Whitehead Research Project

The WRP was conceived and founded in 2005 by Roland Faber. In February 2005, Faber proposed and installed WRP as a project of the Center for Process Studies, a faculty research center of the Claremont School of Theology since 1973, and of which Faber was a co-director. In March 2006, Faber invited Brian G. Henning to serve as the WRP's Director of Research.{{cite web |last1=Henning |first1=Brian G. |title=Critical Edition of Whitehead |url=https://connect.gonzaga.edu/henning/critical-edition-of-whitehead |website=connect.gonzaga.edu |publisher=Gonzaga University |access-date=16 February 2025 |ref=HenningCEW}}

The project underwent major organizational changes in 2023. Roland Faber retired, with Brian G. Henning becoming the new Executive Director and Joseph Petek becoming the new Director of Research and Publication. The entire WRP project was also migrated from the Center for Process Studies to Gonzaga University. Finally, separate boards for the Whitehead Research Project and Critical Edition of Whitehead were re-organized and combined into a single Editorial Advisory Board.{{cite web |last1=Henning |first1=Brian G. |last2=Petek |first2=Joseph |title=Critical Edition of Whitehead 2023 year-end update |url=https://whiteheadresearch.org/2023/12/16/critical-edition-of-whitehead-2023-year-end-update/ |website=whiteheadresearch.org |access-date=16 February 2025 |ref=2023update}}

In February 2009, the WRP announced the inauguration of the Critical Edition of Whitehead (CEW), a long-term initiative of the WRP that aims to make available the complete published and unpublished writings of Alfred North Whitehead in a single, critical edition.{{cite web |last1=Henning |first1=Brian |title=New Whitehead Edition |url=http://whiteheadresearch.org/2009/02/01/new-book-16/ |website=whiteheadresearch.org |date=February 2009 |publisher=Whitehead Research Project |accessdate=24 February 2020 |ref=6}} The early focus of the project was to collect and publish previously unknown Whitehead materials, including the notes of Whitehead’s students taken during his classes at Harvard from 1924–1937.

In March 2014, the WRP reached an agreement with Edinburgh University Press (EUP) to publish the Critical Edition.{{cite web |last1=Henning |first1=Brian |title=Press Release 3-31-14 |url=http://whiteheadresearch.org/research/critical-edition/press-release-3-31-14/ |website=whiteheadresearch.org |publisher=Whitehead Research Project |accessdate=24 February 2020 |ref=7}}

The initial volumes of the Critical Edition were of student notes taken during Whitehead's Harvard classes. The first volume of student notes covered his first year of teaching at Harvard and was published in 2017 as The Harvard Lectures of Alfred North Whitehead, 1924-1925: Philosophical Presuppositions of Science, edited by Paul Bogaard and Jason Bell.{{cite web |last1=Petek |first1=Joseph |title=Vol 1 - Harvard Lectures Philosophical Presuppositions of Science |url=https://whiteheadresearch.org/research/critical-edition/hl1/ |website=whiteheadresearch.org |publisher=Whitehead Research Project |accessdate=16 February 2025 |ref=8}} The second volume of lecture notes – The Harvard Lectures of Alfred North Whitehead: General Metaphysical Problems of Science, 1925-1927, edited by Brian G. Henning, Joseph Petek, and George R. Lucas, Jr. – covered Whitehead’s second and third years teaching at Harvard and was published in 2021.{{cite web |title=Vol 2 - Harvard Lectures General Metaphysical Problems of Science |url=https://whiteheadresearch.org/research/critical-edition/hl2/ |website=whiteheadresearch.org |access-date=16 February 2025 |ref=hl2}}

In August 2023, the Critical Edition of Whitehead was awarded a National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) Scholarly Editions and Translations grant for $350,000 over a period of three years, starting on January 1, 2024 and ending on December 31, 2026.{{cite web |last1=Henning |first1=Brian G. |last2=Petek |first2=Joseph |title=Critical Edition awarded NEH grant |url=https://whiteheadresearch.org/2023/08/15/critical-edition-awarded-neh-grant/ |website=whiteheadresearch.org |access-date=16 February 2025 |ref=NEH}}

