The center hosted four lectures on a truly global range of subjects, ranging from sincerity in Renaissance Italy to the early reception of Petrarch in the Americas and Francis Williams, a Black Latin poet in 18th-century Jamaica. Brown University faculty member Gabriel de Avilez Rocha (History, Portuguese and Brazilian Studies) presented from his upcoming book, The Atlantic Acceleration, detailing the movement of people, animals, and even earth across the Atlantic. This year marked our first film screening in Andrews House. There was a lively and inspiring Q&A with the director Fred Kudjo Kuwornu following the showing of We Were Here: The Untold Story of Black Africans in Renaissance Europe.

The number of research and travel grants awarded to graduate students increased from 7 to 12 this year across six departments. Their research and paper presentations touched both coasts, South America, Europe, Asia, and the Canary Islands. We would like to congratulate our former graduate representative, Benjamin Easton (Hispanic Studies), on the completion of his Ph.D., and we are delighted to welcome his successor, Sara Buitrago Montero (Hispanic Studies), who will be joining us in the fall and participating in our board meetings.

We are grateful to everyone in the Brown community for the support we have received. In particular, this is an opportunity to thank Amanda Anderson for all she accomplished as Director of the Cogut Institute and especially to support EMW. We are looking forward to an already exciting year ahead in which all our members can be involved in continuing to advance and promote early modern studies in Brown and beyond.