Winter 2018

IHS: Institute for Historical Study (San Francisco) is an active, independent community of researchers, writers, and artists who share a devotion to history in its many forms. IHS members share research, ideas, and practical advice and provide a public forum for the discussion of history.

Recent Events

IHS: Institute for Historical Study (San Francisco) is an active, independent community of researchers, writers, and artists who share a devotion to history in its many forms. IHS members share research, ideas, and practical advice and provide a public forum for the discussion of history.

• June 10, 1:30 pm: Writers Group, with presentation by Marilyn Geary

• June 11, 1 pm: Medieval Study Group: Berkeley. Lyn Reese will give a presentation about the Vikings and the Lewis Chessmen.

• June 17, 2 pm: Monthly Program, Berkeley Central Public Library. A conversation with Malcolm Margolin and Jackie Pels on publishing history books.

• June 19, 1 pm: History Play Readers, San Francisco, will discuss Joe Turner's Come and Gone, by August Wilson.

The IHS Annual Meeting took place on Saturday, February 24, 2018 at the Mechanics’ Institute, where member Monika Trobits gave an illustrated talk on “From Vigilance in Early San Francisco to the 1859 Duel.”

Workshop on "Funding for Creative Writers" took place on January 20, 2018 for members considering applications for writing grants, fellowships, scholarships, or residencies.

Public Program on April 27, 2018: “The Making of Benjamin Madley’s Book, An American Genocide: The United States and the California Indian Catastrophe,” Mechanics’ Institute

For more information on IHS activities consult the website: www.instituteforhistoricalstudy.org
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ISAA: Independent Scholars’ Association of Australia 

2018 ISAA Annual Conference will be held on October 11–12, 2018 at the National Library under the theme, "The Declaration of Human Rights – 70 Years On.” Australia played a significant role in drafting The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which celebrated its 70th anniversary this year. Despite all the achievements that have flowed from the Declaration, there have been many counter-pressures, such as the break-up of the bipolar international power blocs; the rise of civil wars; and a large increase in involuntary population movements. Papers dealing with factors leading up to the Declaration of Human Rights and subsequent human rights developments that have followed from it are welcome.

ISAA publishes a National Newsletter several times a year and the ISAA Review twice a year, as well as the Annual conference proceedings. The latest issue of the ISAA Review, with the theme, “Science: Natural and Social,” includes articles by Ian Lowe, Sybil Jack, Ann Moyal and Mike Pepperday, and opinion pieces by Graeme Pearman, J.E.N. Vernon, Ann Moyal and Dierk van Behrens. Creative Corner is Climate Change Matilda by Ian Lowe. 

NSW ISAA Chapter
April 5, 2018: Open Forum was held at History House, Royal Australian Historical Society. Prof. Shirley Randell spoke on "Revolution, Activism and Social Change in Rwanda." Professor Randell is an award-winning global mentor, educator, trainer, author, speaker, company director, change activist, ambassador, patron and campaigner for human rights.

May 17, 2018. Annual General Meeting of the ISAA NSW chapter was held at the Mitchell Library of NSW. Guest speaker Maggie Borschke spoke on “Process as Product: Using Social Media in Academic Research Strategies.” She discussed aesthetics of online circulation and expression and offered practical advice for creating a social media strategy for independent scholars.

July 21, 2018: The annual NSW Chapter Seminar will be held on Saturday, July 21, 2018, in the Metcalfe Auditorium at the State Library of NSW. The seminar will celebrate the centenary of Women's Legal Status Act 1918. This Act made it possible for women to be appointed Justices of the Peace, to practice as lawyers and to stand for local government and state parliament.

September 25, 2018. Upcoming Open Forum, a joint meeting of ISAA’s (NSW Chapter) & Royal Australian Historical Society on the topic of “Charles Dickens and His Performed Readings: A New Art Form." Royal Australian Historical Society in Sydney.

The Chapter publishes a Bulletin every two months. ISAA holds “work-in-process” reviews for members who seek feedback on their research.


Other states:
The ACT ISAA Group meets monthly at the National Library in Canberra and features a guest speaker program. The Victorian group has not met for some time as the members are quite dispersed. There are also members in Queensland, South Australia and Western Australia, but there are no active ISAA groups in those states. Members receive emailed communications and published material and at times they attend the Annual Conference. There are also two international members.

For more information: http://www.isaa.org.au
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MISF: Minnesota Independent Scholars Forum
MISF has regular meetings for scholarly presentations on the fourth Saturday of each month at the Minneapolis Washburn Library. Information about their Grant Programs and their journal, The Minnesota Scholar, may be found on its website.’

The MISF Philosophy Study Group, which meets on the second Wednesday of each month, is starting discussion of Science Set Free: 10 Paths to New Discovery (2013) by Rupert Sheldrake.

The MISF History Study Group meets monthly on the third Wednesday; it will soon start studying Midnight's Furies: the Deadly Legacy of India's Partition (2015) by Nisid Hajari.

Recent Events
June 23, 2018: "Connections and Corrections: Women in the Criminal Justice System and Their Families” by Ruth Campbell, MSW. This presentation is a review of a qualitative study of eighteen women who were in a women’s residential correctional facility.

April 28, 2018. Dr. Tamim Saidi led a discussion on “Minnesota Muslims Up Close.” Muslims have been part of Minnesota since the nineteenth century so why are we just noticing them now? We examine the diversity and the unity of the Muslim experience in the Land of a Thousand Lakes.

Upcoming Programs, all at the Washburn Library, Minneapolis: 

• September 22, 2018: "F. Scott Fitzgerald in Minnesota” led by Dave Page, editor and writer, has researched how the wealth of the Midwest, the Catholic Church of St. Paul, and the romantic notions of the Civil War his Maryland father planted in his head while living in St. Paul influenced F. Scott Fitzgerald's life and writing.

