STS Conference 2011 Call for Papers

CALL FOR PAPERS
The Society for Textual Scholarship
Sixteenth Biennial International Interdisciplinary Conference
March 16-18, 2011
Penn State University
K E Y N O T E S P E A K E R S
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MORRIS EAVES, University of Rochester
LISA GITELMAN, New York University
WILL NOEL, Walters Art Museum
DAVID STORK, Ricoh Innovations
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Program Chair: Matthew Kirschenbaum, University of Maryland
Deadline for Proposals: October 31, 2010

After many years of successful meetings in New York City, the Society for Textual Scholarship is inaugurating a new venue for its biennial conference: Penn State University in State College, Pennsylvania. This new venue will accommodate the STS in a state of the art conference center with up-to-date technology support and other amenities, which will in turn facilitate the introduction of several new session formats. The new formats, new venue, and stellar line-up of confirmed keynote speakers--addressing textual and media scholarship and theory, conservation and archival practices, and relevant aspects of computer science--promises to make the 2011 conference an especially invigorating and important one for the STS.

Accordingly, the Program Chair invites submissions devoted to interdisciplinary discussion of current research into particular aspects of textual work: the discovery, enumeration, description, bibliographical analysis, editing, annotation, and mark-up of texts in disciplines such as literature, history, musicology, classical and biblical studies, philosophy, art history, legal history, history of science and technology, computer science, library and information science, archives, lexicography, epigraphy, paleography, codicology, cinema studies, new media studies, game studies, theater, linguistics, and textual and literary theory.

As always, the conference is particularly open to considerations of the role of digital tools and technologies in textual theory and practice. Papers addressing newer developments such as forensic computing, born-digital materials, stand-off markup, cloud computing, and the sustainability of electronic scholarship are especially encouraged. Papers addressing aspects of archival theory and practice as they pertain to textual criticism and scholarly editing are also especially welcome.

This year the conference is introducing several new formats.
Submissions may therefore take the following form:

1. Papers. Papers should be no more than 20 minutes in length. They should offer the promise of substantial original critical or analytical insight. Papers that are primarily reports or demonstrations of tools or projects are discouraged.
2. Panels. Panels may consist of either three associated papers or four to six roundtable speakers. Roundtables should address topics of broad interest and scope, with the goal of fostering lively debate between the panel and audience following brief opening remarks.
3. Seminars. Seminars should propose a specific topic, issue, or text for intensive collective exploration. Accepted seminar proposals will be announced on the conference Web site at least two months prior to the conference and attendees will then be required to enroll themselves with the posted seminar leader(s). The seminar leader(s) will circulate readings and other preparatory materials in advance of the conference. No papers shall be read at the seminar session. Instead participants will engage with the circulated material in a discussion under the guidance of the seminar leader(s). All who enroll are expected to contribute to creating a mutually enriching experience.
4. Workshops. Workshops should propose a specific problem, tool, or skillset for which the workshop leader will provide expert guidance and instruction. Examples might be an introduction to forensic computing or paleography. Workshop proposals that are accepted will be announced on the conference Web site and attendees will be required to enroll with the workshop leader(s). Workshop leaders should be prepared to offer well-defined learning outcomes for attendees.

Proposals for all four formats should include a title, abstract (one to two pages) of the proposed paper, panel, seminar, or workshop, as well as the name, e-mail address, and institutional affiliation for all participants. Format should be clearly indicated. Seminar and workshop proposals in particular should take care to articulate the imagined audience and any expectations of prior knowledge or preparation. ***All abstracts should indicate what if any technological support will be required.***

Inquiries and proposals should be submitted electronically, as plain text, to:
Professor Matthew Kirschenbaum (mkirschenbaum -at- gmail -dot- com)

Additional contact information:
Department of English
2119 Tawes Hall
University of Maryland
College Park, MD 20740
Phone: 301-405-8505
Fax: 301-314-7111 (marked clearly to Kirschenbaum's attention)

All participants in the STS 2011 conference must be members of STS.
For information about membership, please contact Secretary Meg Roland at or visit the Indiana University Press Journals website and follow the links to the Society for Textual Scholarship membership page. For conference updates and information, see the STS website at .
Please post and recirculate this CFP as appropriate.