annual conference was co-hosted by the Rocky Mountain Medieval and Renaissance Association, first of all, and ACMRS looks forward to a closer working relationship with that regional association in the future. Bjork also negotiated an agreement with the University of Maryland, College Park, to co-publish the journal Early Modern Women beginning in 2007; ACMRS began a new subseries within MRTS called FRETS (“French of England Texts and Studies”) with Fordham University and York University (UK) and has four titles in the works for it; and ACMRS became the joint sponsor with the Society for Medieval Feminist Scholarship of MEDFEM-L (medieval feminist listserv). Last, Bjork served on the inaugural standing committee of CARMEN (“Co-operative for the Advancement of Research through a Medieval European Network”), a European organization the main purpose of which is to generate ideas and institutional teams for major funding proposals to agencies in Europe such as the European Science Foundation. At the second meeting of CARMEN, held this time in Prato, Italy, Bjork also began negotiations for collaborative efforts between ACMRS and the developing Prato Centre for Medieval and Renaissance Studies of Monash University in Australia. Directors From 1982 until 1994, ACMRS was directed by Jean R. Brink from the Department of English at ASU. Robert E. Bjork, also from the Department of English at ASU, directed the center from 1994 to 2018. Starting in 2018, ACMRS is directed by Ayanna Thompson, Professor in the Department of English at Arizona State University. Public Programs Distinguished Lectures In the spring of 1999, ACMRS established its Distinguished Lecture Series. Initially, the Center brought one eminent scholar to ASU for a few days to present a public lecture, interact with upper-division and/or graduate classes, and meet informally with students and faculty. The Distinguished Lecture series was reimagined in 2018 to support the mission of developing public-facing humanities programs that make premodern studies relevant to a contemporary, non-academic audience. In January of 2018, ACMRS hosted Peter Sellars for an evening dialogue entitled "Engaging the Past to Create the Avant Garde." In January of 2019, ACMRS will be hosting Marlon James as the annual distinguished lecturer, for an event entitled "Reclaiming the Fantasy Novel." In October of 2020, ACMRS will host Nnedi Okorafor as the Distinguished Lecturer for the 2020-21 academic year. RaceB4Race RaceB4Race is an ongoing conference series and professional network community by and for scholars of color working on issues of