The American Friends of the Herzog August Bibliothek (AFHAB) seeks panels and papers for the annual conference of the Renaissance Society of America (RSA), which will convene in San Francisco, CA from Thursday, February 19, 2026 through Saturday, February 21, 2026.
Panels from all areas of early modern scholarship that reflect research undertaken at the Herzog August Bibliothek, Wolfenbüttel are encouraged, and this year we are particularly interested in recognizing two important anniversaries:
• LOOKING FOWARD – LOOKING BACK: Ten Years of the AFHAB at the RSA, 2015-2025. The first sessions of the AFHAB at the RSA were held in Berlin in 2015, and the conference in Boston in 2025 marked a decade. The AFHAB is interested in exploring what this ten-year relationship has brought to the Herzog August Bibliothek and the RSA, as well as the benefits of the relationship to all three organizations.
• THE 450TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE FOUNDING OF THE ACADEMIA JULIA. The University of Helmstedt, the first Protestant university in the northern half of Germany, officially opened in 1576, and the Herzog August Bibliothek currently holds some 58,000 titles from the Biblioteca Julia. The Helmstedt collection is rich and varied, offering countless possibilities for early modern scholars past, present and future.
Various RSA-sanctioned formats will be considered for the AFHAB-sponsored panels:
• Paper Panel (3-4 presenters)
• Seminar Panel (4-6 presenters & pre-circulated
papers)
• Lightning Talk Panel (5-8 presenters)
• Roundtable (5-8 participants)
• Workshop (topics suited to a collaborative format)
Senior, mid-career, junior scholars, and advanced doctoral students all have a place in the sessions sponsored by the AFHAB, thereby continuing the practices of the library of providing avenues for formal and informal mentoring as well as cutting-edge cross-disciplinary research.
If you are interested in offering a panel or paper in San Francisco, please let Dwight TenHuisen know your intentions soon. We will also consider proposals for individual papers, but preference will be given to proposals for complete panels.