Society for Interdisciplinary French Seventeenth-Century Studies
Société d’études pluridisciplinaires du dix-septième siècle français
Dear Colleagues,
Bonne année! On behalf of the SE17 Executive Committee, and following the tradition begun by our outgoing Executive Director Katherine Dauge-Roth, I send you my warmest New Year’s greetings along with an invitation to renew your membership in our organization and vote for the sessions you would like to see at our Fall 2026 conference in Des Moines, Iowa. Membership dues are essential to the work of our Society—please show your support for SE17 by renewing your dues, regardless of whether you plan to attend our next conference or not.
Allow me to review the highlights of the past year and preview the opportunities that lie ahead in 2026.
2025 Accomplishments
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Our Society gives enormous thanks to Katherine Dauge-Roth for her two decades of service as Executive Director of SE17. Thanks to Katherine and her many outstanding Executive Committee collaborators, we have had an unbroken succession of rich conferences, hosted by members throughout North America and in Europe. Katherine has also overseen a professionalization of the Society’s administrative functions by enlarging the Executive Committee and recruiting talented individuals to fulfill tasks such as managing our funds, maintaining our website, editing our journal, issuing prizes, fundraising to support graduate students and professional travel, ensuring and improving the accessibility and inclusivity of our Society, and enlarging the scope of seventeenth-century studies. I am indeed fortunate to continue the work begun by Katherine, and I look forward to consulting her in her new role as “Executive Director Emerita.”
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Thank you, as well, to Deborah Steinberger, our Society’s Treasurer, whose work makes our conference possible through the processing of registrations, the travel grants, payments to vendors, and many other invisible tasks. Deborah also administered our successful fundraiser for Perry Gethner this past June, with the help of Abby Zanger and Louise Moulin, and oversaw many other responsibilities.
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We celebrate the success of our 44th Annual International Conference held at Smith College in Northampton, Massachusetts from November 6-8, 2025 under the leadership of Hélène Visentin. The conference gathered scholars from the United States, Canada, France, Switzerland, and Iceland, who presented new work in literary studies, history, art history, and musicology. Attendees enjoyed the rich collection of early modern books, manuscripts, and prints held by Smith College. The undergraduate poster session allowed our youngest members to get feedback on their ongoing projects. Finally, the meals provided by Hélène’s team were worthy of a Michelin-starred restaurant. In sum, the erudition of the conference was matched by its joie de vivre. Thank you and bravo, Hélène.
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We applaud the publication of the latest issue of the Cahiers-Débats, our interdisciplinary journal under the able leadership of Hélène Bilis and Sylvaine Guyot, now on a new and fully open-access electronic platform, supported by Chief Web Editor Heather Kirk. The 2025 issue, entitled “Feminisms and Early Modern France | Féminismes et première modernité,” features fourteen compelling essays—written in French and in English—that explore the legacy and continued contribution of feminist research to early modern French Studies. Four book reviews on recent works related to early modern women complete the volume. I invite all of our members to consult this outstanding and timely contribution to our discipline.
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We laud the ongoing conversations organized by Ashley Williard to discuss new work in early modern studies that explores histories of race. The Early Modern Race Reading Group (EMRRG) has allowed both new and senior scholars to widen their understanding of our discipline. The EMRRG is part of the efforts by Ashley and Jennifer Row to increase our inclusivity and accessibility.
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Finally, we thank all of our Executive Committee officers for their work ensuring the operation of our many different activities, as well as the many contributors to the “Spotlight” articles we have had on our website this past year. In particular, we recognize outgoing officers Stella Spriet (Secretary), Abby Zanger (Prize Committee), Louise Moulin (Member-at-Large) and Joy Palacios (Member-at-Large) for their tremendous service.
What Lies Ahead in 2026
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Following a unanimous vote of the membership at the Northampton Conference, we are instituting a new dues structure for 2026—a necessary change, given that our Society’s dues have not changed for many years, while programming costs have risen. Dues will remain modest—well below the annual fee required by other scholarly organizations—but will be scaled to different income levels. This change will allow us to continue to maintain the quality of our conferences and journal and transition to a new interface for our website. Please join or renew your membership here.
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The 45th Annual International Conference will be held in Des Moines, Iowa from October 1-3, 2026, hosted by me. Located in the midwestern territory once called “la Nouvelle France,” Des Moines is a prosperous city of 200,000 and the capital of the state of Iowa, with a modern airport providing access from many other locations. One day of the conference will be spent on the campus of Grinnell College (my home institution), a private, liberal-arts college with fine resources for our meetings. Please vote for the session topics nominated by our members at the Northampton conference. You will need to renew your membership or join the Society to vote. Once your membership is completed or renewed, please proceed to the SE17 Societal page and use the 2026 Conference session Poll to access the ballot—you must be logged in to see the session. Members are invited to cast their vote from Wednesday, January 22 through Friday, January 31st.
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Graduate students who presented a paper on a seventeenth-century French topic at a professional conference in 2025 are invited to submit their revised paper for the 2025 SE17 Graduate Research Prize, which rewards exceptional scholarly work by graduate students. Full information about the prize and how to apply can be found here and will be advertised in several interdisciplinary venues Submissions will be accepted through February 1st.
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Our next issue of the Cahiers-Débats, guest edited by Nicholas Paige and Anne Duprat on the topic of Anachronism and early modern cultures | Anachronisme et cultures de la première modernité (XVIe-XVIIIe) will be published this spring.
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The Early Modern Race Reading Group (EMRRG) will reconvene on-line on Thursday, January 22 at 2 p.m. (Eastern) to discuss a chapter from Miranda Spieler’s new book Slaves in Paris: Hidden Lives and Fugitive Histories (Harvard UP). Ellen Welch will moderate the discussion. To get the Zoom link, write to Ashley Williard at awilliar@mailbox.sc.edu.
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We welcome the newest members of the Executive Committee: Camille Leclère-Gregory (Awards Committee Chair) and Caitlin Dahl and Angeline Nies-Berger (Members-at-Large).
In closing, I would like to echo a remark made by Faith Beasley at our Northampton conference in a moving tribute to the late Michèle Longino. Faith noted that Michèle “strove to create connections among people, among literary works, and across cultures.” SE17 facilitates precisely these kinds of connections, to enrich our professional and personal lives. I look forward to our creating more connections in 2026.
Wishing you a wonderful new year,
David Harrison
Professor of French
Grinnell College