The Renaissance Society of America’s Graduate Student Advisory Committee is pleased to launch the Online Graduate Student Lightning Talk Series with its inaugural session on “Expanding the Renaissance.”

As scholars and students of Renaissance Studies, we recognize that we, as the RSA Statement in Support of Social Justice states, “have structured a Western European world view that has excluded or abused people of color.” In acknowledgement of this and other elements of exclusion in Renaissance Studies, the RSA Student Community seeks to expand our understanding of the Renaissance (1300–1700) by hosting lightning talks that address topics, sources, or methodologies that are commonly excluded or overlooked from mainstream narratives.

Lightning talks are concise oral presentations of five minutes, which may or may not include visual aids. Presentations could be based on:

- An argument from your work (BA/MA thesis, dissertation, or article),
- Initial findings from side projects, or work in progress,
- Archival findings,
- Pedagogical questions,
- Field/experience-based observations, and/or
- Anything that stimulates discussion.

The talks will be followed by a brief discussion and Q&A. Graduate students of all stages are invited to apply. Please submit your name, proposed title, and a short description (max. 150 words) via the RSA Online Graduate Student Lightning Talk Series Application Form (https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdvWt12_xD9ecrUvXWwRwz22Du0yxSpO7MwICDowZnDzvw2MQ/viewform) by Friday, October 30. The first online lightning talks session will take place on Thursday, December 3 at 12:00 p.m. ET.

For more information, please contact the RSA Graduate Student Advisory Committee at: rsastudentcommunitygmail.com.

Organizers:
The RSA Graduate Student Advisory Committee
Celine Camps, Columbia University
Samantha Chang, University of Toronto
Barbara Dietlinger, University of Chicago
Thomas Franke, UC Santa Barbara