HECAA strives to provide an environment of inclusion, collegiality, and care for all scholars of eighteenth-century art and architecture, regardless of individual identity. Recognizing that Western art history’s academic and collecting institutions have been complicit in the construction and perpetuation of bias, we are engaged in the on-going work of dismantling systems of discrimination based on race, gender, sexuality, class, and disability--in our own organization and in the broader field of art history. Recognizing the urgency of the contemporary moment, we acknowledge that teaching, scholarship, and public engagement through art are political and that silence is complicity. Working to confront the specters of racism, sexism, classism, and ableism that haunt our scholarship and our teaching, we commit our organization to the pursuit of inclusivity, equality, and justice.

Principles

HECAA values an expansive understanding of eighteenth-century studies. We believe our field is strengthened by research that encompasses multiple geographies and a broad range of objects of study, including work that interrogates racist beliefs, assumptions, and attitudes of the long eighteenth century. We similarly believe that the future of the field depends on the diversity of its authors and audiences. We promise to support this framing of the field through collaborative research, on-going outreach, and careful listening to the communities we serve, both inside and outside the profession.

HECAA values the multiplicity of our members’ perspectives and personal histories, embracing a full range of professional affiliations, including the work of independent scholars. We reject essentialist notions of scholarly identity while promising to combat the marginalization of scholars from underrepresented backgrounds and under-resourced institutions through active outreach and financial support.

HECAA values the free exchange of ideas as the bedrock of scholarly inquiry, but we also believe we must be attentive to the unintentional consequences and reception of our words. We have zero tolerance for discriminatory language or actions and commit to modelling inclusive language and anti-racist intellectual discourse.

HECAA values the time and labor of our members. We acknowledge the ways that economic disparities and care responsibilities accentuate systems of inequity. Working from a position of empathy, we promise to advocate for the financially vulnerable in our profession, fighting for higher pay, expanded opportunities, and the recognition of all intellectual work, while committing financial resources to the support of junior and contingent scholars.

HECAA values organizational and operational transparency. We promise to maintain open lines of communication between the membership and the board and to submit the organization’s work to on-going reflection and review from both the DEI committee and the membership as a whole.

The HECAA Diversity/Equity/Inclusion Committee
The HECAA Board

February 2, 2022