Two volumes of Whitehead's collected essays and articles are expected to be published in 2025, and a third volume of Harvard lectures in 2026.{{cite web |last1=Petek |first1=Joseph |title=The Edinburgh Critical Edition of the Complete Works of Alfred North Whitehead |url=https://whiteheadresearch.org/research/critical-edition/ |website=whiteheadresearch.org |access-date=16 February 2025 |ref=CEW}}

The Critical Edition of Whitehead is led by Founder and General Editor Brian G. Henning and Executive Editor Joseph Petek, as well as an editorial advisory board.

The WRP has held eleven conferences since December 2007 on topics ranging from Whitehead’s intersection with Badiou and Deleuze, with Judith Butler, and with Pragmatism.{{cite web |last1=Petek |first1=Joseph |title=Conferences |url=http://whiteheadresearch.org/occasions/conferences/ |website=whiteheadresearch.org |publisher=Whitehead Research Project |accessdate=24 February 2020 |ref=3}} Most of the papers delivered at these conferences have been subsequently published in edited books in the Contemporary Whitehead Studies series.

In 2009, WRP founded Contemporary Whitehead Studies (CWS), an interdisciplinary book series that publishes manuscripts from scholars with contemporary and innovative approaches to Whitehead studies.{{cite web |last1=Petek |first1=Joseph |title=Contemporary Whitehead Studies |url=http://whiteheadresearch.org/research/contemporary-whitehead-studies/ |website=whiteheadresearch.org |publisher=Whitehead Research Project |accessdate=24 February 2020 |ref=4}} As of February 2025, it includes nineteen books.{{cite web |last1=Petek |first1=Joseph |title=Book List |url=http://whiteheadresearch.org/research/contemporary-whitehead-studies/book-list/ |website=whiteheadresearch.org |publisher=Whitehead Research Project |accessdate=16 February 2025 |ref=5}}

In February 2019, the WRP established the [https://wrl.whiteheadresearch.org/ Whitehead Research Library] (WRL) as a digital platform for sharing archival materials related to Whitehead.{{cite web |last1=Petek |first1=Joseph |title=Announcing the opening of the Whitehead Research Library (WRL) |url=http://whiteheadresearch.org/2019/02/02/announcing-the-opening-of-the-whitehead-research-library-wrl/ |website=whiteheadresearch.org |date=2 February 2019 |publisher=Whitehead Research Project |accessdate=24 February 2020 |ref=11}} Parts of Whitehead’s nachlass – donated to the project by his grandson in January 2019 – are freely available on the platform, with more set to be added as the collection is cataloged.{{cite web |last1=Henning |first1=Brian |title=On the recently discovered Whitehead papers |url=http://whiteheadresearch.org/2019/01/14/on-the-recently-discovered-whitehead-papers/ |website=whiteheadresearch.org |date=14 January 2019 |publisher=Whitehead Research Project |accessdate=24 February 2020 |ref=12}}

In mid-2023, the WRP established the [https://encyclopedia.whiteheadresearch.org/ Whitehead Encyclopedia] as a platform for providing open access to scholarly articles on Whiteheadian process thought. Its initial content was largely based on the Handbook of Whiteheadian Process Thought (2008, De Gruyter), edited by Michel Weber and Will Desmond. The Encyclopedia is edited by Brian G. Henning and Joseph Petek in consultation with the WRP's Editorial Advisory Board.{{cite web |last1=Henning |first1=Brian G. |last2=Petek |first2=Joseph |title=About this site |url=https://encyclopedia.whiteheadresearch.org/about-this-site/ |website=The Whitehead Encyclopedia |access-date=16 February 2025 |ref=WEabout}}

{{Reflist}}

• {{official website|http://www.whiteheadresearch.org/}}
• [https://wrl.whiteheadresearch.org/ Whitehead Research Library]
• [https://encyclopedia.whiteheadresearch.org/ Whitehead Encyclopedia]

{{Alfred North Whitehead}}

Category:Philosophy organizations

Category:Alfred North Whitehead