• October 22, 2018: Authors Lucy Brusic, Evelyn Klein and Mike Woolsey will present "How Our Book Came to be and Why” discussing Scholars without Walls: The History of the Minnesota Independent Scholars Forum.

• November 22, 2018: Tom Balcom will present "Minneapolis and Tangletown Neighborhood Landmarks.” He will discuss the questions, “What is a neighborhood and how does change make it better, lessen it, or make it a different world?” Step into the past with a presentation illustrated by maps and photographs of historical interest.

For more information about MISF, http://www.mnindependentscholars.org

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NISA: Northwest Independent Scholars Association
NISA meets five times per year (every other month except July) to encourage and promote scholarly discussion, research, writing, and publication outside formal institutions of higher education, for individuals who are actively pursuing serious scholarly research.

2018 Meetings:

• January 17, 2018: David Kohl: "Portland's Lan Su Chinese Garden in Context"
  March 28, 2018: Barbara Canavan: "High Politics and Pandemic Predictions: A Historical Perspective"

• May 23, 2018: David Ritchie on "The Mortar and the Sword: Weapons in Fantasy and Reality” about changes to the reality of weapons and their status in our moral imagination

2017 Meetings:

• January 25, 2017: Richard March: "Rough Stuff: The Assassination Attempts"
• March 15, 2017: Nikki Mandell: "A Hotel of Her Own: Building by and for the New Woman, 1900-1930"
• May 17, 2017: David Ritchie and Bob Martin: Teaching Art: Circumstance, Creativity
  September 20, 2017: Martha Bailey: "Understanding Islam: Networks Across Time and Space”
• November 8, 2017: Richard Etulain: "Ernest Haycox and the Western”

For more information about NISA and their bi-monthly meetings, see

http://www.northwestindependentscholars.org
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Princeton Research Forum
Founded in 1980, Princeton Research Forum is a community of independent scholars in the greater Princeton area. Monthly meetings are held at the Institute for Advanced Study and PRF members share their interests in study groups focused on the humanities, poetry, and science, as well as through works-in-progress sessions and presentation seminars.

Special study groups convene regularly for discussion, setting their own programs and schedules. New members are encouraged to join an existing study group or set up another according to their interests. The study groups welcome the participation of nonmembers. Existing groups include: Humanities—readings in literature, philosophy, history, and the arts; Poetry—critical reading and analysis of works by selected poets; Science/History of Science—contemporary and historical perspectives on science, medicine, and technology.

Works-in-Progress. Members are encouraged to present their work, at any stage of development, for discussion with other members. These sessions provide opportunities to raise questions, elicit feedback, and hone one’s projects in a supportive environment that facilitates clarity of thought.

Presentation Seminars. Discussions of members’ completed projects offer a chance to share expertise in a non-judgmental and constructive environment.

Recent member activities:

Winifred Hughes taught a course on literature and nature as part of the Language of Nature series at the Stony Brook Millstone Watershed Center in Pennington in 2018.

Toni Vogel Carey was awarded a 2017 Elizabeth Eisenstein Prize by the National Coalition of Independent Scholars for her paper, “Adam Smith’s Invisible Hand: A Brief History,” published in the Adam Smith Review.

Pat Hyatt spoke about “American Women on the Move” at the University of Houston Women’s Conference in November 2017. Pat’s book, American Women on the Move: The Inside Story of the National Women’s Conference, 1977, celebrates the 40th anniversary of that unique gathering.

Joyce Irwin presented a paper entitled “Luther, Mattheson, and the Joy of Music” at a conference on “Lutheran Music Culture,” sponsored by the University of Uppsala, Sweden in September 2017.

Karen Reeds presented a slide-illustrated talk, “Essential to their Health and Service: Keeping Washington's Army Well Enough to Fight,” in June 2017 as part of a symposium commemorating George Washington’s First Middlebrook Encampment (1777) in Martinsville, New Jersey.

For more information on the PRF, go to www.princetonresearchforum.org

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SDIS: San Diego Independent Scholars
San Diego Independent Scholars holds ongoing meetings of four study groups, in addition to monthly general meetings. Study groups include Colloquy Café, Culture One,  Film Group and Science Group.

At the annual SDIS Business meeting on May 19, 2018, Dr. Michael Sage gave a presentation on “Roman Republic in Memory: From Reality to an Idea” which focused on the creation in stone of a legacy in the period of the living Republic from its beginning until its death at the end of the first century BCE.

At the April 2018 general meeting, Dr. Erik Gartzke discussed emerging conflicts in cyberspace—what to expect in the growth of internet crime and why new forms of deterrence are required.

Colloquy Café recently has featured discussions on the topics of “socialization” and “Retirement II.”

Culture One is currently reading Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow. How do current trends in AI affect the economic and political status of humans, our current notions of individualism, and the ultimate likelihood of intense inequality among humans?

The Film Group has recently screened A United Kingdom, a 2017 biographical drama about the courtship and marriage of an African prince (about to become king) of Bechuanaland (now Botswana) and a British woman in the 1940s. At their April meeting, they reviewed Finding Vincent, the 2017 animated biographical drama about the repercussions a year after the death of a tormented artist, Vincent Van Gogh.

Recent meetings of the Neuroscience Study Group have been discussing Michio Kaku’s book, The Future of the Mind: The Scientific Quest to Understand, Enhance and Empower the Mind.

Supper with Scholars gatherings are held on the third Thursday of each month.

For more information on SDIS, go to http://www.sdscholars.org

—Barbara Williams Ellertson, NCIS Partner Liaison—June 2018

CIS Bids Farewell after 40 Years

The Center for Independent Study (New Haven) is disbanding after 40 years' service to the independent scholar community. As part of the dissolution process, the CIS board decided unanimously to disburse remaining CIS funds (about $3,000) to NCIS in support of members' conference travel, conference registration fees, and library fees incurred to support members’ research. We are immensely grateful to CIS for their generous gesture, and delighted that we will be able to fund even more of our members.

