Missionary Manuscripts Summer Workshop

Missionary Manuscripts in Mesoamerican Languages

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The first/earliest documentation of Mesoamerican languages were produced by missionaries, who created rich textual materials, ranging from catechisms and sermons to dictionaries and grammars. These sources offer an invaluable view into the world of the linguistic and cultural encounter and the process of conversion in Mesoamerica.

In a unique collaboration, the Princeton University Library, the Dumbarton Oaks Research Library, and the Library of Congress will host an intensive two-week summer workshop between June 3–14, 2024 focused on their in-house collections of missionary documents written in Mesoamerican languages. The program is co-organized by Dr. William Noel (Princeton University Library) and Dr. Frauke Sachse (Dumbarton Oaks) and will be directed by Dr. Garry Sparks (Princeton University), Dr. Frauke Sachse (Dumbarton Oaks), and Dr. Ben Leeming (The Rivers School). The curriculum will include further guest lectures from colleagues and specialists at Princeton University Library and at the Library of Congress.

Program Description

Missionary writings in Mesoamerican languages include texts that were used in the conversion, such as catechisms, sermons, hymns, theological and devotional treatise, as well as dictionaries and grammars that served in the education of friars and clerics. Missionaries established alphabets as well as norms and standards for description and translation. Indigenous converts were closely involved in this process and created new hybrid literary genres that follow the Mesoamerican book tradition, inextricably linking missionary writings and Mesoamerican historiography.

The workshop offers an introduction to the missionary records in Mesoamerican languages, drawing on collection materials from the Garrett-Gates Collection of Mesoamerican Manuscripts at the Princeton University Library, the Dumbarton Oaks Rare Books collection, and selected materials in the Special Collections from the Library of Congress.

Participants will receive specialized and contextual knowledge about this body of source materials, with a particular focus on documents in Mayan languages and Nahuatl. The curriculum will include, among others, the following topics: missionary documents and text genres and their intertextualities; conversion through alphabetization; Indigenous agencies and Mesoamerican book traditions; European textual antecedents and religious traditions; the concept of arte and missionary grammatical description; missionary lexicography; translation practices; collectors and collection histories; archives and digital repositories. 

This summer workshop is an intensive program requiring full participation throughout. In the first week (June 3–7) the workshop will be held at the Firestone Library at Princeton University in New Jersey, Mondays through Fridays from 9:00 am–5:00 pm. In the second week (June 10-14), the program will move to the Dumbarton Oaks Library and Collections in Washington, DC and include a day visit to the Rare Book and Special Collections Division at the Library of Congress (June 12).

Admission Requirements

The summer workshop is directed at doctoral students, including recent graduates and recent postdocs in any field that benefit from access to colonial/missionary resources in Mesoamerican language (e.g., Anthropology, Linguistics, Religious Studies, History, Art History, Colonial Studies, etc.). Other complete applications may be considered on a case-by-case basis if space is available.

The workshop will be taught in English, but good Spanish reading ability is an essential requirement and basic knowledge of a Mesoamerican language desirable. 

Accommodation and Expenses

There is no fee for participation in this program. Successful applicants will receive on-campus housing at Princeton and Dumbarton Oaks. During the second week, free lunch will be provided in the Dumbarton Oaks Refectory on weekdays (except for scheduled closures). Participants will also receive access to the Firestone Library and a Library Reader’s Badge to the Dumbarton Oaks Research Library, as well as access to the Dumbarton Oaks Garden, for the duration of the program. Dumbarton Oaks has partnered with a travel agency to arrange and pre-pay for participants’ air and/or rail travel to/from Princeton and Washington DC, in accordance with the Dumbarton Oaks Travel Policy. A stipend is not offered for this program.

Applications

Applications, to be written in English, must be submitted electronically by February 29, 2024, at 11:59 p.m. Eastern.

To apply, applicants must provide the following:

• A letter of interest, describing their academic background, why attending this workshop is important for their intellectual and professional goals, and any potential topics that they propose to pursue in their research (doctoral students are asked to include a 500 word abstract of their dissertation).
• Curriculum Vitae
• One letter of recommendation. Candidates are strongly encouraged to request the letter from a faculty member who has instructed them and is familiar with their work.

Selection criteria will include (but are not limited to) the program’s relevance to applicants’ present and future research projects.

International candidates are eligible to apply; however, J-visa sponsorship is not available.

Successful applicants will be notified by mid-March. For further information, please write to Pre-Columbian@doaks.org.

Image source: Collage of manuscripts including details from the title pages of pt. 1 and 2 of Alonso de Molina's Vocabulario en lengua Mexicana… (1585), Dumbarton Oaks; Domingo de Vico's Theologia Indorum, vol. II, Garrett Gates Collection of Mesoamerican Manuscripts, ms. 175, Princeton University Library (Photo by F. Sachse); Vocabulario en lengua castellana y guatimalteca… Garrett Gates Collection of Mesoamerican Manuscripts, ms. 226 (Photo from Princeton University Library); Sermonario en Pokonchí, Garrett Gates Collection of Mesoamerican Manuscripts, ms. 235 (Photo from Princeton University Library); Manuscript 1015, Jay I. Kislak Collection, Library of Congress (Photo from Library of Congress).

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