News of Interest

The “Memoirs” of Luis E. Valcarcel (edited by Jose Matos Mar, Jose Luis Renique and EIU professor Jose R. Deustua) were published in 1981. Valcarcel was a leading “Indigenista” in 20th century Peru. He wrote profusely and was twice Minister of Education and Culture in reformist governments dealing with questions such as bilingual education and the promotion of Quechua and Aymara cultures in Peru. The publisher (the Instituto de Estudios Peruanos) has now released a free, e-copy of the book. You can access it at www.iep.org.pe/valcarcel/memorias_valcarcel.html

Newton Key brought together a panel on Plotting Sedition in Late-Stuart London for the North American Conference on British Studies (NACBS), held in Denver, Colo., Nov. 18-20. His paper was on Mapping Discourse at the Time of the Rye House Plot. Relatedly, he was elected to the Nominating Council of the NACBS.

Newton Key presented a panel titled “’Going Goth’: Anglo-American (Mis)uses of the Medieval Past” for the Midwest Conference on British Studies (Terre Haute, Ind., Nov. 4-6, 2011), with Angela Vietto and Chris Hanlon of Eastern’s English Department. His paper was titled “Imagining a Gothic Past in the Late-17th Century Britannic Archipelago.”  The panel was featured in a Daily Eastern News article.  While in Terre Haute, Prof. Key was contacted by CNN for a piece on Guy Fawkes and the 5th of November, which appeared in their CNN Belief Blog.  Eastern Illinois University, MA in History students Crystal Abbey, Melissa Greco, Benjamin ILL, Katherine Payne, Paul Shakeshaft, and Patrick Vonesh worked on the registration desk and helped with local arrangenments.

Applications are now being accepted for Booth Library’s awards program to promote and recognize excellence in student research. The awards program encourages students to utilize the wealth of information available at Booth Library to enhance their studies. These awards are not intended to duplicate or replace any other standing campus awards. Each entry will become a part of Booth Library Student Research and Creativity Collection.  Entries must be delivered to the Administration Office, Room 4700, Booth Library, no later than March 19, 2012.  The entry form is available online.

Professor Elizabeth Borgwardt of George Washington University:  The Atlantic Charter and the Genesis of the Modern Human Rights Regime.  Monday, November 14 at 5:00 in the Lumpkin Hall Auditorium.

The Chicago British History Seminar (Friday, 22 April 2011, 3-5 pm, Newberry Library, Towner Fellows’ Lounge) will next focus on “The Politics of Location:  Court and Anti-court in Restoration London.”   The CBHS will be discussing two papers:  “The Art of the Restoration Courtier” (by Bob Bucholz, Loyola University, Chicago) and “A Social Topography of Sedition in Restoration London” (by Newton Key, Eastern Illinois University).

We’ll be meeting.

In this DH teaching talk, EIU historian, Newton Key, demonstrates how to navigate the challenging typeface and orthography of Early English Books Online (EEBO), a vast repository of books in English, 1473-1700, to search for words and images of the non-English speaking World. Maps, engravings, portraits, and even ephemera can be used relatively quickly to foster expertise in the Manchus, Mughals, Safavids, Ottomans, and beyond. EEBO (and other databases) can be integrated with other computer apps (Zotero, Wordle, Google Ngrams) even at the introductory level by students and professors across disciplines.  Talk is Wednesday, 2 March, noon, 1166 Coleman Hall (HA seminar room, SW corner Coleman).

“Free/Unfreedom in the Black Atlantic,” Center for Translational Humanities Speaker Series, Charles Foy, February 7, 5 pm, Lecture Hall, Doudna Fine Arts Center. Dr. Foy will address the shape of freedom in the eighteenth century Atlantic through an analysis of how European powers treated black mariners, free and enslaved. These seamen moved about the Atlantic and in crossing national, cultural, ethnic and legal boundaries provide, perhaps like no other group of individuals, a window into attitudes concerning race and freedom in the Atlantic.

On December 1st Charles Foy presented “Prize Negroes in the Age of Sail” at the Clark University History Department Colloquium.

The 2010 Historical Administration class exhibit, “From Prairie Grass to Cornstalks: A History of Farming in Central Illinois” has received the 2010 Award of Merit from the Illinois Association of Museums.