Hi, 2024. Plus: Announcing Inkcap Courses!
Dear friends,
Of all the moments we mark a new year, I think January 1 might be my least favorite. I definitely prefer the energy of a new academic year each September, or the personal sense of renewal when I celebrate my birthday each June. By contrast, January often feels like a slog, an unfair fight with gloomy weather, dark days, and seemingly unending illness. This year is no different; my family and I can't seem to stay healthy, and stepping outside feels like a struggle rather than a pleasure. Even so, it's a moment when I think a lot about the possibilities of what is to come—the return of light and warmth, the potential for change and the unexpected.
Still, it's not my favorite time of year. In an effort to combat that feeling, I offered two virtual retreats this month—opportunities to come together in a small group to reflect on the past year and imagine our hopes for the year ahead. I liked this. It helped me get out of my head a little, and connect with others instead of ruminating endlessly.
We ended each session by thinking about what our anchor words for the year would be. I love hearing what people want to focus on: freedom, space, slowing down, curiosity, expansiveness, flow, play. Maybe one of these resonates for you, too.
Announcing Inkcap Courses!
As part of that intention-setting, I've decided to explore some new projects for Inkcap. Up first: Inkcap courses! This is an adaptation of the editing services I offer, packaged as private or semi-private courses. Whether you're putting a book proposal together for the first time, working on a grant proposal, or developing a full manuscript, I would love to work with you in a structured way. My hope is that for those of you who have access to professional development funds (lucky ducks!), this may be an easier way to convince your institution to support it. (I'm still available on a project-by-project basis, too.) Please reach out if you're interested or want to know more!
Two opportunities from Full Spectrum Features
I'm also happy to share two great opportunities from Inkcap client Full Spectrum Features:
National Endowment for the Humanities K-12 Teacher Institute: "Japanese American Post-War Resettlement in Chicago, 1943-1950." Full Spectrum Features will host a hybrid 15-day institute for 30 K-12 educators, online and in person in Chicago between July 8th-August 5th, 2024. Focusing on the history of Japanese Americans’ resettlement in Chicago after WWII incarceration, the institute will invite teachers to consider how repeated displacement and forced assimilation into white American culture impacted the Japanese American community. Application deadline is March 5th, 2024.
American Council of Learned Societies Leading Edge Fellowship: Full Spectrum Features' Manager of Learning and Impact. This program places recent PhDs in two-year professional positions with organizations advancing social justice and equity in communities across the US. Selected Leading Edge Fellows will take on substantive roles that draw on the skills and capacities honed in the course of earning the humanities PhD, including advanced communication, research, project management, and creative problem solving. The application deadline is March 13, 2024.
What else?
In my role as ACH Executive Council member, I helped organize an event on labor and digital humanities. One of the panelists, Kate Ozment, is active in the Cal State union and has been working hard on organizing the Cal State faculty strike that is now underway. It's the largest strike of its kind, ever! I am super inspired by their dedication and solidarity.
News outlets have been obsessed with the resignation of Harvard President Claudine Gay, but the Wall Street Journal says the quiet part out loud. I don't have a hot take, just a ton of frustration about how easily all the air in the room gets sucked up by manufactured crises like this.
ASU is planning to let ChatGPT teach writing, which seems like a bad idea, while a UK university is offering courses taught by holograms of dead professors, which also seems not great.
Despite the nonsense and noise in some of those news items, the Cal State strike gives me hope. It's a sign that people are still coming together to fight for the kind of public higher education that we as a society need and deserve.
Thanks for reading, everyone, and hope that your 2024 is starting in a way that makes you feel energized and hopeful.
Warmly,
Katina
