Art History Professor Ellen Longsworth has worked with the Renaissance Society of America for more than a decade and will begin her newest role as president of the association.
The Renaissance Society of America (RSA) is an academic association that brings together scholars from varying backgrounds to support the study of the Renaissance period. Founded in 1954, the RSA holds conferences that showcase new research and work being written about the time period.
Longsworth has recently served as chair of a session of papers for the RSA’s annual conference, held virtually this year. The session was sponsored by the Association for Textual Scholarship in Art History, an affiliate of RSA, and consisted of four papers and a brief question and answer session.
Her role as chair was to announce the session and the papers, introduce the speakers and lead the group into the Q&A. She has served as a chair for the RSA previously in 2011, 2014, 2018, 2019 and 2020.
Longsworth also serves as the Vice President of the Society for Renaissance Art History, an affiliate of the South-Central Renaissance Conference (S-CRC). The Society for Renaissance Art History was founded by UMass Lowell Professor Liana Cheney, who wanted to bring greater emphasis to the South-Central Renaissance Conference greater emphasis and to include a deeper focus on the history of art. The S-CRC is an interdisciplinary conference that includes scholars of Renaissance Literature along with Art Historians. As Vice President, Longsworth is responsible for the evaluation of papers sent in by scholars for presentation at the upcoming conference. This involves organizing sessions around the paper topics submitted and approved.
Longsworth will transition into the title of President of the Society for Renaissance Art History and will use her role to continue to forward the study and the dissemination of the scholarship of art history. She will hold this position until 2022.
