The Department of World Languages, Literatures & Cultures and the Department of English are happy to announce that the U of A has become a member of the Newberry Library's Center for Renaissance Studies Consortium.

Those sponsoring the membership include the Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences, the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research & Innovation and the Graduate School and International Education.

The resources at the Newberry's Center for Renaissance Studies are almost endless, and the programs that are open to fellow universities give faculty and students the opportunity to become members of a highly specialized and generous community of scholars.

Classes give undergraduate students the opportunity to work directly with rare books and manuscripts. Photo courtesy Newberry.org.

NLUS 2020 undergraduate students on a tour of the stacks. Photo courtesy Newberry.org.

For faculty, the interdisciplinarity of these programs can foster scholarship and innovative ideas to investigate the resources in a range of areas within Renaissance Studies. Moreover, faculty members can propose programs to be held at the Newberry, located in Chicago, including research methods, symposia, graduate seminars and workshops.

The consortium will also allow graduate students to apply for dissertation and graduate seminars, research methods workshops, work-in-progress colloquia, reading groups and publication and professional development workshops. In addition, they can present at the annual Multidisciplinary Graduate Conference at the Newberry. The event, taking place each January, allows ABD graduate students to engage in lively discussions with fellow students from around the world.

Faculty and graduate students will likewise have the opportunity to compete for two short-term fellowships at the library and can benefit from partnerships with the Folger Library in Washington, D.C., and the École Nationale des Chartes in Paris.

Opportunities will be available to undergraduate students, as well, through courses that will soon become a regular part of the Newberry's curriculum.

For information on how to apply for any of these programs, please contact  associate professor Joshua Byron Smith of the Department of English at jbs016@uark.edu or assistant professor Daniela D'Eugenio of the Department of World Languages, Literatures and Cultures at deugeni@uark.edu.