DECODINGS
Society for Literature, Science, and the Arts Newsletter
Fall 2016, Vol. 25, No.3
*Upcoming Conferences–SLSA 2016 with HSS & PSA, Atlanta –SLSA 2017 Arizona
*Election Results for 2nd VP and Member-at-large *SLSA Website: Contributions welcome
*SLSA Bibliographer Needed
*AnthropoScene: SLSA Book Series
*European Society for Literature, Science, and the Arts announcements
SLSA 2016 will be held in Atlanta, November 3-6, 2016; it will be a joint meeting with the History of Science Society (HSS) and the Philosophy of Science Association (PSA) and will take place at the Westin Peachtree Plaza Hotel in downtown Atlanta. Conference schedules will be aligned to permit conference goers to attend most activities in the three meetings, including two shared receptions. The site organizer is Carol Colatrella (Georgia Tech) and the program organizer is Laura Otis (Emory University). Kiki Benzon (USC), with the assistance of Dennis Summers, will coordinate the development of art exhibits and panels. Plenary speakers will be Margaret Edson (author of Wit) and Darryl Cunningham (author of Psychiatric Tales and Science Tales).
The program committee, led by Laura Otis and including John Johnston and Elizabeth Wilson, has responded to all those who submitted proposals for papers, panels, roundtables, and posters. An updated program with information about approximately 500 sessions has been posted at the conference website: http://litsciarts.org/slsa16
You must be a current (2016) member of SLSA and pay the conference registration fee to present at the Atlanta SLSA conference. If you are renewing and don’t know your SLSA Membership number, you can find it on the mailing labels for Configurations, or by going to http://slsa.press.jhu.edu/cgi- bin/member_number_lookup.cgi. Online registration: https://slsa.press.jhu.edu/membership/conference
Childcare (provided by Accent and shared with PSA) will be available at the Westin Peachtree Plaza to SLSA attendees.
http://litsciarts.org/slsa16
The SLSA 2016 book exhibit will be shared with HSS and PSA. For information for publishers or individuals wishing to display books, see “Information for Publishers” at http://hssonline.org/meetings/2016-hss-annual- meeting/
SLSA 2017: Out of Time, Arizona State University,Tempe, Arizona, November 9-12, 2017. A call for papers will be posted soon on the SLSA website and will be available at SLSA 2016 in Atlanta.
Conference information, including an overview schedule, links to hotel reservations and conference registration, and details about parking and local transportation are also posted at http://litsciarts.org/slsa16
Note that the Westin Peachtree Plaza has increased the number of rooms reserved for SLSA members, but there are few rooms remaining; reservations at the conference rate should be made by October 10, 2016, at https://www.starwoodmeeting.com/Book/SLSAAnnualConference
The cost will be partially subsidized by the societies. Parents will pay $11-13 per hour
(depending on child’s age) with a four-hour minimum each day; full day is $100-125 per day. The company
offering the service will set up operations in the hotel in a secure space. They will serve babies through age
12 and promise to have lots of appropriate activities for all ages. Information will be posted on the SLSA
2016 conference website when available:
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ELECTION RESULTS: The incoming Second Vice President of SLSA will be David Cecchetto, Associate Professor, Department of Humanities, York University. His term will run from fall 2016 to fall 2018 and will be succeeded by terms as First Vice President and then President. Rebecca Perry was re-elected to a two-year term as member-at-large. Thanks to Ronald Schleifer and Charissa Terranova for being candidates.
NEW SLSA BIBLIOGRAPHER NEEDED: Bibliographer Jennifer Rhee is recruiting a successor to serve as Bibliographer. Contact her at jsrhee@vcu.edu for more information.
ANTHROPOSCENE: NEW SLSA BOOK SERIES FROM PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIVERSITY PRESS
AnthropoScene is a new book series from the Pennsylvania State University Press, published in collaboration with SLSA. While not all scientists have accepted the term “anthropocene” as part of the geological timescale, the idea that humans are changing the planet and its environments in radical and irreversible ways has provoked new kinds of cross-disciplinary thinking about relationships among the arts, human technologies, and nature. This is the broad, cross-disciplinary basis for books published in AnthropoScene. Books in this series will include specialized studies for scholars in a variety of disciplines as well as widely accessible works of interest to broad audiences. They will examine, in a variety of ways, relationships and points of intersection among natural, biological, and applied sciences and literary, visual, and performing arts. The AnthropoScene series represents the depth and breadth of work being done by scholars in literature, science, and the arts, putting innovative juxtapositions within reach of specialists and non-specialists alike.