As documented in CIS’s final newsletter, the organization originated in 1977, when “five women — all married to Yale professors — came together to establish the Center for Independent Study (CIS). By Yale’s rules at that time, the women were ineligible to join the faculty, though they were equally qualified, because Yale would not hire members of the same family. CIS would provide its members some of the perks that faculty positions offered: a letterhead to be used in applying for grants; a structure to oversee and administer grants; and, perhaps most important, collegiality for those who work independently.

“CIS was the second such organization of independent scholars in the country, and the first to be open not only to academics but also to writers, artists, and editors.” 

Read more about this outstanding organization. 

Affiliate News Archive

Winter 2017

CIS: Center for Independent Research (New Haven)

Celebration amid regret. In October 2016, leaders of the CIS voted to disband their organization.

Since 1977, the Center for Independent Study was a vibrant intellectual group in New Haven, Connecticut, one that reached and exceeded its original goal “to foster intellectual stimulation outside the formal academy.” In nearly 40 years of existence, CIS became a forum for a wide range of intellectual and creative pursuits and a community of colleagues for those who work and/or study on their own.

Applause and thanks go to CIS officers and members for their decades of service to and support of independent scholarship. The Center for Independent Study will always remain part of the history and DNA of the National Coalition of Independent Scholars.
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IHS: Institute for Historical Study (San Francisco)

IHS held its annual meeting in February. The afternoon program was a panel discussion on “Writing Lesser Known Lives,” by Phyllis Grilikhes-Maxwell, Taryn Edwards and Rob Robbins. Each speaker focused on the reasons for the selection of their subjects, problems of research and writing as well as issues of audience and publication.

In the fall of 2016, three Institute members were awarded mini-grants: Taryn Edwards, Charles Sullivan, and Neil Dukas. Taryn Edwards will travel to the UK for research in archives relevant to her proposed biography of Andrew Smith Hallidie. Charles Sullivan will travel to a remote site in Oregon, Neahkahnie Mountain, to examine the remains of what might be an Elizabethan-era land survey and to confer with local historians. Neil Dukas travelled to Hawaii to speak on “Hawaii’s Armed Forces during the Reign of King Kalakaua” at the Naval Order of the United States (NOUS) 2016 Congress in Honolulu.

Where Do Archives Come From? In November 2016, IHS sponsored with the San Francisco Public Library a panel of three archivists describing their collection policies. Arranged by Kathy O’Connor, speakers included Patricia Keats of the Society of California Pioneers Library; Danielle Scott Taylor of the North American Collections at Hoover Library and Stanford University; and Catherine Powell of the Labor Archives and Research Center housed at San Francisco State University.

Other News

• The Writers' Group:  Recent meetings have included readings and critiques from work in process by Celeste Macleod, Charles Sullivan, Carol Sicherman and Cathy Robbins. Member Rob Robbins will publish his biography of Vladimir Dzhunkovsky, “Overtaken by the Night: A Russian’s Extraordinary Journey through Peace, War, Revolution, and Terror,” with the University of Pittsburg Press in 2017.
• California and the West Study Group: During 2017, this group will co-sponsor a performance and lecture by Los Arrimeños, a choir that sings historic California songs. Because 2017 is the centenary of the Russian Revolution, which brought an influx of Russians to California, the group also plans to visit a local cathedral and have a lecture on the subject, as well as conclude with a visit to a Russian restaurant.
• The Medieval Study Group: Ellen Huppert reported on “The Conversion of Scandinavia” at the November 2016 meeting, based on works by Anders Winroth and Sverre Bagge.
• The Play Reading group recently completed reading Jefferson’s Garden by Timberlake Wertenbaker. which premiered at the Watford Palace Theatre in England in February 2015. Jefferson’s Garden was honored as best play by the Writer’s Guild Awards. 

For further information on IHS activities consult the website: www.instituteforhistoricalstudy.org

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ISAA: Independent Scholars’ Association of Australia
ISAA is already making plans for its 2017 Annual Conference, which will be held on October 12 and 13 at the National Library. Because this year marks the 100 anniversary of the October Revolution in Russia, the conference theme is Revolution, Activism, and Social Change. David Christian will give the keynote lecture under the theme of ‘The Russian Revolution in World History.’ Christian is Director of Big History Institute and Distinguished Professor in History, Macquarie University, Sydney. In 2004, he published the first book-length study of Big History, Maps of Time. In 2017, he will publish an account of big history as a modern origin story for a general readership. 

The 2016 Annual Conference was held on October 13 and 14, 2016 in Canberra, focused on the theme “The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly: Shaping Public Policy in Australia: Past, Present, and Future.” Over the two days, fifteen speakers explored topics of growth, gender, Aboriginal policy, lobbying, and higher education. The conference was opened by Margy Burn, of the National Library of Australia, speaking about the NLAs 20-year effort to obtain digital deposits; the library now has legal rights to carry out domain harvests and has launched a web crawler. However, funding for staff to process acquisitions remains a challenge.

In September 2016, members of the New South Wales chapter of ISAA hosted a Conversation with Gary L. Sturgess on “Australia: Nation or Commodity?” which explored the cultural significance of contemporary transitions from ownership to access, from assets to services, from private to public spaces. November saw an Open Forum, featuring presentations by three contributors to Gardens of History and Imagination: Growing New South Wales. Dr. Gaynor MacDonald, Dr. Janet George, and Dr. Catherine Rogers each discussed facets of their work on this well-received book.

The Australian Capitol Territory (ACT) chapter of ISAA had a busy fall 2016. In September, Nikolai Blaskow spoke about the school chaplaincy program, and Dr. Adam Henry spoke about self-determination and the East Timorese. In November, medical historian Laura Dawes discussed work on her upcoming book, Fighting Fit: The Wartime Battle for Britain’s Health. Also in November, Penny Lockwood spoke about the Cold War and her father, Rupert Lockwood, a Communist journalist.

