MSA X: Call for Seminar, Panel, and Roundtable Proposals Deadline for Submission of Seminar Proposals: March 3, 2008 Deadline for Submission of Panel Proposals: May 12, 2008 Deadline for Submission of Roundtable Proposals: May 12, 2008 The 2008 meeting of the Modernist Studies Association will take place at the Loews Vanderbilt Hotel in Nashville, Tennessee, November 13-16, 2008. The organizationıs annual conference regularly brings together in excess of 500 scholars from a variety of disciplines and features an engaging mix of keynote addresses, small seminars, panel presentations, and roundtable discussions. This yearıs event, ³Modernism and Global Media,² will be hosted by Vanderbilt University with generous financial support provided by the Office of the Dean, Vanderbiltıs Center for the Americas, and various Vanderbilt departments and programs, including English and Film Studies. With the title ³Modernism and Global Media,² conference organizers wish to foreground issues such as transnational and international aesthetic interaction, modernism in the Americas, Diaspora, cinema and mass media (print, radio, phonography, etc), media in various colonial and anti-colonial projects, war, global economics, migration, the Jazz Age, the Harlem Renaissance, mass culture, and popular music as well as the ways in which global media shapes racial, ethnic, gendered, classed, and regional identities and affiliations. Participants are welcome, however, to submit panel and roundtable proposals on any topic: the primary criterion for selection will be the quality of the proposal, not its link to the conference theme (capacious as it is). Detailed information about the conferenceincluding updated calls for proposals, housing arrangements, travel information, and details regarding subsidiary eventswill soon be found on-line at www.vanderbilt.edu/msax. All email queries should be directed to the conference organizers at [log in to unmask] CALL FOR SEMINAR PROPOSALS Deadline: Monday, March 3, 2008 Leading a Seminar (Information for Seminar Leaders) Seminars are one the most significant features of the MSA conference. Participants write brief "position papers" (5-7 pages) that are read and circulated prior to the conference. Because their size is limited to 15 participants, seminars generate lively exchange and often facilitate future collaborations. The format also allows a larger number of conference attendees to seek financial support from their institutions as they educate themselves and their colleagues on subjects of mutual interest. Seminars are two hours in length. Please note that this is the call for seminar leaders. Sign-ups for seminar participants will take place on a first-come, first-served basis starting in mid-April, coinciding with registration for the conference. Seminar Topics There are no limits on topics, but past experience has shown that the more clearly defined the topic and the more guidance provided by the leader, the more productive the discussion. ³Clearly defined² should not be confused with ³narrow,² as extremely narrow seminar topics tend to exclude many potential applicants. To scan past seminar topics, go to the Conference Archives http://msa.press.jhu.edu/archive/archive.html on the MSA website, click the link to a prior conference, and then click on "Conference Schedule" or "Conference Program." You'll find seminars listed along with panels and other events. Proposing a Seminar Seminar proposals must be submitted via email and must include the following information. Please assist us by sending this information in exactly the order given here: * Use as a subject line: SEMINAR PROPOSAL / [LAST NAME OF SEMINAR LEADER] (e.g., SEMINAR PROPOSAL / GORMAN) * List the seminar leader's name, institutional affiliation, discipline, position or title, mailing address, phone, fax, and e-mail address * Provide a brief curriculum vitae (including teaching experience) for the seminar leader * Give a brief description (up to 100 words) of the proposed topic Submit proposals by MONDAY, MARCH 3, 2008 TO: [log in to unmask] Seminars will be selected in late March 2008. CALL FOR PANEL PROPOSALS Deadline: Monday, May 12, 2008 Topics are not limited to the theme ³Modernism and Global Media.² Successful proposals will introduce topics that promise to expand research and debate on a topic, and will present a clear rationale for the papersı collective goal. Please bear in mind these guidelines: * We encourage interdisciplinary panels and discourage panels on single authors. * In order to encourage discussion, preference will be given to panels with three participants, though panels of four will be considered. * Panels composed entirely of participants from a single department at a single institution are not likely to be accepted. * Graduate students are welcome as panelists. However, panels composed entirely of graduate students are less likely to be accepted than panels that include degreed presenters together with graduate students. Proposals for panels must be submitted via email and must include the following information. Please assist us by sending this information in exactly the order given here: * Use as a subject line: PANEL PROPOSAL / [LAST NAME OF PANEL ORGANIZER] (e.g., PANEL PROPOSAL / GORMAN) * Session title * Session organizer's name, institutional affiliation, discipline, position or title, mailing address, phone, fax, and e-mail address * Chair's name, institutional affiliation, discipline, position or title, and contact information (if you do not identify a chair, we will locate one for you) * Panelists' names, paper titles, institutional affiliations, disciplines, positions or titles, and contact information * A maximum 500-word abstract of the panel as a whole * Brief (2-3 sentence) scholarly biography of each panelist Submit proposals by MONDAY, MAY 12, 2008 TO: [log in to unmask] Panels will be selected mid-June. CALL FOR ROUNDTABLE PROPOSALS Deadline: Monday, May 12, 2008 Unlike panels, which generally feature a sequence of 15-20 minute talks followed by discussion, roundtables gather a group of participants around a shared concern in order to generate discussion among the roundtable participants and with the audience. To this end, instead of delivering full-length papers, participants are asked to deliver short position statements in response to questions distributed in advance by the organizer, or they take turns responding to prompts from the moderator. The bulk of the session should be devoted to discussion. No paper titles are listed in the program, only the names of participants. Other MSA roundtable policies: * Roundtables may feature as many as 6 speakers. * We particularly welcome roundtables featuring participants from multiple disciplines, and we discourage roundtables on single authors. * Panels composed entirely of participants from a single department at a single institution are not likely to be accepted. * Graduate students are welcome as speakers. However, roundtables composed entirely of graduate students are less likely to be accepted than roundtables that include degreed presenters together with graduate students. Proposals for panels must be submitted via email and must include the following information. Please assist us by sending this information in exactly the order given here: * Use as a subject line: ROUNDTABLE PROPOSAL / [LAST NAME OF ROUNDTABLE ORGANIZER] (e.g., ROUNDTABLE PROPOSAL / GORMAN) * Session title * Session organizer's name, institutional affiliation, discipline, position or title, mailing address, phone, fax, and e-mail address * Moderator's name, institutional affiliation, discipline, position or title, and contact information (if you do not identify a moderator, we will locate one for you) * Speakers' names, institutional affiliations, disciplines, positions or titles, mailing addresses, phones, faxes, and e-mail addresses * A maximum 500-word rationale for the roundtable * Brief (2-3 sentence) scholarly biography of each speaker Send proposals by MONDAY, MAY 12, 2008 TO: [log in to unmask] Roundtables will be selected mid-June. Derrick R. Spires Department of English Vanderbilt University ---------------------------------------------------- "He who observes the wind will not sow, and he who regards the clouds will not reap." Ecclesiastes 11:4 ---- Derrick R. Spires Ph.D. Candidate, Ford Predoctoral Fellow Department of English American Studies Vanderbilt University Nashville, TN 37235 Email: [log in to unmask] ---- Learn to speak like a film/TV professor! Listen to the ScreenLex podcast: http://www.screenlex.org