3,229 – this is the impressive total number of announcements, conference programs, surveys, and other types of content published since the launch of the SE17 website in 2006. Originally an SE17 administrative platform for conferences and membership hosted by Bowdoin College, the site quickly developed a public presence under the care of Charlotte Trinquet du Lys, and happily invited NASSCFL to join its venture in 2012, to become a central resource for French seventeenth-century studies, thanks to Jennifer Tamas and the whole editorial team. Today, the number of weekly requests received to announce calls for paper, grants, publications, and news illustrates how dynamic and active our field is. After many years of outstanding service to the seventeenth-century studies community, the website deserved a grand redesign, in order to better meet user requests and usage. Following the December 2018 SE17 conference in Fribourg, the process began in early 2019 with a substantial server upgrade, and went on to tackle the complete redesign of the website though many meetings with members of the website subcommittee, a survey sent to the whole community – thank you to all who replied –, and discussions regarding possible interfaces and technical improvements. It took the vision and hard work of current Early Modern France Website Editors Kathrina LaPorta, Christophe Schuwey, and Charlotte Trinquet du Lys, the editor of the Cahiers Jean-Vincent Blanchard, the talent and creativity of graphic designer and scholar of literature Valentin Kolly, the expertise and weeks of careful work of our incredibly dedicated webmaster Tad Macy, and countless e-mails among members of the entire website team to produce the site you have before you now. Today, while the paint is still fresh, the new website is finally here!
The new Early Modern France website brings you what is happening and available in the world of seventeenth-century French studies. On the right, the future: grants, call for papers, scholarship and job announcements. Below, the present: timely happenings, upcoming colloquia, member news, and the latest books in the field. At center, the spotlight. As its name suggests, this space will welcome monthly content on a topical matter, a book, a news story, or an opinion, with the goal of promoting a sense of community. As a central scholarly resource, the Cahiers du dix-septième siècle platform also went through a complete redesign, with cleaner fonts and better spacing, and a whole new interface to browse issues and articles. The resources page will grow soon with additional resources, but we are especially pleased to highlight the new SE17 Resources for Anti-Racist Teaching and Scholarship. One result of SE17’s resolutions to confront the history of racialized violence against Black, Indigenous, and People of Color in North America and across the globe, this constantly evolving and crowd sourced list features and promotes scholarship, source texts, pedagogical projects, conferences, and media to change our practices both in research and teaching. We encourage you to contribute to its development with your submissions.
The new website site makes publicizing announcements and events easier than ever! A webform in the announcement page will immediately send your request to the appropriate editor. Content related to SE17 and NASSCFL, including membership options, is accessible by clicking on the relevant Society logos. Annual conferences of both societies will continue to figure prominently on the new site. Finally, what was working will stay: the bi-weekly recap newsletter will continue to circulate, and the popular “On this day” section will be reintegrated very soon, too.
There would be no website – even less a new version of it — without the editors working tirelessly. This first spotlight is thus an occasion to acknowledge the tremendous the job they have done and are still doing. A heartfelt THANK YOU to Jennifer Tamas – who for years as website main Co-Editor was the very soul of this website and made it what it is today –, to current contributing editors Audrey Calefas-Strebelle, Céline Bohnert, Jessica Kamin, Mathilde Bedel, Starra Priestaf, Kathrina Ann LaPorta, Claire Carlin, Volker Schröder, Kelly McConnell, Sophie Capmartin, Ana Conboy, Jennifer Row, and to everyone who once contributed to this site. Some have chosen to leave, some have decided to stay, and every single one of them is part of this site, just as newcomers to the project will be. More on this soon – if you are interested in joining the team, please contact the Editors by email.
We hope you will enjoy the new Early Modern France – it is a labor of love. Onward!