Series Editors are Lucinda Cole, University of Illinois, and Robert Markley, University of Illinois. Series Advisory Board members are Stacy Alaimo, University of Texas at Arlington; Ron Broglio, Arizona State University; Carol Colatrella, Georgia Institute of Technology; Heidi Hutner, Stony Brook University; Stephanie LeMenager, University of Oregon; Christopher Morris, University of Texas at Arlington; Laura Otis, Emory University; Will Potter, Washington, D.C.; Ronald Schleifer, University of Oklahoma; Susan Squier, Penn State University; Rajani Sudan, Southern Methodist University; and Kari Weil, Wesleyan University
Submissions to the AnthropoScene series should include a three- to five-page proposal outlining the intent of the project, its scope, its relation to other work on the topic, and its intended audience(s). Please also include two to three sample chapters, if available, and your CV. Questions or submissions? Contact Penn State Press: Kendra Boileau, Editor-in-Chief, at kboileau@psu.edu or (814) 867-2220. Or email the series editors: Lucinda Cole at lcole323@gmail.com and Robert Markley at rmarkley49@gmail.com
CONTRIBUTE TO THE SLSA WEBSITE: New publication announcements, course syllabi and other material for display on the website are welcome. Please see the site for details, or contact the SLSA Electronic Resources Coordinator, Wayne Miller, at wayne.miller@law.duke.edu with any questions or comments.
SLSAeu CONFERENCE 2017: EMPATHIES: The next annual meeting of the SLSAeu will take place in Basel (Switzerland), from 20/21-24 June, 2017. The topic is EMPATHIES, with four major subthemes: Empathy and Morality/Ethics; Empathy and the Nonhuman; Empathy and the Imagination; Collective Empathy; transversal topics: intercultural, historical, aesthetic and legal dimension as well as aspects of gender/sexuality/race/disability/religion. Confirmed speakers so far: Jesse Prinz and Jean Decety. Call for Papers will be announced soon. Contact: Manuela Rossini at slsa-eu@unibas.ch
Call for Papers: EMPATHIES, 11th Conference of the European sister organisation of SLSA
Theme: For a number of years now, empathy has been a central topic of public and academic debate and research. It is the subject of artistic, moral, and psychological reflections and commands interest from the humanities and hard sciences alike, often being a driving motor of knowledge production. It is time to take stock and consider the heterogeneity and complexity of empathy, the values different societies and cultures have attached to it and the various approaches that frame its investigations. The SLSAeu Conference 2017 provides a cross-disciplinary platform for the discussions of the following interrelated subthemes: (1) Empathy, Morality, Ethics; (2) Empathy, Narrative, Imagination; (3) Empathy and the Nonhuman; (4) Collective Empathy.
We especially welcome abstracts that facilitate discussion of the synchronic (cultural) and diachronic (historical) diversity and differences in the manifestation of empathy.
Formats: To facilitate dialogue, we encourage proposals not only for formal paper sessions (4 speakers, 20- minute papers) but also for posters and, above all, roundtables.
The typical roundtable (120 minutes) will include 6 or 7 presenters, including a moderator, who will each speak for 10 minutes, leaving ample time for exchanges with the audience. The roundtable participants should come from at least three different disciplines, preferably from science (incl. medical and technology fields), the humanities or social sciences, and the arts (literature, media, visual and performative arts).
The roundtable may also focus on a book (fiction, philosophy, science etc.) or a specific controversial argument.
Anyone with a roundtable idea seeking like-minded presenters should first subscribe to the SLSAeu mailing list at https://www.maillist.unibas.ch/mailman/listinfo/slsa-eu and post there.
Online Submission: Please submit your proposal via the conference website: www.empathies2017.com
Contact: Manuela Rossini, Executive Director and President SLSAeu at: slsa-eu@unibas.ch
SLSAeu MEMBERSHIP: As of next year, there will be different conference fees paid by members and non- members. Please consider joining the European society this year or support us with a donation. Members benefit from networking possibilities, gaining cutting-edge knowledge, inter- and transdisciplinary exchange, visibility via the members directory (forthcoming), 50% discount on books from the Brill series Experimental Practices, Critical Posthumanisms, Critical Animal Studies. Contact: Manuela Rossini at slsa-eu@unibas.ch
SLSAeu AMBASSADORS: The SLSAeu is looking for Ambassadors from a number of European countries; see Governance page of the website to see which countries are already represented. Please consider becoming a member in 2015 in support of the society. Any donations are most welcome. Contact for general information: Dr. Manuela Rossini, SLSA Europe, c/o Department of English, University of Basel, Nadelberg 6, CH-4051 Basel, Switzerland, email: slsa-eu@unibas.ch
SLSA DUES INCREASE: Beginning in 2016, SLSA will charge regular faculty members $55 per year, students will be charged $29, and those with an income and/or pension under $20,000 will be charged $33.