ISAA publishes a National Newsletter several times a year and the ISAA Review twice a year. In addition, ISSA publishes the proceedings of the Annual conference and the NSW Chapter publishes a Bulletin every two months. ISAA holds “work-in-process” reviews for members who seek feedback on their research.

For more information: http://www.isaa.org.au
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MISF: Minnesota Independent Scholars Forum
The Minnesota Independent Scholars Forum has regular meetings on the fourth Saturday of the month at the Minneapolis Washburn Library.

In January 2017, member Mike Woolsey presented his paper, “The Limits of Liberalism: A Study of Liberal Disillusionment in the Twentieth and Twenty-first Century.” Woolsey examined perspectives on the meaning of "liberty" while exploring whether Americans have become disillusioned with the ideals embodied in the founding documents of the country.

In February 2017, Evelyn Klein presented a talk on "Education by Democracy." Klein looked at current attitudes and practices in education. She presented an expanded view of educating an increasingly diverse student population in the twenty-first century and outlined steps that could easily be implemented for a more rounded public school experience.

In March 2017, Peter Rachleff will present "The East Side Freedom Library: Producing Knowledge Outside the Walls of Academia." Rachleff will speak about his progress in creating a community institution on the East Side of Saint Paul.

The MISF Philosophy Study Group is continuing its discussion of embodied cognition by reading chapters 3-6 of “The Meaning of the Body: Aesthetics of Human Understanding” by Mark Johnson.

The MISF History Study Group meets monthly and is now studying “White Trash: the 400-Year Untold History of Class in America” (2016) by Nancy Isenberg.

For more information about MISF, http://www.mnindependentscholars.org
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NISA: Northwest Independent Scholars Association
NISA meets five times per year (every other month except July) to encourage and promote scholarly discussion, research, writing, and publication outside of formal institutions of higher education, for individuals who are actively pursuing serious scholarly research.

In 2016, the NISA calendar included:

February 17, 2016, Tom Hubka: "The Wall-Painting from an 18th Century Polish Wooden Synagogue Jewish Liturgical Art—painted by, for, and about Jews"

March 14, 2016, Don Blanchard: "Henry Gray's Eye Anatomy'"

May 18, 2016, Rosemary Lombard: "Teaching Turtles Elements of Language: Possible Applications to Teaching Humans"

September 21, 2016, Josey Cooper: "Putting a Face on Social Concerns"

November 9, 2016, Jimmie Moglia: "History of the Art of Memory and its Applications"

2017 Events
January 25, 2017, Richard March: "Rough Stuff: the Assassination Attempts"

March 15, 2017:  Nikki Mandell:  “A Hotel of Her Own: Building by and for the New Woman, 1900-1930”

For more information about NISA and their bi-monthly meetings, see http://www.northwestindependentscholars.org
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Princeton Research Forum
Founded in 1980, Princeton Research Forum is a community of independent scholars in the greater Princeton area. Monthly meetings are held at the Institute for Advanced Study and PRF members share their interests in study groups focused on the humanities, poetry, and science, as well as through works-in-progress sessions and presentation seminars.

Member News:

PRF member Winifred Hughes read from her poetry work at the Princeton Public Library March 14. Hughes teaches creative writing at the College of New Jersey.

PRF member Shelly Frisch has been nominated for the National Book Critics Circle Award for “Dietrich and Riefenstahl: Hollywood, Berlin, and a Century in Two Lives” (Liverigh).

Bob Craig has published Starting from Scratch: The First Building Tradesmen of Middlesex County, about seventeenth-century building tradesmen in Middlesex County, New Jersey. It is the culmination of several years’ research, and was the subject of a PRF Work in Progress meeting several years ago.

Maureen Mulvihill’s work on early modern emblem books, was published in Appositions, August 2015.

Legendary geneticist and PRF member Evelyn Witkin reflected on the earliest days of a new science and her groundbreaking work on how DNA responds to damage in an interview in the New York Times, December 15, 2015.

Shelley Frisch and Michael Wood held a Conversation on Dietrich & Riefenstahl: Hollywood, Berlin, and a Century in Two Lives December 2nd, 2015.

Joan Goldstein interviewed fellow PRF member Lara Freidenfelds on her work as an historian of sex, reproduction and women’s health in America on Back Story with Joan Goldstein.  They discussed Freidenfelds’ book The Modern Period: Menstruation in Twentieth-Century America and her book-in-progress, Counting Chickens Before They Hatch? An Historian’s Take on Pregnancy and Miscarriage in Contemporary America.

For more information on the PRF, go to www.princetonresearchforum.org
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SDIS: San Diego Independent Scholars
San Diego Independent Scholars holds ongoing meetings of eight study groups, in addition to monthly general meetings. Study groups include Colloquy Café, Culture One, Film Group, Literature Group, and Science Group.

At the January 2017 meeting, Dr. Serge Dedina described his international conservation organization called “WILDCOAST,” dedicated to conserving our marine ecosystem and wild life. Among many other initiatives, the organization brings young people from urban areas as well as members of tribal communities to the coast, teaching lessons that may eventually result in cleaner seas, with less plastic waste contaminating our waters.

In February 2017, Wayne Fanebust spoke at the SDIS meeting about his nonfiction books on the history of South Dakota, which include “Cavaliers of the Dakota Frontier” and “Grave Robbings.” His lecture focused on justice and injustice as practiced on the Dakota frontier.

For the March 2017 meeting, Jan Stiglitz, LLM, a co-founder of the California Innocence Project, will present a talk titled “Wrongful Convictions: Causes and Cures.”

In April 2017, member Michael Sage will present  "Man Proposes, the Gods Dispose: Seers and Oracles in Ancient Greece.”

Other recent study group topics included:

Colloquy Café has held recent discussions on the meaning of “we” –  an emotionally unifying word that can be inclusive in some contexts, but used to discourage association in other situations. The February 2017 discussion was about “a fascinating word with multiple descriptions: God.”

