About Us

On the cutting edge of humanities research and scholarship in the new millennium, the Early Modern Center, housed in the English Department at the University of California, Santa Barbara, embraces technologies of the future to engage in studies of the past. The Center is designed to mobilize the department’s strength in sixteenth-through eighteenth-century studies, and is maintained by English department faculty in the early modern field. The Center provides these faculty and their students with a space designed to promote collaborative research and teaching, including a specialized seminar area, resource library, and networked computers. State-of-the-art computing equipment is supported by the latest database resources in the field, including the Early English Books Online, consisting of all extant books published in English from 1475-1800, and the Eighteenth Century Collections Online (ECCO), 1701-1800. An annual theme guides our research energies, and our annual conferences feature the field’s most renowned scholars. The Center’s cohesive use of space and of faculty and student energies, its access to advanced electronic materials, and its integrated annual themed programs create the most sophisticated matrix for early modern studies available today. Learn more about our faculty and graduate students.

Past DirectorsYears Served
Patricia Fumerton2000-2008
Richard Helgerson2000-2001, Acting Director
Ken Hiltner2008-2011
William B. Warner2011-2015
James Kearney2015-2018
Bernadette Andrea2018-2021
Patricia Fumerton2021-Present
Past Graduate FellowsYears Served
Anna Viele2000-2001
Stephen Deng2001-2002
Diana Solomon2002-2003
Stephen Deng2003-2004
Tassie Gniady2004-2005
Kris McAbee2005-2006
Bill GahanFall 2006
Mac TestWinter and Spring 2007
Sören C. Hammerschmidt2007-2008
Cat Zusky2008-2009
Billy Hall2009-2010
Theresa Russ2010-2011
Danielle Davey2012-2011
Christopher Foley2012-2013
Thomas Doran2013-2014
Phillip James Cortes2014-2015
Kristen McCants2015-2016
Jeremy Chow2016-2017
Katie Adkison2017-2018
Unita Ahdifard2018-2019
Giorgina Paiella 2019-2020
Anita Raychawdhuri2020-2021
Nicole Stark2021-2022
Olivia Henderson2022-2023