April 2018 is here, and along with the Cherry Blossoms and warmer weather, the Kluge Center has welcomed five new fellows into residence. Here are a few of the projects that they will be working on:
Catriona Gold, an Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) Fellow, arrived from University College London. During her residency, Catriona will be working on her research project, “Epidemic Governance in the Post-Colonial Era: The Political History of Travel Advisories from 1914-2016.” This work examines the origins and history of travel alerts from 1914 to the present and will investigate how the United Kingdom and United States use alerts along with other methods to control twenty-first-century disease epidemics. While in residence, Catriona will dig into the Library’s holdings regarding US wartime neutrality, wartime conduct, and citizen obligations, as well as more recent records related to epidemics in the past 20 years.
Thomas Lowman, another AHRC Fellow, arrived from Durham University. During his residency, Thomas will be working on his research project, “Beyond Idi Amin: Collective Violence and the State in Uganda, 1971-79.” This work examines the state-sanctioned violence that occurred in Uganda while Idi Amin was in power. While in residence, Thomas will delve into the Library’s extensive collections in Ugandan newspapers, along with a range of uncatalogued pamphlets and other Ugandan materials in the African and Middle Eastern Division. By reading and analyzing these and other collections, Thomas hopes to advance his work of establishing a record of this violence and to understand how local and regional players influenced the process.
Megan Henvey, our third AHRC Fellow, arrived from the University of York. During her residency, Megan will be working on her research project, “Photographs, Antiquarian Works on Ireland and Incunabula at the Library of Congress.” This work examines five early medieval stone crosses in Ireland’s north, known as “The Northern Group,” assessing the iconography; historical and theological contexts; and political and cultural settings of each monument. While in residence, Megan will utilize the Library’s collections of pre-1500 printed bibles, manuscript illustrations from St. Catherine’s monastery (Mt. Sinai), and various photographs and drawings. By reading and analyzing these and other collections, Megan hopes to unify and finalize her United Kingdom/Ireland-based and iconographic research.
Additionally, Lindsay Van Tine, our 2017 Jameson Fellow, will be working on her research project, “The Invention of Americana: Claiming Hemispheric History, Territory, and Archive, 1823-1854.”
Finally, Martin Hilbert, a Distinguished Visiting Scholar from the University of California, Davis, will utilize Library collections to work on his project, “Information Theory for the Information Age.”
Check back next month for more arriving scholars. Click here for the full list of scholars currently in residence.