Karen Newman papers (Ms.2011.040)

This collection contains the personal and professional papers of Karen Newman, scholar of Shakespeare, the Renaissance, and early modern culture, and Professor of Humanities and Professor of Comparative Literature and English at Brown University. Materials date from 1966 to 2018, and documents Newman's academic career and writings through correspondence, writing drafts, syllabi and lecture notes, and administrative files. Topics include pedagogy and administrative organization, as well as academic work on the globalization of culture and cultural translation, representations of gender in early modern cultures and texts, women's writing and history, Renaissance drama, and the politics of reproduction. Newman's papers might be particularly useful to scholars of Comparative Literature focusing on Shakespeare, Renaissance Drama, early modern culture, or gender and literary theory. This collection is arranged into 12 series. Series 1, BIOGRAPHICAL and Career Development, 1966-2011, includes personal correspondence, curriculum vitae, education files from her graduate education, and her tenure dossier. This series is arranged alphabetically by record type.

Series 2, CORRESPONDENCE, 1977-2016, includes general and professional correspondence related to Newman's writings and academic career. Topics include Newman's graduate experience at University of California Berkeley, fraternities at Brown University, and Shakespearian scholarship. This series is arranged chronologically by year.

Series 3, ADMINISTRATIVE, 1978-2015, documents Newman's administrative work at Brown University and New York University and is arranged into two sub-series.

Series 3, sub-series 1, Brown University, 1978-2015, includes correspondence, reports, agendas, and proposals, from Newman's various positions at Brown, namely on the Academic Priorities Committee, as Dean of the graduate school, and as Director of the Pembroke Center for Teaching and Research on Women. This subseries is arranged alphabetically by topic then by record type.

Series 3, sub-series 2, New York University, 2003-2010, includes correspondence and agendas from Newman's various positions in New York's University's English department. This subseries is arranged alphabetically by record type.

Series 4, ASSOCIATIONS, 1971-2014, documents Newman's tenure at the American Comparative Literature Association, the English Institute, the Folger Institute, the Modern Languages Association of America (MLA), and the Shakespeare Association of America. Materials include correspondence, meeting minutes and agendas, conference materials, and reports. Topics include the English Institute's "Tense/Times" conference, the MLA's "Committee on the New Variorum of Shakespeare," and the Shakespeare Association of America's seminar "Shakespeare Remains." This series is arranged alphabetically by association then by record type.

Series 5, CONFERENCES, 1988-2018, includes schedules, handwritten notes, and correspondence. Topics include "early modern women," marriage, "early modern translation," and Paris. This series is arranged alphabetically first by conference title then by record type.

Series 6, TALKS AND LECTURES, 1975-2017, includes draft lectures and related notes and research materials. Titles include "Body Politics," "Cultural Conquest, Shakespearean Celebrity and the Souvenirs du Theatre Anglais a Paris," and "Discovering Witches." This series is arranged alphabetically by title.

Series 7, TEACHING, 1970-2018, includes syllabi, readings, course proposals, handwritten notes, and teaching evaluations of Newman. Course topics include "culture and society in seventeenth century London and Paris," "women writing," "urban space and urban culture," and Shakespeare. This series is arranged alphabetically by course title then by record type.

Series 8, WRITINGS AND RELATED, 1974-2016, includes writing drafts, handwritten notes, correspondence, and offprints, pertaining to various projects. The most heavily documented projects are: Cultural Capitals: Early Modern London and Paris; Early Modern Cultures of Translation; Essaying Shakespeare; Fetal Positions: Individualism, Science, Visuality; and The Story of Sappho. This subseries is arranged alphabetically by project title then by record type.

Series 9, SUBJECT FILES, 1973-2012, contains research materials such as handwritten notes and clippings and is arranged into two sub-series.

Series 9, sub-series 1, People, 1975-2012, includes clippings, annotated readings, and handwritten notes related to individuals such as Thomas Browne, Anna Deavere Smith, and Gertrude Stein. This sub-series is arranged alphabetically by subject's last name.

Series 9, sub-series 2, Topics, 1973-2006, includes readings and typed and handwritten notes related to several of Newman's research interests such as "Cultural Capitals" and "Fetal Positions." This sub-series is arranged alphabetically by topic.

Series 10, PRINT MATERIAL, 1980-1999, primarily contains student publications and departmental journals published by undergraduate students at Brown University in the 1980s. Works by Newman do not appear in any of the print materials. This series is arranged alphabetically by title.

Series 11, ELECTRONIC RECORDS, 2006-2014, contains 3.5 inch disks and CDs. Topics include Cultural Capitals, Brown University's 2014 Louise Lamphere versus Brown University exhibit, and the Pembroke Center for Teaching and Research on Women. This series is arranged alphabetically by title on carrier.

Series 12, RESTRICTED MATERIAL, 1984-1992, contains files pulled from throughout the collection and include development correspondence and endowment material of the Pembroke Center for Teaching and Research on Women, as well as theses supervised by Newman. This series is closed until January 1, 2072 after which date it will open without restrictions and is arranged alphabetically by topic.