Candidates: SHARP Elections 2023

Standing for: Board of Directors

    • Colleen Barrett
    • Name: Colleen Barrett
    • Candidate Statement:
      Affiliation: University of Kentucky Libraries, Kentucky, USA https://libraries.uky.edu/people/colleen-barrett I have benefited greatly from the weekly SHARP Friday meet-ups over the past several years and would be honored to stand for election. At its heart, librarianship is about helping a given community find and contextualize information while minimizing the cost of accessing it. Much of my professional service until this point has been with the Rare Books and Manuscripts Section of the Association of College and Research Libraries, where I have worked extensively on conferences, mentoring, and overall organizational management, all of which seem easily transferable to SHARP’s current and future needs.
    • Kanupriya Dhingra
    • Name: Kanupriya Dhingra
    • Candidate Statement:
      Affiliation: OP Jindal Global University, New Delhi, INDIA https://jgu.edu.in/jsll/dr-kanupriya-dhingra/ In recent years, I have gained a deep understanding of the book cultures in South Asia and the various challenges that scholars face when studying it. As a member of the BoD at SHARP, I aim to create ways to generate a global interest in the study of South Asian Book History and Print Cultures. Locating South Asia as an important site for the history and cultures of authorship, reading, and publishing is just the first step. Collaborative efforts between a broader network of book and print historians can lead to the development of new methodologies and practices to study South Asia. I am also committed to promoting the work of SHARP in India, through research collaborations, organisation of workshops, seminars, and conferences in India/ South Asia and through pedagogical investment (such as joint curriculum development).
    • Laura Dietz
    • Name: Laura Dietz
    • Candidate Statement:
      Affiliation: Anglian Ruskin University, UK https://www.aru.ac.uk/people/laura-dietz I wish to serve because I love SHARP. I’m one of the many who owe the organisation a debt for intellectual inspiration and indispensable connections and friendships. There are conversations taking place here that can’t be found anywhere else. I would work to foster and broaden those conversations, by continuing to reach out to researchers (in professional as well as academic settings) from an ever-wider range of countries, institutions, disciplines, and perspectives (as with additional SHARP-supported interdisciplinary symposia and industry collaborations), to recognise innovative work, and to warmly welcome emerging scholars.
    • Henning Hansen
    • Name: Henning Hansen
    • Candidate Statement:
      Affiliation: Library of the Royal Swedish Academy of Letters, History and Antiquities, SWEDEN and University of the Arctic, Trømso, NORWAY https://en.uit.no/ub/ourlibraries/sted/employees/person?p_document_id=583458 I attended my first SHARP annual conference as a PhD student in 2015, which put me in touch with fellow book historians across the world. The community has meant a lot to me, both as book historian and research librarian, and if I am elected to the Board of Directors I will advocate for the needs of young members, so that new generations of book historians may call SHARP their “intellectual home,” as a fellow member once put it.
    • Leah R Henrickson
    • Name: Leah R Henrickson
    • Candidate Statement:
      Affiliation: University of Queensland, AUSTRALIA https://ahc.leeds.ac.uk/media/staff/3056/dr-leah-henrickson [in transit] As a Lecturer in Digital Media, I use book history as a lens to consider the functionalities and effects of emerging technologies. I believe my experience and perspective would complement those of other SHARP Directors, helping us maintain an organisation that looks simultaneously to the past and to the future. Since 2020, I have served as SHARP News Social Media Editor, maintaining the publication’s digital presence on SHARP-L on Twitter. In this role, I facilitate bookish conversations to support a sense of belonging amongst SHARPists and appeal to prospective members. Since 2019, I have served as a Moderator of SHARP-L.
    • Renske A Hoff
    • Name: Renske A Hoff
    • Candidate Statement:
      Affiliation: Utrecht University, THE NETHERLANDS https://www.uu.nl/staff/RAHoff My name is Dr. Renske Hoff, lecturer of Middle Dutch literature and culture at Utrecht University, the Netherlands. I study religious book culture in the Low Countries between 1400 and 1600,and am currently developing a new project on the users and contexts of use of Middle Dutch and Latin psalm books in manuscript and print. I have been a member of SHARP since the beginning of my PhD and SHARP’s activities have been tremendously important for the development of my research as well as socially. SHARP allows book historians to collaborate globally and interdisciplinary, and connects researchers specialised in topics from papyrus scrolls to e-books. I would love to play my part in sustaining and developing this valuable, diverse scholarly community as a member of the Board.
    • Matthew Kirschenbaum
    • Name: Matthew Kirschenbaum
    • Candidate Statement:
      Affiliation: University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland, USA https://english.umd.edu/directory/matthew-kirschenbaum I am a Professor of English at the University of Maryland in College Park, USA. I am also part of the faculty at the Rare Book School in Charlottesville. At Maryland, I co-founded and direct our BookLab. I have served on SHARP's Board of Directors since 2019 and have chaired the Board since 2021. If elected to a second term I am particularly interested in participating in the emerging process of rethinking the annual conference, to take advantage of new technologies and enable more inclusivity while also preserving the unique energy and experience of our in-person events.