JOIN/RENEW MEMBERSHIP IN SLSA
To receive publications of the Society for Literature, Science, and the Arts (SLSA), including Configurations and Decodings, and to participate in the society’s next annual conference, SLSA 2016, join/renew membership, see http://press.jhu.edu/cgi-bin/associations/sls_membership.cgi, or call Johns Hopkins University Press Journals at 800 548 1784 (US & Canada only, all others call 410 516 6987). Mon-Fri 8-am- 5pm FAX 410 516 6968. Email: jrnlcirc@press.jhu.edu
NEW MEMBERSHIP CATEGORY: LIFETIME MEMBER
Beginning in 2013, the Society for Literature, Science, and the Arts established an additional category of membership for individuals. You can become a Lifetime Member for $1,500. The site for membership renewals/subscriptions is https://associations.press.jhu.edu/cgi-bin/slsa/slsa_membership.cgi
DIRECTIONS FOR SUBSCRIBING TO LIT-SCI LISTSERV
To subscribe, send a plain-text email message to sympa@duke.edu with the following in the body of the message: subscribe LITSCI-L
The list archive and additional subscription information, including how to receive the digest format, are available at: http://litsciarts.org
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————————————————————————————————————————————— Society for Literature, Science, and the Arts Executive Board (2015-2016)
President: Robert Markley, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Executive Director: Carol Colatrella, Georgia Institute of Technology
First Vice-President: Ron Broglio, Arizona State University
Second Vice-President: Marcel O’Gorman, University of Waterloo
Members-at-Large: Rebecca Perry, University of Virginia (2014-2016); Andrew Pilsch, Arizona State University &
Rebekah Sheldon, Indiana University-Bloomington (2015-2017)
Graduate Student Liaisons: Nicole Keller Day, Northeastern University (day.n@husky.neu.edu); Kari Nixon, Southern
Methodist University (MNixon@smu.edu); Sara DiCaglio (sdicaglio@psu.edu)
Past Presidents: Laura Otis, Emory University; Richard Nash, Indiana University; Alan Rauch, University of North Carolina-Charlotte; Bruce Clarke, Texas Tech University; Eve Keller, Fordham University; Jay Labinger,
California Institute of Technology; T. Hugh Crawford, Georgia Tech; Susan Squier, Penn State; Sidney Perkowitz, Emory University; Stuart Peterfreund, Northeastern University; James J. Bono, SUNY-Buffalo; N. Katherine Hayles, Duke University; Mark Greenberg, Drexel University; Lance Schachterle, Worcester Polytechnic Institute; Stephen J. Weininger, Worcester Polytechnic Institute
Configurations Editors: Melissa Littlefield, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Rajani Sudan, Southern Methodist University
Configurations Email address: configurations@smu.edu
Configurations Book Review Editor: Jeffrey Karnicky, Department of English, 2505 University Avenue,
Drake University, Des Moines, IA 50311. Email: jeff.karnicky@drake.edu
Publications Committee: Susan Squier, Penn State University; Ronald Schleifer, University of Oklahoma; Pamela
Gossin, University of Texas at Dallas
Bibliographer: Jennifer Rhee, Virginia Commonwealth University (jsrhee@vcu.edu)
Electronic Resources Coordinator: Wayne Miller, Duke University (wayne.miller@law.duke.edu)
Arts Liaisons: Dennis Summers (dennis@quantumdanceworks.com); Kiki Benzon (kiki.benzon@uleth.ca)
The Executive Director can be reached by phone at (404) 894-1241 or by e-mail at carol.colatrella@lmc.gatech.edu. Postal address: Carol Colatrella, Executive Director, SLSA, School of Literature, Media, and Communication, Georgia
Institute of Technology, 686 Cherry Street, Atlanta, GA 30332-0165 SLSA websites: http://www.litsciarts.org and http://slsa.press.jhu.edu
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