RSVP

The Research Society for Victorian Periodicals

RSVP News

Optional Readings for Friday’s Digital Salon Event

We want to remind everyone of our upcoming RSVP Digital Salon event, “A Discussion on Decolonizing Periodical Studies,” this Friday, January 22 at 1 p.m. (EST) / 6 p.m. (GMT)! Registration for the event is free and open to all who wish to attend. You can register for the event here.

Our three panelists — Dr. Caroline Bressey, Dr. Priti Joshi, and Dr. Candace Ward — will speak to one or more of the following questions:

  • How do we approach the archive/new readings of the digital archive?
  • What material are we not reading (that we should be) and where do we find it?
  • What new methodologies do we need to decolonize our research?
  • Should we/how should we reframe the questions we ask of periodicals?
  • How do we go about “undisciplining” periodical studies?
  • What questions should we be asking in addition to/instead of these?

This is intended to be more of an informal event, so we hope you will join the discussion as well!

Optional Readings

Though panelists will not be reading formal papers, for anyone interested in reading some of their work in advance, the following are recommended as start points:

  • Caroline Bressey, ‘Surfacing black and brown bodies in the digital archive: domestic workers in late nineteenth-century Australia’, Journal of Historical Geography 70 (2020): 1-11
  • Priti Joshi, “Scissors-and-Paste: Ephemerality and Memorialization in the Archive of Indian Newspapers” Amodern 7 (Dec. 2017), https://amodern.net/article/scissors-and-paste/
  • Candace Ward, ‘“An Engine of Immense Power”: The Jamaica Watchman and Crossings in Nineteenth-Century Colonial Print Culture’, Victorian Periodicals Review 51.3 (Fall 2018): 483-503

See Also:

  • Ronjaunee Chatterjee, Alicia Mireles Christoff, Amy R. Wong, ‘Introduction: Undisciplining Victorian Studies’, Victorian Studies, 62.3 (Spring 2020): 369-391

A fuller list of works by our discussion panelists can be found at:

Further Details About the Event

Dr. Lara Atkin will chair the discussion. For Dr. Atkin’s work see: https://www.kent.ac.uk/english/people/2704/www.kent.ac.uk/english/people/2704/atkin-lara 

If you have any questions, or difficulty accessing material, please email our Vice President, Fionnuala Dillane.

We look forward to seeing you on Friday!

Communications Coordinator Wanted – Applications due February 15

RSVP seeks applicants with excellent organizational and time management skills to assist with our daily operations as a Communications Coordinator. As the Communications Coordinator, your responsibilities would include:

  • Working with the President and Vice President to manage and update membership lists
  • Distributing the monthly newsletter
  • Assisting with digital event enrollment and administration
  • Supporting communications related to the annual conference, elections, and awards

The Communications Coordinator will receive a $5,000 stipend paid at regular intervals over the course of the appointment. Employment begins on March 1 and runs through December 31, 2021. The position is renewable for the following calendar year. Duties will average 5 hours per week (at $20 per hour for 250 maximum hours) but are expected to fluctuate.

How to Apply

We encourage candidates interested in supporting RSVP’s activities and goals to apply. Applications will be accepted through February 15, 2021. To apply, interested applicants should send the following materials to the RSVP president (president@rs4vp.org):

  • A 1-page cover letter explaining your interest in and qualifications for the job
  • The names and email addresses of two references (include these in your cover letter)
  • A 1-page c.v.

Graduate students and independent scholars are encouraged to apply. Current Officers and Directors of RSVP are not eligible. Contact us with any questions.

CFP: RSVP Annual Conference 2021

“Revolution(s), Evolution(s), Circulation(s)”

September 7-12, 2021

An Online Conference hosted by

Temple University
Philadelphia, PA, USA

 

Our 2021 conference details have been finalized and we issue this formal Call for Papers for the Annual Conference of the Research Society for Victorian Periodicals!

Importantly, all proposals accepted for the postponed 2020 conference remain approved. We invite additional proposals for 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 Revolution(s), Evolution(s), Circulation(s) are particularly welcome.

Topics that might be considered include, but are not limited to:

  • Coverage of revolutions and revolutionary thought in the periodical press
  • Censorship, restriction, and control of the press
  • Revolutions and evolutions in periodical production, design, illustration, editorship, readership
  • Darwin’s Theory of Evolution or other revolutionary scientific and medical theories
  • Upheavals in class, gender, race
  • The New Journalism
  • Circulation of periodicals
  • Dissemination of ideas: plagiarism, copy, imitation
  • Circulating bodies (emigration/immigration, the slave trade)
  • Circulatory systems (pollution, disease, blood)
  • The growth or evolution of specialized periodicals
  • Fashion and fads
  • Revolutions and evolutions in work and entertainment
  • Revolutions and evolutions in periodicals studies, research methodologies, and teaching periodicals
  • Digital (r)evolutions and the press

Proposals for 15-minute papers or panels should be submitted by March 1 via the RSVP application portal. Applicants will complete a short information form and upload the following documents to the portal:

  • Proposal for papers
    • A 250-word abstract with a title
    • A separate 75-word biographical statement
  • Panel proposals:
    • A set of three or four 250-word abstracts with titles
    • A general title for the session
    • A 75-word biographical statement for each participant

How Will the Conference Work?

