S-USIH Minutes December 2017
Executive Committee Meeting
7 December 2017, Noon EST
Attending
Kevin Schultz, Leah Gordon, Ray Haberski, Richard Candida Smith, Natalia Petrzela, Tim Lacy, Rebecca Brenner
Agenda
Welcome
Secretary’s Report
Treasurer’s Report
Conference Chairs’ Reports
Publications Chair’s Report
President’s Report
Welcome
Unanimous approval of conference minutes
Secretary’s Report
Rebecca Brenner:
Planning to update bios on the website- thank you all for sending them to me
509 total members but only 186 are active, which just went down
Treasurer’s Report
Leah Gordon:
Financially, the conference was better than we feared
2017 Dallas conference costs ~$22k, including hotel fee and paying Annette Gordon-Reed
We took in $28,700, hence profit of $8k
Currently $31k in the bank
Ray: $125 was a high registration fee
Natalia: We should send out an email using holiday season to ask for donations to support graduate students at future conferences
Richard: Generally should be financially conscious while planning conferences
2018 Conference Update
Tim Lacy:
Things are going well
Jonathan Holloway enthusiastically committed to be our keynote speaker
One plenary will be about populism, with Sophie Rosenfeld from Penn; another one will cover Christianity and anti-intellectualism, led by Molly Worthen; we are also working on a Latinx plenary panel for Saturday night
The Call For Papers becomes available on Monday, December 11, 2017
Seeking Lora’s 2017 insights
Kevin: Good job Tim explaining perks of Chicago in the CFP
2019 Conference Update
Natalia Petrzela:
Discusses what needs to happen for the 2019 conference in New York City
Seeking suggestions of what people want
Rebecca: Live Past Present podcast would be ideal
Natalia: Likely a live podcast and also History Channel involvement
Editing a new magazine, which will launch at American Historical Association in January
Ray: CSPAN attended S-USIH when it was in DC
Publication Chair’s Report
Richard Candida-Smith:
Discusses the question of book reviews
8 book reviews in 2017, including the Stamped from the Beginning salon
Rob Greene contributes many valuable book reviews, including classics revisited
Book reviews and podcasts should be more visible on the website
Ray: Book reviews are central to US intellectual history
Leah: Who chooses the books to review?
Richard: Rob Greene, and we should have 2-4 books per month, plus round tables ideally
Richard will email Ben Alpers and Rob Greene about this
Book review is 750 well-considered words
Natalia: Podcasts are an aggregator
Leah: Advertise members’ books, podcasts, and other work on our website
Ray: Website must be a carefully curated aggregator, not just free-for-all
Rebecca: I currently don’t have access to the website
President’s Report
Kevin Schultz:
Terms should be 2-3 years, which will require a vote among members
Richard: Past President should sit on executive committee for the sake of continuity
Rebecca: Terms should be staggered
Meeting adjourned 1:26