2017 Berkshire Conference on the History of Women, Genders and Sexualities

June 01 - 04, 2017

This roundtable, co-sponsored by the CCWH or Coordinating Committee for Women in History, brings together five of the contributors and the two editors of the soon-to-be published book, Dismantling Historical Boundaries: Essays Centering Women’s Nontraditional Lives (forthcoming, University of Illinois Press, 2018). Participants will discuss some of the key themes, vital lessons, and exceptional insights that the book illuminates in the course of its eighteen essays. These include: the daunting challenges but also the rewards that many women encounter as they pursue a life of the mind; the significance of mentorship in the field of history and academia more generally; the tangible and intangible importance of financial support to scholars without resources; the state of the historical profession and academia; the commitment to not only writing histories of women but also preserving their voices in archives. The panelists will also explore the sometimes unrecognized ways that historical subjects we write about have served as inspirations in our own lives. And finally, participants will reflect on the challenges and opportunities of writing and editing a collection of mini-biographies, an exercise most historians neither engage in nor are generally comfortable with.

A light lunch of sandwiches will be served.