Papers will be circulated in advance of live panel discussions. We are hoping to accommodate a variety of formats including written papers, audio recordings, and videos. We will confirm the format with new and previously accepted presenters.

How Much Will the Conference Cost?

All those giving a paper at the RSVP conference are required to be members of the Society, but conference registration will be free.

Information on joining the Society can be found on our website, as can additional information about RSVP; its scholarly journal, Victorian Periodicals Review; its annual grants and awards; and its many other activities. Contact us if you have further questions.

Join Us January 22 for Discussion on Decolonizing Periodical Studies

We warmly invite you to join us on Friday, 22 January 2021 at 1 p.m. (EST) / 6 p.m. (GMT) for “A Discussion on Decolonizing Periodical Studies,” part of the Research Society for Victorian Periodicals’ Digital Salon Series 2021.

This event, like those taking place in cognate scholarly organizations and in
wider public arenas, will engage with biases that shape nineteenth-century
periodical studies. It will also provide the foundation for the development of a
nineteenth-century periodical studies reading group focused on race and
transimperialism. Our roundtable participants include:

  • Caroline Bressey, Reader in Cultural and Historical Geography,
    specialist in the Black Presence in Victorian Britain, University College
    London
  • Priti Joshi, Professor of 19th-century British literature and culture, with
    an emphasis on colonialism and race relations, University of Puget
    Sound, Washington
  • Candace Ward, Professor of English, specializing in early Anglo-
    Caribbean literature and culture, Florida State University

Register for this free online event here. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting. Registrants will also receive optional readings authored by our roundtable participants to spur our discussion about a week prior to the event.

Participation does not require RSVP membership; all are welcome. You may also learn more about our work as an organization and how to join RSVP by exploring our website.

For any queries about this event, please send an email directed to our Vice President.

Announcing the Sally Mitchell Dissertation Prize

Black-and-white portrait of scholar Sally MitchellThe Research Society for Victorian Periodicals (RSVP) invites submissions for the Sally Mitchell dissertation prize. This prize will recognize the best Ph.D. dissertation, defended in 2020, that explores the 19th-century British periodical press (including magazines, newspapers, and serial publications of all kinds) as an object of study in its own right, and not only as a source of material for other historical topics. We welcome projects from a range of disciplinary perspectives focused on any aspect of the periodical press within Britain itself or in 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).

The winner will receive a monetary award of $1,000.

How to Apply

Applicants should submit the following via the Fluid Review application portal by March 1, 2021:

  • A cover letter with full contact information
  • A title page, abstract and table of contents
  • A sample chapter (do not submit the full dissertation with these materials)
  • The name and email address of your dissertation advisor

Applicants’ dissertation advisors will be asked to confirm the successful viva/defense date.

After reviewing these materials, the prize committee will solicit full dissertations for further consideration. Applications will be accepted beginning February 1, 2021. The Mitchell Prize winner will be announced in July or August of 2021.

Questions about this dissertation prize may be directed to the president of RSVP at president@rs4vp.com.

About Sally Mitchell

The Sally Mitchell Dissertation Award was named in honor of Sally Mitchell, a longstanding and highly valued member of RSVP who served on the organization’s board and on its senior advisory committee. She was the author of five books, including the biography Frances Power Cobbe: Victorian Feminist, Journalist, Reformer and The New Girl: Girl’s Culture in England, 1880-1915. Much of her work focused on women writers, women’s history, the social history of the period, and the role of periodicals. Sally Mitchell was a committed and ardent mentor of graduate students and worked hard to advance their careers.

Join us for Some Holiday Cheer Dec. 17

Join the RSVP Digital Salon committee for a holiday-themed (virtual) social gathering this Thursday, December 17 at 1 p.m. EST / 6 p.m. UK. We’ll share a sneak peak at some upcoming virtual events we have planned for 2021, including:

    • A Discussion on Decolonising Periodical Studies (JAN. 2021): A practice-based session with experts at the intersection of critical race studies/transimperialism and periodical studies. We hope to use this discussion gauge interest in starting up a monthly reading group on this very important topic.
    • Maximizing Your Online Periodical Research (FEB. 2021): A roundtable on how to make the most of your virtual resources. Geared toward graduate students, but all are welcome!
    • Teaching Periodical Studies Online (MAR. 2021): Come for and with your ideas on how to teach periodicals effectively online during this time when many must adapt their syllabi to distance learning.
    • Archival Research at a Distance (APR. 2021): How does one conduct archival work from home? Join us to learn about the innovative ways scholars and archivists have adapted their work when archival access is limited.
    • Doing Research as an Independent Scholar (MAY 2021): RSVP has always been a place where scholars of all kinds can share their work. Our panel of independent scholars will share their tips and tricks for researching with limited access to databases, applying for grants, maintaining your scholarship from outside the university setting, and much more!

Bring your own holiday beverage of choice, your favorite mince pie/cookie recipe, and let’s share a cup of cheer this holiday season.

Register in advance for this event here:

https://washington.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJIqfuqrpj0tHdVoPFg3aZ4RPbKaiKLS5yoR

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing a link and information about how to join the Zoom meeting. We hope to see you there!