Roanoke colonies research newsletter [1993 : November, v.1 : no.1]

Roanoke Colonies Research Newsletter tJNIVERSrnf Vol. 1, No. 1 November 1993 И EAST CAROLINA Roanoke Colonies Research Office Established at ECU As you may already know, on July 1, 1993, following the May Roanoke Decoded symposium in which many of you partici¬ pated, the local advisory committee selected by the symposium participants met to discuss where to go from here. Hosted by Dr. Keats Sparrow, dean of the East Carolina University College of Arts and Sciences, the one-day meeting resulted in the establishment of the Roanoke Colonies Research Office as part of the university’s Institute for Historical and Cultural Research. As those who met on the ECU campus in July suggested, we will begin by publishing a research newsletter and by organizing triennial interdisciplinary conferences on Roanoke colonies studies. The two initial projects are meant to correct the one shared complaint voiced amidst great praise for die Roanoke Decoded symposium: that the participating scholars were unable to attend one another’s presentations. While Roanoke Decoded provided an excellent opportu¬ nity for the general public to hear about the research many of us are doing, it also pointed out how little opportunity we scholars have had to keep up with the work in which others are engaged. Office Administration and Oversight I have been asked to serve as the institute’s director of the Roanoke Colonies Research Office. As a young scholar who researches early English and Spanish exploration literature of North America, I am excited about having die chance to be involved in an important way with a project such as this. David S. Phelps, one of the Roanoke Decoded symposium participants, professor of anthropology at East Carolina Uni¬ versity, and associate director of the university’s Institute for Historical and Cultural Research, will oversee the Roanoke Colonies Research Office for the Institute for Historical and Cultural Research. Phelps has appointed an advisory committee of scholars for die Roanoke Colonies Research Office. It has been estab¬ lished to offer advice concerning publications, conferences, and other projects that the office will be engaged in. Agreeing to serve are Karen Kupperman of the University of Connecti¬ cut; Ivor Noel-Hume of the Virginia Company Foundadon; David S. Phelps of East Carolina University; William S. Powell, emeritus of the University of Nordi Carolina at Chapel Hill; David Beers Quinn, emeritus of the University of Liverpool; David Sdck of Manteo, North Carolina; and Helen Wallis, retired from the Bridsh Library Map Room. Committee members will serve three-year terms that will rotate on a staggered schedule. Assisting with the administration of the office will be Bebe В . Woody, cultural resource management specialist with the Nadonal Park Service at die Fort Raleigh National Historic Site and one of die organizers of the original Roanoke Decoded symposium. She will serve as liaison between the office and the National Park Service as well as serve as an associate editor for the newsletter. Call for Assistance Please submitany materials you think would be appropriate for the newsletter — offprints of articles to be abstracted, descrip¬ tions of research you are presently engaged in, announcements of publication and paper presentation opportunities, and so forth — as well as suggesdons concerning the general content of die newsletter. All pardcipants in the Roanoke Decoded symposium have been placed on the newsletter’s mailing list; however, if you know of other scholars who were not participants but are engaged in studies related to Roanoke colonizadon, please let us know so their names can be added to the mailing list. We would like to bring together a broad range of scholars — people working in a variety of disciplines as well as both beginning and well-established researchers. In addidon, if you have suggestions or ideas about odier responsibilities die Roanoke Colonies Research Office could or should assume, please let us know. At least one of our future projects is compiling a computerized bibliographic database of materials relating to the various Roanoke colonizadon efforts. Suggesdons about other possible future projects will be appreciated. To contact us, please write or call our office: Dr. E. Thomson Shields, Jr. c/o Department of English East Carolina University Greenville, NC 27858-4353 Telephone: 919-757-6715 or 919-757-6041 Fax: 919-757-4889 Electronic Mail: ENSHIELD@ECUVM1 (Bitnet) ENSHIELD@ECU.CIS.ECU.EDU (Internet) We look forward to serving as a conduit for information, helping us all keep in closer communicadon about the work we are doing concerning the Roanoke colonies. The Roanoke Decoded symposium, radier than being a presentahon of conclusive findings, dius is a beginning for even more exciting research and discussion ahead.