    • Lisa Kuitert
    • Name: Lisa Kuitert
    • Candidate Statement:
      Affiliation: University of Amsterdam, THE NETHERLANDS https://www.uva.nl/en/profile/k/u/e.a.kuitert/e.a.kuitert.html From 1995, as a young scholar, SHARP has been an important step in my career as a book historian I am currently working on the book business in 'Dutch East Indies', the name that the Dutch gave to Indonesia in the colonial era. I also work on the history of literary publishing in the 19th-21st century in the Netherlands. Other fields of interest are authorship, World War II, libraries, and other reading facilities. Since 2001 I have been Professor of Book Studies at the University of Amsterdam, attending almost every SHARP conference since then and, with a group of enthusiastic Dutch book historians, organized the annual conference in 2022 in Amsterdam. I’m also the editor-in-chief of the book historical journal Quaerendo, published by Brill. I hope I can help SHARP by joining the Board, by giving advice and representing a part of the non-English speaking countries. I would like to help book historians around the world to feel welcome in SHARP, especially those from countries that are under-represented..
    • Jessica Linker
    • Name: Jessica Linker
    • Candidate Statement:
      Affiliation: Northeastern University, Boston, Massachusetts, USA https://cssh.northeastern.edu/faculty/jessica-linker/ I am Assistant Professor of History at Northeastern University, where I co-direct Huskiana Press, an experiential letterpress studio designed to support faculty, students, and community members interested in book history and book arts. For more than a decade I have been SHARP’s liaison to the American Historical Association and have been responsible for programmatic offerings about book history on behalf of SHARP at AHA’s Annual Meeting. SHARP has been extremely important to my scholarly identity since I was a graduate student (because, in part, it was uniquely welcoming to folks on various career paths) and I hope to bring my longstanding enthusiasm for the organization and the study of book history to working on the Board.
    • Kirsten MacLeod
    • Name: Kirsten MacLeod
    • Candidate Statement:
      Affiliation: Newcastle University, UK https://www.ncl.ac.uk/elll/people/profile/kirstenmacleod.html Though personal and career distractions have meant I have not been as involved with SHARP activities as I would have liked in recent years, I am eager to renew my association with SHARP in a service capacity. This is an organization that was instrumental to my intellectual development early in my career and I have long aspired to be involved in a governance and/or service capacity. Serving on the Board of Directors would provide an excellent opportunity to learn how the organization operates. It seems an ideal position to gain the experience and knowledge needed for taking on other roles in the organization.
    • Brigitte Ouvry-Vial
    • Name: Brigitte Ouvry-Vial
    • Candidate Statement:
      Affiliation: Le Mans University, FRANCE https://3lam.univ-lemans.fr/fr/les-membres-du-laboratoire/enseignants-chercheurs/ouvry-vial-brigitte.html I am Brigitte Ouvry Vial, University Professor of Literature, Information and Communication sciences at Le Mans University, France (soon to be emeritus) and senior honorary member of Institut Universitaire de France. Having completed an interesting and lively term as a member of SHARP Board of directors, I would gladly embrace another term: the purpose is to participate in SHARP’s striking development as a major scientific society in the field of book history, to support accessibility to young researchers in the domain, and to share my experience in opening research to other disciplines such as cognitive sciences and computer sciences. The lively and friendly debate among board members is also certainly an asset that motivates this application as well and I’m grateful for past as well as future exchanges.
    • Susan Pickford
    • Name: Susan Pickford
    • Candidate Statement:
      Affiliation: University of Geneva, SWITZERLAND https://www.unige.ch/fti/en/faculte/enseignants-collaborateurs/liste-corps-enseignant/page-personnelle/?lang=en&urlname=susan-lindsay-pickford&type=all I would be pleased and honoured to serve a second term on the SHARP board of directors. After a first term marked by the pandemic, I hope to continue playing an active role in helping build SHARP for a sustainable and inclusive future, fostering book history scholarship in a diversity of intellectual contexts and languages. My service to SHARP also includes being one of three co-editors of the online journal Lingua Franca. The History of the Book in Translation.
    • Alan Rauch
    • Name: Alan Rauch
    • Candidate Statement:
      Affiliation: University of North Carolina, USA https://pages.charlotte.edu/alan-rauch/ The Department of English has, over time, established a print lab to augment our courses in book history. We are also developing and establishing links with the Art History Department which is logical and not surprising. But as a scholar who also works in “Cultural Studies of Science,” I am also interested in developing links with members of SHARP as well as colleagues in the History of Science Society, and in the Society for the History of Technology. Through collaboration, we can open up new perspectives with respect to the challenges inherent in textual material, illustrations, or cultivating readership in the creation of scientific literature.
    • Jonathan Rose
    • Name: Jonathan Rose
    • Candidate Statement:
      Affiliation: Drew University, Madison, New Jersey, USA https://drew.edu/communications-department/2018/02/13/jonathan-rose/ Over the next decade SHARP should expand and diversify its membership base. We should particularly reach out to book historians in Latin America, Africa, the Middle East, and Asia. Specific projects might include supporting the organization of local book historical societies in that part of the world. We could underwrite the translation of non-Western scholarship into English, and Anglophone scholarship into non-Western languages. And we should aim to hold at least one SHARP annual conference outside the "First World."
