Page of Reason, Vol. XXV, March 2024
Dispatches from your most humble servant, the Institute for Thomas Paine Studies, Iona University.
Welcome to Volume XXV of Page of Reason, a newsletter of the Institute for Thomas Paine Studies (ITPS), Iona University, New Rochelle, NY! Find more information about the ITPS and our activities at our Research Portal, theitps.org and follow us on Twitter @TheITPS, BlueSky @theitps.bsky.social, Mastodon @ITPS@historians.social, and TikTok @itps1.
Common Acts
Inspired by undergraduate student internship collaborations between the ITPS and CMI at George Washington’s Mount Vernon, on April 5, 2024, Iona University will host an interdisciplinary event connecting Early American musical, political, and cultural history to twenty-first century Revolutionary Era commemoration. The event will begin with a roundtable discussion of researching and practicing Early American history and politics, including Dr. Anne Fertig and Dr. Alexandra Montgomery (Center for Digital History at Mount Vernon), as well as Dr. Billy Coleman (University of Missouri), hosted by ITPS Public Historian Dr. Michael Crowder. The evening continues with a reception and a musical performance by of Early American tunes translated into twentieth-first century vernacular, written and directed by Dr. Adam Rosado, Assistant Professor of Music and Director of the Music Program at Iona University. The roundtable, reception, and performance will be held at the Kelly Center for Health Sciences at Iona University’s new Bronxville campus. In-person and Zoom Webinar registration details here, and we hope to see you there!
CFP Alert!
The Institute for Thomas Paine Studies (ITPS) at Iona University is excited to share a call for papers for our Sixth Biannual Conference from September 27-28, 2024 at Iona University and virtually. “Teaching American and Digital Revolutions” considers how digital methods and practices can help us to teach the complexities of revolution more effectively. Similarly, as higher education and pedagogy shifts in the face of emerging, complex technologies from AI to virtual reality, “Teaching American and Digital Revolutions” will address how teaching revolutionary movements can help students, scholars, and educators alike to apply the relevance of past histories to our contemporary digital moment.
We invite scholars and educators to share their insights, experiences, and research on innovative approaches, methodologies, and technologies in teaching the history of the Age of Revolutions, the digital humanities, and the two together. The conference will also mark the launch of an open-access volume, American Revolutions in the Digital Age (Cornell University Press, 2024), and include discussions of how this volume contributes to those discussions. “Teaching American and Digital Revolutions” will also introduce several new initiatives at the ITPS related to a generous gift from Ruth and Sid Lapidus.
Scholars of all levels are encouraged to apply, and from any disciplinary or professional background. If needed, financial support for participation may be available. Please include a 250-word abstract and either a one-page curriculum vitae or brief bio in one document labeled with the applicant or session organizer’s last name, with participant name (s), title, and email address at the top of the first page of the proposal. Submissions may be sent to itps@iona.edu by May 1st, 2024. Applicants will be notified of decisions by early May. For additional information, please contact Dr. Nora Slonimsky, ITPS Director, at nslonimsky@iona.edu, and the conference co-organizers and American Revolutions in the Digital Age co-editors Dr. Mark Boonshoft at boonshoftmd@vmi.edu and Dr. Ben Wright at bgw@utdallas.edu.
We are excited to pass along information for an exciting event hosted by Iona University’s Office of Student Affairs tomorrow, March 22, 2024. Food, networking, and fun for all involved!
Common Reads
We are very excited to announce the upcoming publication of American Revolutions in The Digital Age (Cornell University Press, August 2024), edited by ITPS Director Dr. Nora Slonimsky, Dr. Mark Boonshoft (Virginia Military Institute), and Dr. Ben Wright (University of Texas-Dallas).
Employing a host of innovative digital research methods, the volume’s essays challenge long-held assumptions about the American past. In addition, this collection uniquely demonstrates how contemporary anxieties about an array of topics, including media disinformation, patriarchy, economic inequality, and public memory, can be better understood through careful considerations of early American history.
An open-access volume, you can find pre-order information here— and stay tuned for further updates!
Common Sounds
Season 3, Episode 9 of ITPS Pod “Public History in a Virtual Age” is now live! Listen here, and subscribe on your favorite podcast platform.
This episode’s guest, Meredith Horsford, is the Executive Director at Historic House Trust of NYC and Director of Historic Houses at the New York City Department of Parks & Recreation. Read more about the activities of the Historic House Trust!
Common Words
Kudos to ITPS Director Dr. Nora Slonimsky for receiving Honorable Mention for the prestigious Anne Fleming Article Prize of the Business History Conference, for her article "‘To Save the Benefit of the Act of Parliament’: Mapping an Early American Copyright," Law and History Review, Volume 40, Issue 4 (2022). Congratulations, Dr. Slonimsky!