The Society of Early Americanists will hold its first national conference at the College of Charleston Conference Center in historic Charleston, South Carolina, from March 4-7, 1999. Plenary speakers include:

Mary Kelley, Dept. of History, Dartmouth College

Dell Upton, Dept. of Architectural History, UC-Berkeley

Ann Smart Martin, Dept. of Art History, Univ. of Wisconsin-Madison

Karen Ordahl Kupperman, Dept. of History, New York University

Papers and inquiries concerning panels should be directed to the session organizers listed below. General inquiries may be directed to the conference Co-Directors:

Guidelines: The following Session Topics have been accepted for the conference. Please direct your proposals or inquiries to the individual Session organizers. All accepted participants in the conference must be members of the SEA.

"Aesthetics and Literature in 18th-century America," focusing on diverse genres to examine the function of aesthetics in literary texts & culture; histories of transatlantic aesthetic discourses; changing conceptions of the 'literary'; relation of aesthetics to gender, race, Protestant theology, republic ideology, nationalism, print technology, the public sphere, science, liberalism, idealism, romanticism, authorship and the marketplace. Also, approaches to questions of criticism, canonicity, value. Edward Cahill, Dept. of English, Rutgers Univ., New Brunswick, NJ 08903, ecahill@eden.rutgers.edu

"Approaches to Teaching Charles Brockden Brown: A Reappraisal," reassessments of approaches to teaching the Pnovels and especially Brown's other writings (e.g., short fiction, reviews, essays); particular interest in the influence of oststructural and cultural theories on teaching processes. Mark Kamrath, Dept. of English, Univ. of Central Florida, Orlando, FL 32816-1346, mkamrath@pegasus.cc.ucf.edu

"Appropriating the Other-than-Human: The Representation of Nature in Early America," interpretations of texts from all languages welcome; emphasis on ecocriticism, new historicism, and cultural criticism. Daniel Patterson, English Dept., California State Univ., San Bernardino, CA 92407-2397, 909-880-7389, dpatters@wiley.csusb.edu

"Art Patronage and Collecting in the Early South," collecting in the South, including focuses on individual collectors, erceptions of the South as a center of collecting or a perceived 'non-center,' or other related topics from early colonial period to 1830. Maurie McInnis, McIntire Dept. of Art, University of Virginia, Fayerweather Hall, Charlottesville, VA 22903 (email: McInnis@Virginia.edu) or Lance Humphries, 3925 Beech Ave. #111, Baltimore, MD 21211.

"Building Cultures in Colonial America," examinations of ways in which colonial structures mediated the regional and Cultural identities of their builders; special interest in studies considering peripheral or liminal populations and their relationship to dominant cultures, but all investigations of negotiation and conflict in colonial buildings are welcome. Seeking combinations of original fieldwork with interpretation informed by a variety of material and documentary evidence. Jeffrey E. Klee, Dept. of Art History, Univ. of Delaware, Newark, DE 19716, jeklee@UDel.Edu

"Colloquy with the Authors: Sentiment and the Early American Novel," sponsored by SECAS. Round-table discussion involving audience and panelists; panelists to date include Elizabeth Barnes, Philip Gould, Shirley Samuels, Julia Stern. Dennis Moore, Dept. of English, Florida State Univ., Tallahassee, FL 32306-1580, 850-644-1177, dmoore@english.fsu.edu

"Drama, Theater, and Performance in Early American Cultures," open to a wide range of topics related to the subject, including drama in non-English-speaking parts of America; reception of imported plays and players; role of women in the post-revolutionary stage; implications of stage practices; investigation of theatricalized culture; analyses of individual plays or performances; theorizing of the place of drama and theater in early America. Jeffrey H. Richards, Dept. of English, Old Dominion Univ., Norfolk, VA 23529; jhrichar@odu.edu

"Early American Gothic," gothic motifs, plots, and characters in early American texts (other than Brockden Brown); especially interested in the origins of American gothic literature in historical narratives, captivity accounts, journals, and documents that chronicle man's depravity. Dorothy Z. Baker, Dept. of English, Univ. of Houston, Houston, TX 77204-3012, dzbaker@jetson.uh.edu