In January 2017, the Culture One study group concluded its reading of Sapiens and discussed the author Harari’s views on the future of humankind. At the February meeting, the group reviewed Sapien’s chapter 20, the shift from "natural selection" to "intelligent design." Upcoming meetings will explore technology, economics, ethics, singularity, sociology, and biology.

The Literature Group is reading Henry James, What Maisie Knew (1897). The next meeting will be held on April 10.

Recent meetings of the Neuroscience Study Group have been discussing Christopher Koch’s book, Consciousness as well as a chapter by V. S. Ramachandan “Genes, Claustrum, and Consciousness” from This Explains Everything, edited by John Brockman.

For more information on SDIS, go to http://www.sdscholars.org

Autumn 2016

Center for Independent Study: Celebration amid Regret

• a forum for a wide range of intellectual and creative pursuits;

• a place of connection for independent scholars and artists; 

• a community of colleagues for those who work and/or study on their own.

Summer 2016

CIS: Center for Independent Research (New Haven).

May 15, 2016 – At the Spring Luncheon a panel led by former Board member Barbara Currier Bell and supported by Ruth Hein, Ellen Brainard, and Lauren Pinzka offered a review of the history, current situation, and future of Independent Scholarship particularly as  related to CIS.

April 3, 2016- CIS sponsored a Sunday Salon on “Displacement” providing an apt opportunity to discuss the ethical and cultural issues surrounding immigration. The discussion, led by Teri Dykeman, took us to unexpected places from ethnic personal histories to the meaning of “home.”

November 15, 2015 – The CIS Fall Sunday Salon on Ta Nehisi Coates’ Between the World and Me presented discussion led by Connie Sherak and Lauren Pinzka which served to heighten issues and solution attempts regarding race relations.

November 15, 2015 – CIS sponsored A Peabody Museum Tour led by Richard Yanowitz “Samurai and the Culture of  Japan’s Great  Peace” provided abundant information on Asian culture in a context of global thinking.

September 17, 2015 - Arranged by James van Pelt, CIS co-sponsored with Yale Book Store the author Nancy Ellen Abrams’s presentation “A Coherent Big Picture of Our Time” which laid out the emergent theory of current science and Abram’s  emergent concept of  God.

For ongoing activities, see the CIS website: http://cistudy.homestead.com

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IHS: Institute for Historical Study (San Francisco)

IHS held their annual pot-luck in June 2016. Most of the Institute's activities take place in sub-groups:

• The Writers' Group:  Recent meetings have focused on discussions of problems of editing, publishing and publicizing manuscripts and books; an examination of chapters in Celeste Macleod's manuscript on Fanny Trollope, "A Woman of Unbearable Opinions" and examination of Charles Sullivan's conference paper on Elizabethan explorers and the quest for the Northwest passage
• California and the West Study Group: Work here featured an art exhibit curated by Ann Harlow on Berkeley as the "Art Capital of the West" and a field trip to the San Francisco Presidio. In September Rose Marie Cleese will lead a two-day trip to the California Gold Country.
• The Medieval Study Group, led by John Rusk discussed Michael Pye's "The Edge of the World. " Discussion led by Ellen Huppert focused on E .M. Rose's "The Murder of William of Norwich: The Origins of the Blood Libel in Medieval Europe,” and Lyn Reese reported on females who appear as "sleuths" in fictional medieval mysteries.
• The Play Reading group focused its energies on Timberlake Wertenbaker's “Our Countru's Good" and Dion Boucicault's "The Poor of New York." 

Recent Work-in Progress sessions: Richard Raack gave a talk entitled "When Governments Control History" focused on the way that various governments have distorted the discussion of the origins of the Second World War.  Maria Sakovich reported on Russian choral music in San Francisco during the 1920s and 1930s, and Richard Herr presented a paper entitled "Lincoln's Gettysburg Address in an International Context."

For further information  oni IHS activities consult our website: www.instituteforhistoricalstudy.org.

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ISAA: Independent Scholars’ Association of Australia 

ISAA is preparing to hold its National Conference on October 13–14, 2016 at the National Library of Australia. Political Journalist  Quentin Dempster will present the Annual Lecture, “The Good, the Bad and the Ugly: Shaping Public Policy in Australia, Past, Present, Future.” Political Journalist Chris Ulmann will speak on his political fiction.

ISAA National Council is taking an active role in Intellectual Property advocacy. The Australian Productivity Commission Report, issued in October 2015 makes numerous proposals, including limiting copyright protection to ten years instead of seventy; removing parallel import restrictions, and other measures that might weaken authors’ rights and remedies under Australian law. ISAA has submitted a request for further consultation with authors and publishers’ associations during the Public Comments period.

NSW Chapter held its Annual General Meeting in May 2016, when Christine Yeats was elected chapter Chair and Brian Nicholls as Vice-Chair.

• A group of NSW members collaborated on writing and editing a new book from the Sydney University Press, Gardens of History and Imagination, edited by Gretchen Poiner and Sybil Jack.
• In July 2016, Dr. Mehreen Faruqi MLC presented the keynote address at the Annual Seminar on “Global Issues: People, Race, Identity.”
• In September 2016, an evening conversation will be held at the State Library of NSW on the topic “Australia: Nation or Commodity?”

ACT (Australian Capital Territory) Chapter:

• In June, Ernst Willhein gave a presentation on “David Horner's Official History of ASIO.” 
• In July, Ron Wells talked about Tales about Typhoid, the Slow Fever.” 
• And in August, Elizabeth Truswell gave a presentation on “The Woman Who Mapped the Oceans: A Revolution in the Earth Sciences”

ISAA publishes a National Newsletter several times a year and the ISAA Review twice a year plus the proceedings of the Annual conference are published, the NSW Chapter publishes a Bulletin every two months. ISAA holds “work-in-process” reviews for members who seek feedback on their research.

