Scholars’ Workshop in Early African American Print

Monday, January 11 -Friday, January 15, 2027 Scholars’ Workshop in Early African American Print American Antiquarian Society 185 Salisbury Street Worcester, MA 01609 United States In January 2027, the American Antiquarian Society will host the Scholars’ Workshop in Early African American Print. The five-day, in-person workshop will bring together eight graduate students and early career scholars specializing in pre-1900 African American history and culture. Participants will work closely with primary sources and refine works in progress―whether a dissertation chapter, book proposal, scholarly article, or other project. Designed for scholars new to archival research, the workshop offers professional development and direct access to AAS’s extensive holdings, including early African American newspapers, pamphlets, books, and other original sources. Tara Bynum, Society member and associate professor of English and African American studies at the University of Iowa, will lead the program in collaboration with AAS staff. Working together, workshop participants will explore the following questions: Throughout the workshop’s five days, participants will propose provisional answers to these questions through intense collaboration and archival exploration. In the process, they will connect with other rising scholars, new colleagues in the AAS community, and other professional networks. Program activities include: The Scholars’ Workshop in Early African American Print is part of the AAS African American Collections Initiative. Additional support comes from the American Council of Learned Societies Intention Foundry, an ACLS initiative designed to advance equity, justice, and anti-racism in the academy. Additionally, the 2027 Scholars’ Workshop is offered in partnership with the Bibliographical Society of America. For questions about the Scholars’ Workshop, contact John J. Garcia, AAS director of scholarly programs and partnerships, at jgarcia [at] mwa.org or 508-471-2134. Using the application portal, please submit the following materials: The application deadline is October 15, 2026. Accepted applicants will be notified in mid-November. Limited to eight participants, the Scholars’ Workshop in Early African American Print welcomes applications from emerging scholars at the dissertation stage and beyond. Researchers who are new to archival research or with limited institutional access to special collections are encouraged to apply. Applicants should be working on a significant piece of scholarly writing, either from the dissertation or an academic project related to pre-1900 African American studies. Scholars holding tenure or its equivalent, as well as those more than four years beyond the dissertation, are not eligible. Admitted participants should have little to no prior experience with the AAS collections. For this reason, past AAS fellows and seminar participants are not eligible for the program. Syllabus and Schedule of Activities The syllabus will be shared the first week of December 2026. Participants will submit a twenty-five-page work-in-progress no later than December 15, 2026. The Scholars’ Workshop is tuition-free, and each participant will receive an honorarium of $1,000 to assist with travel and related expenses. Workshop participants will stay onsite in the AAS fellows’ housing for the duration of the program, free of charge. AAS is committed to creating an environment that welcomes all people and meets their access needs. The library and classroom facilities are wheelchair accessible. Other accommodations may be available upon advance request. Applicants can indicate any accessibility needs in their application material. Tara A. Bynum is a scholar of early African American literary histories before 1800 and an associate professor of English and African American studies at University of Iowa. She received her PhD in English from Johns Hopkins University and a BA in Political Science from Barnard College. Her book, Reading Pleasures: Everyday Black Living in Early America (2023), is part of a larger, ongoing project that thinks more deeply about how black communities in the early republic made and shaped the very meaning of nation-building in the greater New England area and beyond. Related essays have appeared or are forthcoming in: Early American Literature, CommonPlace, Legacy, J19, Criticism, American Periodicals, and African American Literature in Transition, Vol. 1, 1750-1800. Bynum was National Endowment for the Humanities Fellow at AAS in 2016 and wa