blog-hero-image blog-hero-image

Uncommon Sense

PublicationsBlog
By Patricia Methven September 14, 2016

An update on the Georgian Papers Programme

This post by Patricia Methven, Programme Manager of the Georgian Papers Programme project, appeared recently on the GPP blog of King’s College London, our partners in this exciting initiative. You can read more about the program, including opportunities for fellowships, workshops and more, here. by Patricia Methven It is now just over a year since HM The Queen formally… Read More

fellowships 7 min read
Read More
By Michael D. Breidenbach September 07, 2016

Beginning and Ending with Footnotes

In today’s post, WMQ author Michael D. Breidenbach (July 2016) reflects on the beginning and end of historical writing. by Michael D. Breidenbach An unavoidable task in historical writing is beginning and ending within particular time periods, dates, or moments. But while a published article denotes its end—the publication date—historical writing often does not admit of a beginning. The genesis of an… Read More

WMQ 5 min read
Read More
By Joseph M. Adelman September 06, 2016

2017 Conference Applications Due Soon

The fall semester is just underway on campuses across the United States, but it’s already time to think about next summer’s conference season. In just one week (on September 15), we will reach the application deadline for the 23rd Annual Institute Conference, scheduled for June 15-18, 2017, in Ann Arbor, Michigan. The program committee, chaired by… Read More

conferences 2 min read
Read More
By Bryan C. Rindfleisch August 31, 2016

Reflections on the Lapidus Scholars' Workshop

Today’s guest post is by Bryan C. Rindfleisch, an assistant professor of history at Marquette University. It was July 4, 2016. I found myself sitting on the curb at the intersection of Duke of Gloucester and Henry Streets, at one of the entrances to Colonial Williamsburg. I watched as families, big and small, dashed into air-conditioned stores and restaurants. Read More

Lapidus Initiative 10 min read
Read More
By Melissa Morris August 24, 2016

Hogshead Revisited: a short-term fellowship report from Melissa Morris

In today’s post, Omohundro Institute short-term fellow Melissa Morris (Columbia University), details how she used her time in Williamsburg and what she found out about the tobacco industry in early America. by Melissa Morris A hogshead. Photo taken by Melissa Morris in Colonial Williamsburg. For the last two months I have researched my… Read More

fellowships 6 min read
Read More
By Kirsten Fischer August 17, 2016

How I learned to stop worrying and love Reader D

by Kirsten Fischer In today’s post, WMQ author Kirsten Fischer (July 2016) delves into her relationship with Reader D and how their interaction ultimately influenced her piece. Powerful intellectual opposition to one’s ideas is a disturbing, provoking, and very useful thing.  That’s what I learned from Reader D, the anonymous reviewer who went to great lengths to refute the arguments… Read More

WMQ 6 min read
Read More
By Nadine Zimmerli August 10, 2016

How to become an academic book editor in five easy steps

Today’s post is by Nadine Zimmerli, Associate Editor of Book Publications, on how she came to academic publishing as a career. I skipped class in high school precisely once, to attend the Leipzig Book Fair (I know, it doesn’t get nerdier than that…). There, I asked a local publisher—I believe it was Reclam—whether they had any internship positions available… Read More

books 11 min read
Read More
By Keith Pluymers August 03, 2016

An old topic made new--iron in America

In this week’s post, Keith Pluymers (July 2016) describes the shifts in perspective that led him to reconsider a well-worn topic and ultimately to publish his first piece in the William and Mary Quarterly.  by Keith Pluymers In 2013 while on a Mellon Research Fellowship at the Virginia Historical Society, a combination of archival discovery and a fortuitous meeting with a… Read More

WMQ 7 min read
Read More
By oieahc July 20, 2016

Remembering Drew Cayton

This coming Friday, July 22, Drew Cayton will be remembered in a special panel offered during SHEAR’s annual meeting in New Haven, Connecticut. The following letter from Jan Lewis, Dan Richter, and Karin Wulf was sent out to members of SHEAR and friends of the Omohundro Institute in preparation for that event. Drew Cayton–scholar… Read More

memorials 2 min read
Read More
By Josh Piker July 14, 2016

Summertime Blues: A Retraction.

by Josh Piker There’s good news and bad news. The good news is that the evidence suggests that potential authors of William and Mary Quarterly articles read my posts and take seriously what I say there.  The bad news is that, because of the good news, what I said in one particular post is no longer accurate. Last July,… Read More

WMQ 4 min read
Read More
By oieahc July 13, 2016

Meet the 2016 Scholars' Workshop

The 2nd annual Omohundro Institute Scholars’ Workshop began July 5. As last year, six untenured scholars are gathered at the OI for two weeks of intensive discussion, editing and meetings with the OI’s publications team. Each scholar also has the option to stay in Williamsburg and continue to work for up to two weeks after the workshop ends. Read More

fellowships 9 min read
Read More
By Josh Piker July 06, 2016

The Need for Speed

by WMQ Editor Josh Piker At the risk of invoking one of my many least favorite Tom Cruise movies—or, as a quick Google search informs me, what looks to be a more recent (but even more uninspired) movie based on a video game—I’d like to talk for a minute about the need for speed. Last year, I blogged about my… Read More

WMQ 13 min read
Read More

Recent Posts

June 29, 2025

Peer Review for the Born-Digital?

April 1, 2025

BJ Lillis

April 1, 2025

Patrick Barker

Subscribe to the Blog

[ninja_form id='48']