"Early American Publishing and Publishers," any aspect, including the mixture of British and domestic titles; self- help and textbooks for schools; genre "fads"; partisanship, factions; economic issues; periodicals' relation to book publishing; technical concerns; research methodology. Edward M. Griffin, Dept. of English, Univ. of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN 55455; griffin@maroon.tc.umn.edu

"Foodways in Early America," exploring the cultural ramifications of the nature of food preparation, presentation, and/or intake; foodways and the literature and material culture of early America, including metaphorical uses, food and the sacred, the science of alimentary processes and disorders, foodways of feasting and holidays, relations between producers and consumers. Etta Madden, Dept. of English, Southwest Missouri State Univ., Springfield, MO 65804, 417-836-4171, emm605f@nic.smsu.edu

"From Colony to Republic: Early American Law in the Age of Revolution," Christopher N. Fritsch, 2000 East High St., Pottstown, PA 19474, 717-291-6533, stxoxfd@redrose.net

"Gender and the Construction of Political Power in the New Republic," women's political roles and attitudes toward the exercise of political power, ways that changing constructions of gender shaped Americans' understanding of their political world. Sheila Skemp, Dept. of History, Univ. of Mississippi, University, MS 38677, skemp@sunset.backbone.olemiss.edu or Rosemarie Zagarri, History Dept., George Mason Univ., vms1@gmu.edu

"Interdisciplinary Approaches to the New England Sermon," considerations of how the sermon was shaped by history or vice versa; sermons as narrative, as performance; the sermon as codification of or challenge to contemporary theological concepts; the reception of the sermon in the marketplace. Alan J. Silva, Dept. of English, Hamline Univ., 1536 Hewitt Ave., Box #1, St. Paul, MN 55104; asilva@piper.hamline.edu

"Marks of Native Identity," exploring the extent to which a 'Native voice' can be recovered in the 'hybridity' of the English, French, or Spanish colonial text by and/or about Native Americans; particular interest in discourses of race, nationalism, and religion in missionary tracts, captivity narratives, conversion narratives, diaries, maps, etc. Hilary E. Wyss, Dept. of English, 9030 Haley Center, Auburn Univ., Auburn, Alabama 36849-5203, 334-826-6422, hwyss@email.unc.edu

"Mary Rowlandson: Criticism and Pedagogy," Zabelle Stodola, Dept. of English, Univ. of Arkansas, Little Rock, AR 72204, kzstodola@ualr.edu

"Metaphors of the Republic: Fictional Responses to the New Nation," proposals may address a wide range, including responses to the marketplace or to party ideology, political or Gothic allegories, treatments of the individual, the family, or the Other, reflections on social stresses, from territorial expansion to the rise of parties, and problems of the 'post-heroic' generation. Joseph Fichtelberg, English Dept., Hofstra Univ., Hempstead, NY 11549, 516-463-6279, ngjaf@hofstra.edu

"Missionary Cultures in Early America," multi-cultural perspectives, including the Roman Catholic missionary traditions of Spanish North America and French Canada, the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel work of British America, Native American reactions to missionization efforts; interdisciplinary approaches encouraged. E. Thomson Shields, Jr., Dept. of English, East Carolina Univ., Greenville, NC 27858-4353, 919-328-6715, ShieldsE@mail.ecu.edu

"Nationalism, Progress, and the Use of History in the Early American Republic," exploring the interaction of nationalism, the idea of progress, and the use of history to analyze the developing definition of what it meant to be an American; national politicians and proponents of economic development from the Revolutionary period to 1820, focusing on writings of early historians, ministers, men and women of letters, and literature. Carey M. Roberts or Sean R. Busick, Dept. of History, Univ. of South Carolina, Columbia, SC 29208, CMROBE2@VM.SC.EDU

