As we celebrate SACRPH’s 40th anniversary, our Member Spotlight turns to individuals who were active in the society’s early years.
Carolyn Loeb
Associate Professor Emerita, Art and Architectural History, School of Residential Community-Engaged Arts and Humanities (formerly Residential College in the Arts and Humanities), Michigan State University
What was your first experience with SACRPH?
I attended my first SACRPH conference in Cincinnati – where I see that you are returning this year to celebrate your 40th anniversary: Congratulations! – in 1989. I cannot recall through whom or how I learned about this organization. But I do remember how welcoming Larry Gerckens was and how easily he made one feel part of the project. It is, indeed, the colleagues who commented astutely and kindly on papers, and with whom one had good, wide-ranging conversations in between sessions and over meals, whose support and encouragement remain most vividly in my memory. Talking with people who were engrossed in and excited about their research and related activities, and who were often facing similar challenges in a changing educational environment, was refreshing, stimulating, and consoling – and I’m sure this remains a key feature of SACRPH’s ongoing meetings.
How has SACRPH helped you in your career?
I’m glad to have this opportunity to express my appreciation for this organization. I found it to be always ready to nurture young scholars like me as we were beginning to find our teaching and writing sea-legs.
I attended and presented papers at seven conferences over the years. Publication in the 1990 Working Papers Series of an early version of part of the book I was working toward at the time – it would not appear finally until 2001 – was an important step in building my confidence in that pursuit.
Where would you like to see SACRPH and the field go next?
However SACRPH evolves over the coming years, I hope that it continues to offer a welcoming and nurturing environment to young scholars from diverse fields, to keep dialogue open and inquiring, and to encourage new ways to pose and investigate topics that grapple with and help us to understand the ever-shifting spaces of our world.
