Assistant Professor of English Don James McLaughlin
has been elected to membership in the American Antiquarian Society (AAS). Located in Worcester, Massachusetts, AAS is one of the most prestigious organizations devoted to the study of the country’s past. AAS members are elected by their colleagues in recognition of their eminent works of scholarship, artistic endeavors, or public engagement in pre-20th-century American history and culture.
Fourteen presidents of the United States have been members of the society, and AAS members have been awarded 82 Pulitzer Prizes and 71 Bancroft Prizes for their work.
“Being an AAS member is deeply meaningful to me both professionally and personally,” said McLaughlin. “I can think of no other audience whose affirmation means more to me than the brilliant, field-shaping, interdisciplinary colleagues I’ve engaged with and learned from during my AAS experiences.”
His connection to AAS began when he was a doctoral student at the University of Pennsylvania. In 2015-16, he held the Kate B. and Hall J. Peterson Fellowship, which supported him as he completed his dissertation and two essays that later became peer-reviewed articles.
Soon after being hired at The University of Tulsa, McLauglin was awarded the Hench Post-Dissertation Fellowship. This year-long fellowship (2018-19) enabled him to conduct research on the importance of “phobia” as a term of analysis in the medical thought of Cotton Mather and colonial political thought of future president John Adams.
The AAS’s archival resources were also critical to McLaughlin’s work on a special issue of the journal Commonplace. Co-edited with Clare Mullaney of Clemson University, the issue explored intersections between Walt Whitman and disability studies.
As he reflected on the role AAS has played in his career, McLaughlin emphasized that “the immense expertise that AAS librarians, curators, archivists, directors of fellowships and scholarly programs, and other specialists share so generously with researchers like me is unparalleled. The intellectual community they foster combines rigorous scholarly endeavor with a commitment to encouraging professional connections and lasting friendships.”
As an AAS member, McLaughlin plans to prioritize assisting UTulsa students with crafting competitive research applications so they too can pursue fellowships and related opportunities with the organization that has had such a formative impact on his own path to success.