page.

All those giving a paper at the RSVP conference are required to be members of the Society.