1 September 2026
Position Announcement: Editor, Explorations in Renaissance Culture
Dear fellow SCRC Members,
As a Past President of the South Central Renaissance Conference, I write on behalf of the SCRC Executive Board to solicit applications to become the next editor of our journal, Explorations in Renaissance Culture. The new five-year term begins in January 2027 when Andrew Fleck’s term as editor concludes. In existence since 1974, Explorations in Renaissance Culture (ERC) currently produces two issues per year (Summer and Winter), each published in English and approximately 150 pages long. In keeping with the multidisciplinary character of our organization, Explorations is devoted to all disciplines of study in the Early Modern/Renaissance period: literature, history, art and iconography, music, cultural studies, etc. Having created a publishing partnership with Brill (now De Gruyter-Brill) a decade ago, Explorations has a truly global reach, with submissions received from around the world and with a readership in every part of the world. In keeping with other high-quality scholarly journals, it is fully refereed by a board of established scholars from multiple disciplines and follows a double-blind review process. A complete list of expectations and responsibilities is below.
Editors receive a ($1,000) stipend from our publisher, De Gruyter-Brill, to defray the cost of attending the annual conference of the SCRC. In the past, editors have arranged additional support (in the form of graduate research assistants, additional travel funding, or course releases) with their home academic institutions. The editor of a journal like Explorations has an opportunity to shape the field and our understanding of early modern studies, especially through the occasional curation of special topic issues such as ERC’s recent collection of essays on Aemilia Lanyer. An editor will raise her or his profile in the profession through this role and will occasionally be invited to speak at various fora on the future of the field or of academic publishing. It is also fascinating and fun work. If you have questions about the editorship, feel free to contact the current editor, Andrew Fleck, at andrew.fleck@utrgv.edu. Applicants for the editorship must be (or become) members of the South Central Renaissance Conference and be familiar with its annual conference. They may come from any of the disciplines and national traditions of early modern studies, but expertise with early modern English will be preferred.
To apply: Submit a curriculum vitae and a cover letter discussing the applicant’s preparation for this role, any additional institutional support possibly available to the applicant, and the applicant’s vision for the journal to Mary Villeponteaux (mvilleponteaux@georgiasouthern.edu), chair of the search committee, by 7 November 2026. The search committee expects to conduct virtual interviews in December and announce a finalist in January 2027. The search will remain open until an appointment is made.
Best wishes,
Mary Villeponteaux
Past President, South Central Renaissance Conference
Further information can be found at this link: https://southcentralrenaissanceconference.org/position-announcement-editor-explorations-in-renaissance-culture/
Editor for Explorations will
1. Actively solicit submissions on Early Modern literature, history, music, art, iconography, cultural studies, etc. Attending conferences in our field, including the annual meeting of SCRC, to publicize the journal and encourage submissions is an important part of this task. The editor should have a strong network of early modernists to assist in finding good readers of submissions.
2. Read and respond to all inquiries and submissions.
3. Make use of a common task management system, Editorial Manager, to track submissions through the process of evaluation, revision, rejection or acceptance, and publication.
4. Superintend the critical review and editing of, and timely response to, all material sent to readers.
5. Oversee the revision and final drafts of selected material through to publication.
6. Deliver “ready” copy of all materials to the publisher by the agreed upon deadlines, usually in May and November. (The publisher handles final typesetting but copy-editing and proofreading are completed by the editorial team.)
7. Work closely with the publisher in both publishing the journal and in assisting its promotional efforts, both within the SCRC and at other conferences, and periodically meet with the publisher’s representative at academic meetings such as the annual meeting of the Renaissance Society of America or Sixteenth Century Studies Conference.
8. Work with the SCRC executive secretary-treasurer to compile and maintain subscription/membership records for SCRC subscribers and communicate this list to the publisher. (The publisher maintains the overall subscription list, including libraries and other institutions.)
9. Alert the SCRC membership and other interested parties when a new issue is published.
10. Provide progress reports to the Executive Committee at the annual meeting as well as keep members of the Executive Committee abreast of developments with the journal during the course of the year.
11. Oversee the annual selection of the Albert Fields Award, the SCRC’s prize for the best article published that year in Explorations in Renaissance Culture.
12. Revise the editorial board as needed.