    • Katherine M. Ruffin
    • Name: Katherine M. Ruffin
    • Candidate Statement:
      Affiliation: Wellesley College, Massachusetts, USA https://www.wellesley.edu/lts/about/ris/staff/kruffin At Wellesley College, I work with colleagues from various departments to integrate the study of the art and history of the book into the liberal arts curriculum. I teach the history of 19th and 20th century typography and printing at the Rare Book School at the University of Virginia and the history of the book at Simmons University. My research interests include the history of printing, bibliography, and libraries as well as women in book history. I have presented at the 2019 and 2021 SHARP conferences. I was a Vice President of the American Printing History Association (2016-2020) and currently serve on the advisory boards for the Bookbinding Program at the North Bennet St. School. As a member of the Board of Directors, I would contribute to efforts to build community and to bring people from various backgrounds and disciplines together to advance the mission of SHARP.
    • Kirsti Salmi-Niklander
    • Name: Kirsti Salmi-Niklander
    • Candidate Statement:
      Affiliation: University of Helsinki, FINLAND https://researchportal.helsinki.fi/en/persons/kirsti-salmi-niklander I have been a member of SHARP since 2000 and have attended more than ten annual conferences. I was one of the main organizers for the SHARP conference “Book Culture from Below” in Helsinki 2010. I have served as Regional Liaison for Finland since 2012, and in the jury of De Long Book Prize 2013-2016. In 2013, I participated in the SHARP Futures meeting, and was invited as SHARP Ambassador in 2017. As a member of the Board of Directors I could contribute to the fields of research which have been in the main focus of my research: working-class book culture, vernacular literacy, the intersection of orality and literacy and transnational book cultures in migrant communities. I would also encourage the SHARP involvement in Finland and other Nordic countries.
    • Matthew Sangster
    • Name: Matthew Sangster
    • Candidate Statement:
      Affiliation: Glasgow University, UK https://www.gla.ac.uk/schools/critical/staff/matthewsangster/ I would be happy to serve on SHARP's Board of Directors if I can be helpful. I would bring to the Board fourteen years of experience from the Executive of the British Association for Romantic Studies, for which I have co-organised successful in-person and digital conferences and co-developed a website, a blog and an open-access review journal. Other relevant experience includes co-editing Romanticism on the Net and the Bloomsbury Academic Perspectives on Fantasy Series; co-organising the 'Institutions of Literature, 1700-1900' and '1820s: Innovation and Diffusion' research networks; and working on the 'C18th Libraries' and 'Books and Borrowing, 1750-1830' projects.
    • Ray Schrire
    • Name: Ray Schrire
    • Candidate Statement:
      Affiliation: Tel Aviv University, ISRAEL https://telaviv.academia.edu/RaySchrire I am a cultural and intellectual historian of early modern England. My research deals with questions about the history of cognition and takes a comparatist approach to book history. I regard manuscripts, printed books, and marginalia as cognitive fossils that can shed light on the ways ideas, materiality and social norms shaped the basic faculties of the mind. I have recently joined the faculty of Tel-Aviv University, where I introduced courses in book history rooted in the hands-on pedagogy I encountered while studying at UC Berkeley and the Rare Books School. Over the years I have learned so much from the global community that is SHARP. It serves as a model of a true grassroots, democratic, intellectual society, and I hope to be able to contribute to it as a Member of the Board of Directors.
    • Jordan Alexander Stein
    • Name: Jordan Alexander Stein
    • Candidate Statement:
      Affiliation: Fordham University, New York, USA https://www.fordham.edu/info/24123/jordan_alexander_stein I'm a book and media historian with particular interest in the ways that social identities (including race, sexuality, and religion) inflect material practices (like reading, editing, or printing). Researching the eighteenth- and nineteenth-century Atlantic world, I’ve co-edited the essay collection Early African American Print Culture and published most recently When Novels Were Books. My current research investigates printing in the colonial Caribbean (British and French, some Spanish), and I’ve begun working through this material in a course called “Geographies of the Book: Nation, Colony, Plantation.” I hope to be contribute to SHARP’s ongoing efforts to broaden the topics and regions of book history, as well as to help create a meaningfully inclusive environment for the scholars who study it.
    • Nicola Wilson
    • Name: Nicola Wilson
    • Candidate Statement:
      Affiliation: University of Reading, UK https://www.reading.ac.uk/english-literature/our-staff/nicola-wilson I’m a feminist book and publishing historian who loves teaching with publishers’ archives. I’m currently writing a group biography called “Love, War and the Book Society: The Story of Britain’s First Celebrity Book Club” and am co-investigator of the Modernist Archives Publishing Project – a feminist Digital Humanities project on C20 publishers’ archives. Forthcoming is The Edinburgh Companion to Women in Publishing, 1900-2000, which I’ve co-edited. My first book was Home in British Working-Class Fiction and I’ve worked with independent publishers on the Ethel Carnie Holdsworth reprint series. I value inclusive research, collaborations, and have experience working with non-HEI [Higher Education Institution] partners.