About
The Early Modern Boundaries project was a British Academy-funded initiative to promote internationalism and research excellence in early modern studies by strengthening ties across the global research community.
In September 2015 we held a symposium called ‘National Boundaries in Early Modern Literary Studies’ at Queen Mary University of London. Our conclusions were published as a quintilingual report in the Journal of the Northern Renaissance. A workshop at Newcastle University the following March looked at how to cultivate stronger language skills among early modernists (we made a list of twenty ways to do so).
After a two-month consultation period in Summer 2016, we identified the need for a professional space in which researchers could seek and offer assistance from individuals and small groups of researchers with relevant interests. We shared the British Academy’s commitment (as outlined in a statement signed by the UK’s national academies) to facilitating international collaboration, and were particularly keen to increase links between researchers in the UK and other European nations as Britain prepared to leave the EU.
The second phase of the project used follow-on funding to launch a pilot programme (that ran until early 2019) that made it possible for early modernists whose work has a multilingual, transnational or comparative element to discuss research queries among targeted groups of fellow researchers.
The network, which was hosted on a platform called Mobilize, made it possible, for example, to seek help reading a fifteenth-century Latin or seventeenth-century Dutch text from researchers with relevant interests, to ask a Croatian specialist for reading suggestions on the playwright Marin Držić, or to ask a colleague in London to check a reference at the British Library.
The network worked like a customizable mailing list. Members joined a searchable directory of researchers, and could send posts to relevant sections of the whole group. Most discussions took place via email but members could log into the platform to read posts and messages, view a directory of researchers, compose messages and change email settings (it is simple to opt-out from emails if preferred). We initially tested the platform among those who attended our previous events, and the network was open to all.
Members could also post announcements about news, events, projects and publications that are not sent by email but can be consulted by logging into the platform. We gathered these announcements into a regular newsletter in order to minimize email correspondence while helping members to encounter research from other areas in early modern studies.
Our priority was for all network members to have an enjoyable and productive experience. We were extremely keen to receive feedback on how the platform could provide a better service to the international research community. We hoped that the project stimulates debate about online research communication today, and would be glad to speak to anyone with ideas about the future of this pilot programme.
This website contains FAQs , suggested ways to use and a How-to guide. Please contact [email protected] with any questions.
Peter Auger
(University of Birmingham (formerly Queen Mary University of London,
British Academy Rising Star Engagement Award holder, 2015-17)
(updated: 27 February 2019)
The Early Modern Boundaries project was a British Academy-funded initiative to promote internationalism and research excellence in early modern studies by strengthening ties across the global research community.
In September 2015 we held a symposium called ‘National Boundaries in Early Modern Literary Studies’ at Queen Mary University of London. Our conclusions were published as a quintilingual report in the Journal of the Northern Renaissance. A workshop at Newcastle University the following March looked at how to cultivate stronger language skills among early modernists (we made a list of twenty ways to do so).
After a two-month consultation period in Summer 2016, we identified the need for a professional space in which researchers could seek and offer assistance from individuals and small groups of researchers with relevant interests. We shared the British Academy’s commitment (as outlined in a statement signed by the UK’s national academies) to facilitating international collaboration, and were particularly keen to increase links between researchers in the UK and other European nations as Britain prepared to leave the EU.
The second phase of the project used follow-on funding to launch a pilot programme (that ran until early 2019) that made it possible for early modernists whose work has a multilingual, transnational or comparative element to discuss research queries among targeted groups of fellow researchers.
The network, which was hosted on a platform called Mobilize, made it possible, for example, to seek help reading a fifteenth-century Latin or seventeenth-century Dutch text from researchers with relevant interests, to ask a Croatian specialist for reading suggestions on the playwright Marin Držić, or to ask a colleague in London to check a reference at the British Library.
The network worked like a customizable mailing list. Members joined a searchable directory of researchers, and could send posts to relevant sections of the whole group. Most discussions took place via email but members could log into the platform to read posts and messages, view a directory of researchers, compose messages and change email settings (it is simple to opt-out from emails if preferred). We initially tested the platform among those who attended our previous events, and the network was open to all.
Members could also post announcements about news, events, projects and publications that are not sent by email but can be consulted by logging into the platform. We gathered these announcements into a regular newsletter in order to minimize email correspondence while helping members to encounter research from other areas in early modern studies.
Our priority was for all network members to have an enjoyable and productive experience. We were extremely keen to receive feedback on how the platform could provide a better service to the international research community. We hoped that the project stimulates debate about online research communication today, and would be glad to speak to anyone with ideas about the future of this pilot programme.
This website contains FAQs , suggested ways to use and a How-to guide. Please contact [email protected] with any questions.
Peter Auger
(University of Birmingham (formerly Queen Mary University of London,
British Academy Rising Star Engagement Award holder, 2015-17)
(updated: 27 February 2019)