CALL FOR PROPOSALS FOR PANELS AND PAPERS: Tourism and Travel Culture The Fifth Congress of the Americas is being held at the Universidad de las Américas -- Puebla, in Puebla, Mexico, from October 18-20, 2001. Conference participants will come from all over the Americas and the world and bring interdisciplinary and multi-disciplinary perspectives to the conference theme of "Civil Society in the Americas: Challenges and Opportunities" and to other engaging issues and scholarly areas. Tourism and travel are one of the prominent features of cultures or societies -- whether accomplished by walking or devised means of locomotion. Movements from one place to another or others can be driven by curiosity, restlessness, desire for more diversity, quest for the exotic or sacred, -- ulterior and interior motives of a complex nature and needs understood or only vaguely sensed. Those involved in the fascinating study of tourism and travel realize how rich this field of study is in terms of revealing the interactions of people in the cultures and societies of other groups or even their own, in the case of domestic travel. Panels and individual presentations are welcomes on a wide range of topics from a variety of theoretical, historical, and cultural perspectives. Topics can include any of the following: ecotourism, pilgrimage or religious tourism, extreme adventure or personal challenge tourism, heritage tourism, historical tourism, cruise travel, commercial package tourism, caravaning, single purpose travel and tourism (photography, natural history, literary sites, ballparks, etc.), exotic experience tourism, Study Abroad programs for students, conference going as travel and tourism, commercially created tourist sites, and a host of other topics. This is a field establishing itself and bringing together material culture, popular culture, literature, sociology, geography, business and commerce, border studies, internationalism, and other areas into a rich mix--to include motion pictures and television. The absolute deadline for submitting papers and panels is June 1, 2001, although earlier submission of proposals is encouraged so as to allow for the best organization of sessions. To submit a proposal send a 150-200 word abstract via email to the area chair, Douglas A. Noverr, Department of American Thought and Language, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan. Email address: [log in to unmask] See the Congress webpage at www.udlap.mx/congress for information on registration and the conference site and attractions. You can register online. Douglas A. Noverr Department of American Thought and Language Michigan State University East Lansing, Michigan 48824-1033 (517) 355-2400 FAX (517) 353-5250 ---- To sign off Screen-L, e-mail [log in to unmask] and put SIGNOFF Screen-L in the message. Problems? Contact [log in to unmask]