For more information: http://www.isaa.org.au

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MISF: Minnesota Independent Scholars Forum

The Minnesota Independent Scholars Forum has regular meetings on the fourth Saturday of the month. Meetings in the spring of 2016 included presentations on:

• “War and Art: Russian Artistic Expression during WWI”
• “A Trip to Cuba”
• “Sad Stories of the Death of Kings”
• “World Without Genocide”
• “Poetry Day”
• “G.K. Chesterton”

There was be a sponsored museum tour at the end of July on “Forbidden Art: Hitler’s Campaign against ‘Modern’ Art.”

For more information about MISF, http://www.mnindependentscholars.org

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NISA: Northwest Independent Scholars Association

NISA meets every other month to encourage and promote scholarly discussion, research, writing, and publication outside of formal institutions of higher education, for individuals who are actively pursuing serious scholarly research.

Recent News:

In February 2016, Tom Hubka presented "The Wall-Painting from an 18th Century Polish Wooden Synagogue Jewish Liturgical Art—painted by, for, and about Jews."

Don Blanchard gave a presentation in March 2016 on  "Henry Gray's Eye Anatomy'"

Margaret DeLacy's book, The Germ of an Idea: Contagionism, Religion, and Society in Britain, 1660-1730 has been published by Palgrave-Macmillan both in paper and online.

Don Blanchard presented a paper on "Henry Gray's (Eye) Anatomy" to the Washington University Medical School during a meeting of the Cogan Ophthalmic History Society in April.

David Ritchie's play, "A Little Horseplay in the Library" was staged in a reader's theater production on Saturday, March 5, 2016 at the West Slope Library as part of library's celebration of Read Aloud Month.

In April 2016, Rosemary Lombard read at Multnomah County's NW Library from her Turtles All the Way: Poems, forthcoming from Finishing Line Press. Also in April she was a panelist on a Conversations with Writers program discussing ways writers can target new audiences for issues of importance. She read from examples including Sharon Appleman's Coyote Willows, an eco-thriller about dangers from the Hanford Nuclear Reservation, published the month before Appleman's death in August 2015. 

For more information about NISA and their bi-monthly meetings, see http://www.northwestindependentscholars.org

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Princeton Research Forum

Founded in 1980, Princeton Research Forum is a community of independent scholars in the greater Princeton area. Monthly meetings are held at the Institute for Advanced Study and PRF members share their interests in study groups focused on the humanities, poetry, and science, as well as through works-in-progress sessions and presentation seminars.

Member News:

• PRF member Winifred Hughes read from her poetry work at the Princeton Public Library March 14. Hughes teaches creative writing at the College of New Jersey.
• PRF member Shelly Frisch has been nominated for the National Book Critics Circle Award for “Dietrich and Riefenstahl: Hollywood, Berlin, and a Century in Two Lives” (Liverigh).
• Bob Craig has published Starting from Scratch: The First Building Tradesmen of Middlesex County, about seventeenth-century building tradesmen in Middlesex County, NJ. It is the culmination of several years’ research, and was the subject of a PRF Work in Progress meeting several years ago.
• Maureen Mulvihill’s work on early modern emblem books, was published in Appositions, August 2015.
• Legendary geneticist and PRF member Evelyn Witkin reflected on the earliest days of a new science and her groundbreaking work on how DNA responds to damage in an interview in the New York Times, December 15, 2015.
• Shelley Frisch and Michael Wood held a Conversation on Dietrich & Riefenstahl: Hollywood, Berlin, and a Century in Two Lives, December 2nd, 2015.
• Joan Goldstein interviewed fellow PRF member Lara Freidenfelds on her work as an historian of sex, reproduction and women’s health in America on Back Story with Joan Goldstein.  They discussed Freidenfelds’ book The Modern Period: Menstruation in Twentieth-Century America and her book-in-progress, Counting Chickens Before They Hatch? An Historian’s Take on Pregnancy and Miscarriage in Contemporary America.

For more information on the PRF, go to www.princetonresearchforum.org

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SDIS: San Diego Independent Scholars

San Diego Independent Scholars holds ongoing meetings of eight study groups, in addition to monthly general meetings. Study groups include Colloquy Café, Culture One, Culture Two, Film Group, Literature Group, and Science Group. 

In May 2016, SDIS held their annual business meeting, where Diana Withee, a 2013 grant winner and current 2016 recipient of the Helen Hawkins grant, outlined her planned fall trip to Europe to continue her research into the art of Heronimus Bosch. Dr. Mary Stroll, our 2015 grant winner, updated the group on her presentation of a paper in Leeds, England last year. Her research focuses on an intriguing early period of the papacy, namely Callixtus II, Pope from 1119-1124.

Other recent study group topics included:
In May 2016, the Culture One study group continued its reading of Sapiens, and Part Three: The Unification of Humankind via Chapters 11 (Imperial Visions) and 12 (The Law of Religion). Readings from last month, Chapters 9 (The Arrow of History) and 10 (The Scent of Money) define “Culture” as a network of “artificial instincts” with internal inconsistencies and gradual merging of our human worlds. This leads to proposing three universal orders of humankind, the first is economic (i.e., currency), see Chapter 10 (The Scent of Money), which presents the history of currency, its role in promoting interaction among peoples, and its underlying principles of convertibility and trust.

The Culture Two study group met on Friday, April 22 for a discussion of issues raised in the group’s current background reading book, Politics and Culture in Contemporary Iran: Challenging the Status Quo, edited by Abbas Milani and Larry Diamond. Our discussion benefited greatly from the insight provided by a visiting guest who was born in Iran and lived there under the conditions described in the book.

The Literature Group met in May 2016 for ongoing discussions of Sinclair Lewis’s Main Street.

The Neuroscience Study Group has met to discuss significant contemporary writings, including essays in the book This Idea Must Die, edited by John Brockman.

Dr. Jonah Cool, a scientist in the therapeutics group of Organovo Inc., gave a presentation in April 2016 about biological applications for 3D printing, commonly referred to as bioprinting. He focused on various methods of in vitro fabrication using human cells to form tissue-like structures that resemble native tissues in form and function.