"New Worlds and the Millennium," diverse millenarianisms at work in the Americas from contact to the early national period, including Spanish exploration and missionary settlements; New England Puritans' attention to the site of New Jerusalem and identification of Indians as descendants of the Jews; visionary works (e.g., by Edward Johnson, John Eliot, Cotton Mather); indigenous people's millenarianism and visionary thought; nationalist millenarianism in the Revolutionary period. Michael P. Clark, Dept. of English and Comp.Lit., Univ. of California-Irvine, Irvine, CA 92697, mpclark@uci.edu

"Non-English Language Traditions in Early American Literature," comparative studies of different language traditions, focusing on discussions of Spanish, French, German, or other national literary traditions transplanted to early America. Patrick Erben, Dept. of English, Georgia State Univ., Atlanta, GA 30303, engpxex@panther.gsu.edu

"Our Western Stars: Imagining the Trans-Appalachian West, 1600-1800," examining how the Ohio and Mississippi valleys and the Great Lakes Basin were described in early American writing, with interest in imperialism, colonialism, postcolonialism, nationalism, and other subjects important to the region. Edward Watts, American Thought and Language, Michigan State Univ., East Lansing, MI 48823, wattse@pilot.msu.edu

"Planning and Planting North America," investigations of the preparations for and establishment of colonies in North America; analyses of any aspect of individual or communal efforts and justification to establish them-selves in the New World are particularly welcome. Reiner Smolinski, Dept. of English, Georgia State University, Atlanta, Ga 30303, 404-651-2900, rsmolinski@gsu.edu

"Poetry in Early America," poets, poetics, or specific poems or kinds of poems (satire, elegy, meditation, anagram) from any perspective; approaches might include reception, aesthetic evaluations, intertextual readings, cultural contexts (American and European), and poets' public roles. Include cv. Jane Donahue Eberwein, Dept. of English, Oakland University, Rochester, MI 48309-4479, 248-370-2250, jeberwei@oakland.edu

"Politics of the Body in Early America," social, cultural and literary constructions of the body; interest in historical documents, popular culture texts; life-writings; oral traditions; trial transcripts; travel, captivity, slavery narratives; poetry, fiction, drama. Should consider how cultural inscriptions of the body are marked by gender, class, race, ethnicity, nationality, sexual orientation, or ability; and how they support, interrogate, or subvert hegemonic or nonhegemonic discourses. Mary Carruth, Dept. of English, Univ. of New Orleans, New Orleans, LA 70148, 504-280-6273, mcceg@uno.edu

"The Power of Virtue: Republican Ideologies and the Literature of the Early Republic," analyses of the use of different virtue ideologies in literary works; interactions between literary and political discourses of virtue, different concepts of virtue and their relation to literary genres, virtue in relation to gender and ethnicity, 'conservative' and 'radical' uses of the virtue paradigm, contemporary critiques of the discourse of virtue. Dietmar Schloss, Anglistisches Seminar, Universitat Heidelberg, Kettengasse 12, 69117 Heidelberg, Germany phone: 49-6221-166307, Dietmar.Schloss@urz.uni-heidelberg.de

"Prophesying/Signifying: Early African American Writers and Religion," including the Methodist Connection and the Black Atlantic; George Whitefield in African American writing; adaptations of the captivity/conversion narrative; nascent Ethiopianism or nationalism; Black Biblical interpretation; denominationalism; influences on revival culture. Joanna Brooks, Dept. of English, UCLA, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1530, 310-206-8514, brooksj@ucla.edu

"Puritans and the 'Christianization' of 18th-century America," following Cohen's assertion of historians' development of a 'post-Puritan paradigm' in relation to the study of religious experience in British North America, seeking considerations of what the study of Puritanism still has to offer. Jewell Spangler, Dept. of History, Univ. of Calgary, 2500 University Dr., NW, Calgary, Alberta T2N 1N4, Canada, 403-220-6425, spangler@acs.ucalgary.ca

