Here at The Junto, we like to hear from early Americanists at work around the world. Today’s guest post comes from Lauric Henneton, Associate Professor at the Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin and Vice Président of the Réseau pour le Développement Européen de l’Histoire de la Jeune Amérique (REDEHJA).
In case the honorable readers of The Junto were wondering, we do Early American and Atlantic history in the “Old World” and not just in good old “Blighty.” This post is about how the Réseau pour le Développement Européen de l’Histoire de la Jeune Amérique (REDEHJA) came together and what we’ve done over the last few years. This is the story of a group of friends/colleagues who decided to come together institutionally after a few years holding small-scale events in and around Paris. Continue reading
I am grateful to The Junto for this chance to reflect on my experiences earning both a Master’s in Library Science and a PhD in American history and to advocate for others to consider joining me. 
Following on from last week’s 
The three or four minutes between when my qualifying exam ended and when I found out I had passed rank among the weirdest of my life. Not because I feared I had failed. In fact, immediately following the exam, which I took last Tuesday and which consisted solely of a two-hour oral interrogation, I encountered a calm and a confidence that I hadn’t known in months. Instead, the moment’s weirdness stemmed from a sort of whiplash. Ideas, arguments, and anxieties had been cramming themselves into every corner of my brain for over a year. Suddenly, they were free—unleashed and dissipated in the space a two-hour conversation. It felt more than a bit anticlimactic. A disappointing question seemed to cloud out any sense of accomplishment or pride: “That was it?” A week later, I’m feeling prouder—and still celebrating—but the question remains. 
On this—the 223rd anniversary of the death of Benjamin Franklin—I thought I would use this space to say a few words about my experience over the last year working at the 
Happy Easter and Passover to all celebrating!
The Junto 