GRIPS Newsletter, Spring 2025
Volume 1, No. 2
Welcome to the second Graduate Student Newsletter for RSVP student members! We aim to send this newsletter three times each year – around December, April and August. Here’s the latest of what’s pertinent to graduate students, postdocs, and early career researchers at RSVP.
Pre-Conference Digital Icebreaker Event
Friday, June 6, 2025
8 a.m. PST / 11 a.m. EST / 4 p.m. BST / 5 p.m. CET
On Friday, 6 June 2025, there is a dedicated pre-conference digital welcome event for graduate student members. This event will provide an informal space for introductions and networking before the RSVP conference in Chicago. You will have the opportunity to share thoughts and ideas for an in-person social event in Chicago. You can also ask any questions you may have about the upcoming conference.
Our host will be Alison Chapman, RSVP Vice-President; and graduate student representatives will also take part.
Interviews with Senior Scholars
Graduate student representative Matthew Stephens has been excitedly organizing the first of a series of RSVP interviews with senior scholars. These interviews will provide insights from senior scholars within periodical studies, on a range of topics that are particularly relevant to graduate researchers and independent periodicals scholars. It is envisaged that these interviews will be made widely available on the relevant section of the society’s website.
RSVP Website Talks
All three graduate student representatives recently met with Kaari Newman, Digital Content Manager for RS4VP, to discuss ideas for the RSVP website and potential opportunities for collaboration within our membership. Discussions focused upon developing connections that would benefit Graduate Researchers and Independent Periodicals Scholars (GRIPS).
The VanArsdel Prize
The VanArsdel Prize is “awarded annually to the best graduate student essay investigating Victorian periodicals and newspapers. The prize was established in 1990 to honor Rosemary VanArsdel, a founding member of the Research Society for Victorian Periodicals, whose groundbreaking research continues to shape the field of nineteenth-century periodical studies.”
The winner of the VanArsdel Prize receives $500 and publication of their submission in Victorian Periodicals Review. The award application period opens on May 1, 2025 and closes on 15 June 15, 2025. More information and submission guidelines can be found here on the RSVP website.
VPR Expanding the Field Prize
The VPR Expanding the Field Prize is awarded annually for an outstanding essay that diversifies the existing geographic, racial, and ethnic composition of nineteenth-century periodical studies. Submissions for this prize should do at least one of the following:
- Deepen our understanding of BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Color) founders, editors, contributors, and readers of periodicals
- Interrogate Anglocentric perspectives
- Enact anti-racist or anti-colonial values
- Consider the cultural impact of the British Empire around the world
The winner will receive $500 and publication of their article in Victorian Periodicals Review. The award application period opens on May 1, 2025 and closes on June 15, 2025. Further information about submission may be found here on the RSVP website.
Share Your News and Tidbits
RSVP’s main website includes a sidebar link to “Share Your News or Tidbits“. This form allows you to easily share research findings or news with others. For example, your ‘tidbit’ could be about something interesting found in an archive or something unexpected you have discovered whilst researching.
Website Area for GRIPS Members
There is a dedicated section of the RSVP website for graduate researchers and independent periodicals scholars (GRIPS).
Our Current Graduate Representatives
Matthew Stephens (Edge Hill University and British Library, UK), 2023-25
Contact Matthew (23715162[at]edgehill[dot]ac[dot]uk)
Victoria Bartness (University of St. Thomas, USA), 2024-26
Contact Victoria (victoria2204[at]gmail[dot]com)
Gillian Walters (University of Nottingham, UK), 2024-26
Contact Gillian (gillianwalters[at]gmail[dot]com)