"Republicanism after the Founding," critiques of statesmen who, according to their 'self-understanding', were working within a republican self-understanding in the post-founding generation; also assessments of other contributions to the republican tradition (Jefferson's Kentucky Resolutions, Madison's Virginia Resolutions and Report of 1800). H. Lee Cheek, Jr., Political Science/2034, Brewton-Parker College, Mt.Vernon, GA 30445, 912-583-3154, lcheek@bpc.edu

"Science and Ideology in 18th-century America," examining various categories of scientific thinking and practice as they interact with intellectual conventions driven by desire and by the will to knowledge. Frank Shuffleton, Dept. of English, Univ. of Rochester, Rochester, NY 14627, 716-442-5769, fcsh@troi.cc.rochester.edu

"Sexing the Republic," same-sex eroticism in early America as it generated/sustained/challenged early U.S. nationalism, including friendships and the building of national communities, the queering of national narrative and citizenship, the erotics of epistolarity, military erotics; across races, classes, ethnicities; revisions/alternatives to current theories (queering Habermas? nationalizing Foucault?). Christopher Castiglia, Dept. of English, Loyola University Chicago, Chicago, IL 60626, 773-508-2256

"Slave Housing in the Early Republic," examinations of the complex interaction of race, architectural space, and power. J. Ritchie Garrison, Dept. of History, Univ. of Delaware, Newark, DE 19716, jrg@UDel.Edu

"Teaching Early American Literature: Disciplinary Design and Classroom Example," papers on approaches from diverse perspectives; purpose is to provide a window on choices and rationale that underlie course designs. One-page description of an exercise as handout. Charles Mignon, Dept. of English, Univ. of Nebraska, Lincoln, NE 68588-0333, 402-472-1834, cmignon@unlinfo.unl.edu

"Theoretical Perspectives on Early Women Writers, 1650-1820," diverse applications of literary, philosophical, and cultural theories: historicist, materialist, deconstructive, psychoanalytic, and emotion criticism; theories of gender, sexuality, race, and performance; political readings of nationalism, the public sphere, post-coloniality, borders; work in cultural and comparative studies. Cover letter and 1-page proposals. Julia Stern, Dept. of English, Northwestern Univ., Evanston, IL 60208-2240, j-stern3@nwu.edu

"The Urban Experience of Early America," focusing on c.1750-1830, interdisciplinary approaches welcome, emphasis on the urban landscape as material and cultural construct. Maureen Ogle, Dept. of History--HUMB 344, Univ. of South Alabama, Mobile, AL 36688-0002, 334-460-6210, mogle@jaguar1.usouthal

"Benjamin Franklin," Carla Mulford (Chair), David Curtis, J.A. Leo Lemay, Barbara Oberg

"The Conception of Anglo-American Proprietary Colonies: Adapting Early Modern English Ideals in Maryland and South Carolina," L.H. Roper (Chair), Charles Lesser, Debra Meyers, Bertrand Van Ruymbeke, James Horn (Commentator)

"Edward Taylor Scholarship: Towards the 21st Century," Rosemary Fithian Guruswamy (Chair)

"From Prospect to Prospect: The Study of Early American Literature at the New Century," Philip Gura, Editor, Early American Literature

"Future Past? Early Americanists Talk about Education and Education Policy for the Twenty-first Century" Carla Mulford (Chair), Laurie Crumpacker, Elizabeth Jane Wall Hinds, Annette Kolodny, Frank Shuffleton, William Spengemann

"Maryland Colonial Encounters: Slavery and Freedom in the Border South," Jessica Neuwirth (Chair), Cheryl Fox, Patricia Reid

"Patterns among the Pennsylvania Germans: Consumption, Community, and Accommodation," Cynthia Falk (Chair), Gabrielle Lanier, Thomas Ryan, Diane Wenger

"Pietistic Religious Forms," Samuel C. Smith (Chair), Jessica Kross, Brenda Schoolfield

"The Mestizo and the Military: Categorical Dishonor in Early Spanish America," Amy Turner Bushnell (Chair), Theresa Melendez, Sara Castro-Klaren