For more information on SDIS, go to http://www.sdscholars.org

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Winter 2016

Early in 2016, CIS members Therese Dykeman and James Clement Van Pelt presented at the American Philosophical Association. Teri’s paper was "The Dynamic Non-substantialistic Turn in Field-Being: a Pivot Point for Theories of Global Rhetoric." James presented "Fields of Consciousness: Exploring Thoughts, Feelings, and Sensations."

Also in 2016, CIS will host two Sunday salons: one on immigration, and one on independent scholars.

2015 in review   In addition to helping host the 25th anniversary NCIS conference in New Haven, CIS offered several events during 2015. Some highlights:

• A tour of the exhibit "No One Remembers Alone: Memory, Migration, and the Making of an American Family," guided by the exhibit’s creator Patricia Klindienst.
• A Sunday salon entitled "Abigail’s Revenge: How the Women’s Movement Shook Up America." CIS member Rhea Hirshman presented some history we didn’t learn in school, and led a discussion of how modern feminist activism has challenged and changed us.
• A showing and discussion, led by CIS member Gwen Heuss-Severance, of the film "Xmas Without China," which “explores the intersection of consumerism and immigration in America through the experiences of two Southern California families.”
• Co-sponsorship of a talk by Nancy Ellen Abrams —  "A Coherent Big Picture for Our Time" — examining how a philosopher of science linked recent astronomical discoveries with deeply personal reflections.
• A tour, led by CIS member Richard Yanowitz, of the Peabody Museum exhibit "Samurai and the Culture of Japan’s Great Peace," which brought to life the many-layered history of the samurai and those they ruled.
• A discussion, led by CIS members Constance Sherak and Lauren Pinzka, of Ta-Nehisi Coates’ Between the World and Me. A book in the forefront of national conversations, it has been described as  “a profound work that pivots from the biggest questions about American history and ideals to the most intimate concerns of a father for his son….”

For ongoing activities, see the CIS website: http://cistudy.homestead.com
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IHS: Institute for Historical Study (San Francisco)

IHS held their annual meeting on Feb. 27, 2016, at the North Berkeley Public Library.

Recent activities include Works in Progress presentations:

• Bonda Lewis read from her second book of historical fiction, Jenny Again. Based on life in Nebraska in after 1912, Jenny Markov encounters the orphan train movement and becomes involved with the local suffrage movement.
• Peter Meyerhof reviewed his research into the location of the Sonoma Mission Cemetery.
• Edward Von der Porten, a nautical archaeologist, presented "Ghost Ship: The Manila Galleon San Felipe of 1576” which describes some of his 16 years of research into the silver, porcelain, and other artifacts from a 1576 or 1578 wreck off the coast of Mexico.
• Ann Harlow presented “Art Capital of the West”: Real and Imagined Art Museums and Galleries in Berkeley. Harlow’s work on the history of what is now the Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive was part of an exhibition she curated for the Berkeley Historical Society. 

The Institute for Historical Study continues to host Works-in-Progress reports and member feedback gatherings, as well as coordinated study groups in such areas as "California and the West"; "History Play Readers"; "Medieval Studies"; and a "Writers Group.”

Find out more about IHS ongoing activities and see recent newsletters.
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Independent Scholars’ Association of Australia
ISAA Celebrates TWENTY years.

In October 2015, the Independent Scholars’ Association of Australia held its 2015 Annual Conference on the theme, “Celebrating Twenty Years of ISAA.” During the opening panel, long-term ISAA members, including its founder, Ann Moyal, reflected on the importance of the organization over the years. Subsequent presentations included a thought-provoking lecture by Prof. Julian Disney on “Independence and Integrity in the Public Domain.”

Issues of publication were explored in a panel ‘Scholarship of the Future’, led by Emeritus Fellow Colin Steele (ANU) who spoke on ‘Academic publishing futures.’ Other speakers were Roxanne Missingham, University Librarian, ANU and Dr Katherine Bode, Senior Lecturer, Centre for Digital Humanities Research, ANU, on the future of libraries and scholarship in the digital age. Such issues as ‘Publish or Perish’ and Open Access were explored.

Christine Jennett was re-elected to her third year as President, and Susan Steggall and Alan Roberts were elected as Ordinary Members of the ISAA National Council. Other officers include: Vice President David Headon; Immediate Past President Janet George; Secretary Christine Yeats; and Treasurer Wal Collins.

ISAA has lively state chapters in New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory, as well as five other informal state groups. ISAA publishes an annual newsletter, a bulletin, and the ISAA Review. ISAA holds “work-in-process” reviews for members who seek feedback on their research.

Find out more information about ISAA.
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Minnesota Independent Scholars Forum

At the April 23, 2016, meeting of MISF, Ellen Kennedy spoke about genocide prevention in the 21st century.

On March 26, James Hart presented "Sad Stories of the Death of Kings,” a survey of the kings (and some queens) who ruled England between Edward the Confessor and Elizabeth I, with an emphasis on how each died. Some are prosaic, but others are more remarkable – even dramatic and embarrassing – terminations.

During March 2016, the MISF History Study Group met to discuss Empire’s Crossroads: A History of the Caribbean from Columbus to the Present Day by Carrie Gibson.

In two sessions during February 2016, the MISF Philosophy Study Group discussed chapters of Arthur Herman’s book, The Cave and the Light: Plato versus Aristotle and the Struggle for the Soul of Western Civilization.

At the January 23, 2016 general meeting of MISF, Carol Veldman Rudie presented "War and Art: Russian Artistic Expression during World War I,” examining the experience of Russian artists during the war and the revolution that ended Russian participation in the war.  Rudie is lead docent and the coordinator of outreach education at The Museum of Russian Art in Minneapolis.

Find out more information about MISF. 

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Northwest Independent Scholars Association
During 2015, NISA members heard presentations from four members, and held an additional scholarly research session at the Multnomah County Library.

