SHEAR is pleased to announce and invite applications for the Sixth Annual SHEAR Biography Workshop, to be held in advance of the annual meeting in July 2025.

The workshop will be held face-to-face from 9:00 am to 4:00 pm on Thursday, July 17, 2025, at Brown University. (There will not be an option for remote participation.) The morning session will comprise presentations and reflective activities to aid participants in conceptualizing and moving forward with their own biographical projects. The topics covered include selecting your subject, researching for biography, where to begin and end the story, and the narrative structure.

In the afternoon, participants will discuss pre-circulated chapters of their own projects. All shared chapters must be biographical in content and situated historically in the early American republic (1776-1861). Groups will be assigned by the end of May, and participants’ chapters will be due to fellow group members by the end of June.

All scholars at any stage of their biographical projects are welcome, as are individuals who do not have projects underway but are curious about historical biography and eager to help fellow scholars in the development of their projects. If you don’t have a chapter to share, no problem! But we will ask you to read others’ chapters and contribute to the conversations.

If you want to register for the workshop or have questions, please contact Craig Friend at ctfriend@ncsu.edu with the subject line: SHEAR biography. Please indicate if you plan to share a chapter and, if so, the biographical subject of your project. Registration deadline is May 15, 2025.