SSEMWG (the Society for the Study of Early Modern Women and Gender) is seeking a team of scholars to edit Early Modern Women: An Interdisciplinary Journal (EMW) for a three-year term beginning July 1, 2024. The ideal proposal will unite three scholars working in distinct subfields in the study of late medieval and early modern women and/or gender and who share an interest in interdisciplinarity and global topics. As the journal of a feminist scholarly organization, it strives to be inclusive in terms of authors, reviewers, and subject matter.
About EMW. Published by the University of Chicago Press, EMW is the only journal devoted solely to the interdisciplinary and global study of women and gender spanning the late medieval through early modern periods. Each volume gathers essays on early modern women from every country and region by scholars from a wide range of academic disciplines including art history, cultural studies, music, history, languages and literatures, political science, religion, theater, history of science, and philosophy. The inaugural issue appeared in 2006; SSEMWG assumed responsibility for the journal in 2021. The frequency of publication is two issues per year.
Responsibilities of the Editors. The current publication schedule requires delivery of issues by the editors in May and December each year. The editors oversee the selection and publication of essays and book reviews in each issue and, in alternating issues, a topical forum and/or conversation. Editors evaluate submissions, choose peer reviewers and disseminate their reports to authors, offer editorial suggestions, oversee the choice of the forum and conversation topics, and engage with staff at the University of Chicago Press in the pre-publication phase. The feminist mission of the journal calls for team members who are committed to a developmental approach, which involves working closely with authors of promising articles. Editors will represent the journal at conferences and other venues, for which SSEMWG will provide an annual travel budget.
The editors are ex-officio members of the SSEMWG Executive Committee. They will meet annually with the EMW Editorial Board and report to SSEMWG at RSA or the Attending to Early Modern Women Symposium. The editors will make changes to the membership of the Editorial Board of the journal as necessary, in consultation with the officers of SSEMWG.
Editors should expect an average of six or more hours of pro bono work each week year-round, with fluctuations over the course of the year.
Responsibilities of the Press. All managing responsibilities are handled by the University of Chicago Press, including subscription records and bookkeeping, logging submissions and reviews, advertisements, copy-editing, typesetting, final proofreading, printing, etc.
Qualifications. Members of the editorial team should be experienced scholars (at least at the rank of associate professor or its equivalent). The editorial team ideally will include scholars who work in different national/linguistic areas and different disciplines, to support editorial work with scholars representing a wide range of subject matter and geographic areas. Editorial experience is desirable but not required.
Applications. Please send a statement describing the team’s interest and qualifications, and an updated c.v. for each applicant, to pearson@american.edu with « EMW Editorial Search » in the subject line. Deadline: October 1, 2023. Letters of recommendation may be solicited for finalist teams.