HistArchers,

Colleagues with the Society for Early Americanists asked me to post the
following announcement.  This is a great conference and provides an
opportunity for cross disciplinary interaction  

CALL FOR SESSION PROPOSALS:
SEA's fifth Biennial and Omohundro Institute's thirteenth Annual
Conference
Williamsburg, June 2007

The Society of Early Americanists and the Omohundro Institute of Early
American History and Culture are holding a joint conference, SEA's fifth
biennial and the Institute's thirteenth annual, on June 7-10, 2007, in
Williamsburg, Virginia. This interdisciplinary conference will take
place on the campus of the College of William and Mary. We are taking
the opportunity of the four hundredth anniversary of Jamestown's
settlement and the resulting intersections of cultures and peoples to
create an ecumenical venue for cross-disciplinary dialogue and
collaboration. The program committee, co-chaired by Dennis Moore and
Fredrika J. Teute, solicits session proposals broadly conceived to
facilitate this goal.

Meetings of both organizations are intended to reflect the broad
interests and diverse membership of scholars engaged in the study of
early America and are especially open to graduate students and faculty
in the early stages of their careers. Indeed, the two organizations
share a number of members in common. The Society of Early Americanists
was formed by a group of literary scholars in the first part of the
1990s as an organization for early Americanists from all fields. Its
purpose is to further the exchange of ideas and information among
scholars of various disciplines who study the literature and culture of
America to approximately 1800. The Institute encourages the study of the
early history and cultures of North America from ca. 1450 to 1820,
including related developments in the Caribbean, Latin America, Europe,
and Africa -- in short, any subject encompassing the Atlantic world in
that period.  For more information, see
http://societyofearlyamericanists.org and 
http://www.wm.edu/oieahc/

The program committee invites proposals for panels on any early American
topic, and we look for innovative approaches and themes; multiple
disciplinary participation; comparisons among different European,
indigenous, and African cultures, literatures, and peoples;
considerations of imperial, colonial, and transnational historical
formations and cultural identities. Although the program committee will
consider proposals for sessions fully formed, we especially encourage
open session proposals that follow the SEA model: Individuals submit
conceptual rationales (themes or theoretical problems) for panels for
which presenters have not yet been selected.

In June 2006, the open panels selected by the committee will be posted
on both the OIEAHC's and SEA's websites, along with a call for papers to
fill those sessions, which will also be disseminated on the
organizations' respective listservs. Potential paper presenters will
submit their proposals to specific panel organizers, who will be
responsible for filling t heir sessions. Individuals who wish to propose
a paper but do not see an appropriate panel may submit a proposal
directly to the program committee. The committee has the prerogative to
organize sessions and make changes to the overall configuration of
panels. To enable widespread participation in the conference, we will
allow only one substantive appearance by a scholar, either presenting a
paper or giving a comment; however, a scholar may, in addition, chair a
separate session.

Panel proposals must be submitted by the panel organizer.  They should
include a brief description of the rationale of no more than 250 words,
along with a one-page c.v. for the organizer.  If the proposal is for a
completed session, please include a summary of each paper and a c.v. for
each presenter.  All c.v.'s should include mailing and e-mail addresses
and telephone numbers.  The deadline for proposals is March 31, 2006.
They will be accepted by e-mail at [log in to unmask] If mailed, they must be
postmarked by the deadline and fourteen copies of all materials sent to
Mendy Gladden, OIEAHC, P.O. Box 8781, Williamsburg, VA 23187.