STS Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Statement of Principles

As a society devoted to textual scholarship, we recognize that historical and present inequities often impact the analysis, representation, and interpretation of texts, as well as of authors, readers, publishers, and other agents, including in decisions about which texts to preserve, and how. STS as an organization is committed to supporting and enhancing the diversity of the Society and the scholarly fields with which it is aligned. We understand ethnic and gender diversity not only as an ethical good, but also as an important path toward more accurate, insightful, and comprehensive scholarly and editorial work. STS is aware that our organizational history, in tandem with the history and evolution of textual scholarship as an academic discipline, has privileged texts and citational practices originating in Europe and settler-colonial North America, produced by white, cisgender male creators using English or other majority European languages.

Additionally, we acknowledge and deeply regret incidents of discriminatory actions and sexual assault that have occurred at past STS events. These acts harmed members of our community.  As an organization, we commit to doing our part to make our annual conference, journal Textual Cultures, and all affiliated events free from gender and ethnicity based abuse, coercion, and discrimination, and to address misconduct, should it occur. We welcome input from our community on additional steps we can take to ensure everyone’s safety and dignity. 

Accordingly, STS adopts the following goals, with the recognition that the items outlined here constitute a living document that should change in response to future circumstances.

  1. STS supports equitable forms of production in the fields and subfields with which the Society is aligned. Thus, we encourage scholarship about texts, topics, and agents that are under-represented in the scholarly record, generally and in the specific ways outlined below.
  2. Acknowledging that textual scholarship has historically been defined and practiced in exclusionary ways, we support an expanded scope of how we conceive of textual scholarship and its methodologies and outcomes.
  3. We aim to foster a vigorous, diverse, and welcoming community for textual scholars and practitioners who join the Society as members, contribute to our journal, and/or participate in our conferences and other activities. This goal also encompasses the Society’s ongoing interest in supporting scholarship created in languages other than English.
  4. Recognizing that the Society’s interests are best served by a diverse organizational leadership, we aim for the representation on our executive board and among our officers of a broad and diverse range of text-engaged disciplines; national, regional, and ethnic literatures and media forms; historical periods; and textual cultures, with attention to subject areas and fields that have been historically under-represented.