Rachel Stein is Research & Instruction Librarian at The Latin American Library at Tulane University. She holds a Ph.D. in Latin American and Iberian Cultures from Columbia University. Her research explores the intersections of early modern publishing and the transoceanic Spanish and Portuguese empires. She has published reviews in The Papers of the Bibliographic Society of America and The Journal of Early Modern History and has a forthcoming article on integrating second language and special collections pedagogy. While in residence at A Studio in the Woods, Rachel worked on an article about the relationship between the printing press and the early modern global Iberian state.

“During my stay, I made a lot of progress on two sections of the academic article I set out to work on… I honestly think that what I accomplished this week would have taken me at least 4 months to do at home, given the little time I usually have to write (about 30 mins/day). Being in the environment, and having the space to walk and think during writing breaks, helped me stay motivated and push through the fatigue of working with difficult sixteenth-century sources. I will remember this retreat as a blessing—a rare opportunity to work on my research since I don’t have built-in research time in my librarian position at Tulane. At the same time, I’ll be able to apply the work I accomplished in a rare books course I am co-teaching with colleagues this summer at the library. I’m really grateful for that as well.” – Rachel Stein