• Dick Etulain has a new book, his second on Calamity Jane: Calamity Jane: A Reader's Guide (University of Oklahoma Press, August 2015).
• On November 8, 2015 Rosemary Lombard presented her paper on the first stages of teaching symbolic communication to turtles at the Pacific Ancient and Modern Language Association (PAMLA) conference in Portland.
• Gerald Willams was elected as a distinguished fellow of the Forest History Society at an award ceremony in Portland on October 30, 2015. Gerry gave a Powerpoint show and talk on the history of the USFS lands and the 100-year history of summer homes in the national forests in Vancouver as part of the National Forest Homeowners Association annual meeting and repeated the talk for a summer home meeting in Denver on September 26. On July 28, 2015, Gerry presented an illustrated talk on the World War I Spruce Production Division at the Wilsonville McMenamins.
• Michael Helquist's book, Marie Equi: Radical Politics & Outlaw Passions will be published by the Oregon State University Press in Fall 2015.  Michael has also published “Criminal Operations”: The First Fifty Years of Abortion Trials in Portland, Oregon," in the Spring 2015 issue of the Oregon Historical Quarterly. More information can be found on his website at Michaelhelquist.com.
• Don Blanchard's paper, "Iceland Spar and Early Polarizing Theories of Light" was published in the "2015 Proceedings" of the Cogan Ophthalmic History Society.  In April 2016, Blanchard presented a paper on "Henry Gray's (Eye) Anatomy" to the Washington University Medical School during a meeting of the Cogan Ophthalmic History Society in April.
• In 2015, Margaret DeLacy's 1986 book, Prison Reform in Lancashire, was featured in a Harvard Law Library exhibit, "Where Mis'ry Moans: Four Prison Reformers in Eighteenth and Nineteenth Century England." In 2016, DeLacy's book, The Germ of an Idea: Contagionism, Religion, and Society in Britain, 1660-1730 will be published by Palgrave-Macmillan, both in paper and online.
• David Ritchie's play, "A Little Horseplay in the Library" was staged on Saturday, March 5, 2016 at the West Slope Library as part of library's celebration of Read Aloud Month.
• In April 2016, Rosemary Lombard read at Multnomah County's NW Library from her Turtles All the Way: Poems, forthcoming from Finishing Line Press. Also in April she will be a panelist on a Conversations with Writers program discussing ways writers can target new audiences for issues of importance. She will read from examples including Sharon Appleman's Coyote Willows, an eco-thriller about dangers from the Hanford Nuclear Reservation, published the month before Appleman's death in August 2015.

Find out more information about NISA and its bi-monthly meetings.

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Princeton Research Forum
Founded in 1980, Princeton Research Forum is a community of independent scholars in the greater Princeton area. Monthly meetings are held at the Institute for Advanced Study and PRF members share their interests in study groups focused on the humanities, poetry, and science, as well as through works-in-progress sessions and presentation seminars.

A sample PRF newsletter is available here. 

Member News:

• PRF member Shelly Frisch is being widely hailed for her English translation of Karin Wieland’s German language book Dietrich and Riefenstahl: Hollywood, Berlin, and a Century in Two Lives. The book has received a National Book Critics Circle Award nomination.
• PRF member Bob Craig’s publication, Starting from Scratch: The First Building Tradesmen of Middlesex County, about seventeenth-century building tradesmen in Middlesex County, New Jersey, is the culmination of several years’ research.
• PRF member Maureen Mulvihill’s work on early modern emblem books, as published in Appositions, August 2015, is featured here.
• Legendary geneticist and PRF member Evelyn Witkin reflects on the earliest days of a new science and her groundbreaking work on how DNA responds to damage in an interview in the New York Times, December 15, 2015.
• Local broadcaster and PRF member Joan Goldstein interviews fellow PRF member Lara Freidenfelds on her work as an historian of sex, reproduction and women’s health in America on Back Story with Joan Goldstein. They discuss Freidenfelds’ book The Modern Period: Menstruation in Twentieth-Century America and her book-in-progress, Counting Chickens Before They Hatch? An Historian’s Take on Pregnancy and Miscarriage in Contemporary America.

Find out more about the PRF.
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San Diego Independent Scholars

San Diego Independent Scholars holds ongoing meetings of eight study groups, in addition to monthly general meetings. Study groups include Colloquy Café, Culture One, Culture Two, Film Group, Literature Group, and Science Group. Topics presented at recent general meetings included:

April 2016
Dr. Jonah Cool, a scientist in the therapeutics group of Organovo Inc., gave a presentation about biological applications for 3D printing, commonly referred to as bioprinting. He focused on various methods of in vitro fabrication using human cells to form tissue-like structures that resemble native tissues in form and function. 

March 2016
Dr. Wayne Saunders presented “Counter Intelligence” A Brief History of Table Games.” In his talk, Dr. Saunders shows that table games, which at first glance may seem a marginal aspect of human creativity, have instead a rich history and complexity that should make us rethink their cultural importance.

February 2016
Teddy Cruz and Fonna Forman together direct the UCSD Cross-Border Initiative. Their talk, “Where Is Our Civic Imagination? Border Regions as Laboratories to Re-think Citizenship” described the urgent need for construction of new conceptions of citizenship, beyond the arbitrary jurisdictional boundaries that too rigidly define cityhood, and beyond the identitarian politics of the nation-state.

January 2016
Dr. John F. Asmus presented “Of Lasers and Art: The Fascinating Application of Lasers and other Scientific Technologies to the Analysis and Restoration of Art.” Dr. Asmus has worked on Ice Age paintings of Lascaux; the discovery of the hidden Mona Lisa “pendant”; the restoration of the Whitney museum’s DeFeo masterpiece, "The Rose"; the laser restoration of the surface of marble edifices in Venice; as well as reconstituting the color of Qin–Dynasty Terra Cotta Warriors by reversing chemical decomposition.

Find out more information about SDIS.