The MSA
Founded in 1999, the Modernist Studies Association is devoted to the study of the arts in their social, political, cultural, and intellectual contexts from the late nineteenth century through the mid-twentieth. Through its annual conferences and its journal, Modernism/Modernity, the organization seeks to develop an international and interdisciplinary forum for exchange among scholars in this revitalized and rapidly expanding field. For more information, please see our web site at http://www.press.jhu.edu/associations/msa/

The fourth annual Modernist Studies Association Conference will be held at the Monona Terrace Convention Center, a building designed by Frank Lloyd Wright on the shores of Lake Monona in downtown Madison, Wisconsin. Sponsored by the University of Wisconsin-Madison, the conference will feature plenaries, panels, seminars, poetry readings, and film screenings related to the study of modernism and modernity.

Calls for seminar and panel proposals follow. Please note that the deadline for seminar proposals is 15 February 2002, the deadline for panel proposals 1 May 2002. Please note also that MSA rules do not allow participants to lead a seminar and present a paper for a panel at the same conference. Participants may present a panel paper and participate in a seminar, or chair a panel and lead a seminar.

All who attend the MSA Conference must be members of the organization with dues paid for 2002.

CALL FOR SEMINAR LEADERS

Deadline: 15 February 2002

SEMINARS

Participation of conferees in seminars is one of the most significant features of the MSA conference. Seminars are small-group discussion sessions for which participants write brief "position papers" that are read and circulated prior to the conference. Seminars generate lively and valuable exchange during the conference and in some cases have created a network of scholars who have continued to work together. Further, the seminar model allows most conferees to seek financial support from their institutions as they educate themselves and their colleagues on subjects of mutual interest.

SEMINAR TOPICS

There are no limits on topics. Past experience has shown that the more clearly defined the topic and the more guidance provided by the leader, the more useful the discussion has been to people's individual projects. Seminar topics at the 2001 MSA conference included "Literary Modernism and Visual Culture," "Modernism and Masculinity," and "New Approaches to Little Magazines." For a full listing, see the MSA Web site.

PROPOSING A SEMINAR

Seminar proposals must include the following information. Please assist us by sending this information in exactly the order given here. Use as a subject line: MSA 4 SEMINAR PROPOSAL / [LAST NAME OF SEMINAR LEADER].

• The seminar leader's name, institutional affiliation, discipline or department, mailing address, phone, fax, and e-mail address
• A brief description (up to 100 words) of the proposed topic
• A current curriculum vitae for the seminar leader

For more information, visit our website: http://www.press.jhu.edu/associations/msa. Questions not addressed on the website may be directed to David Chinitz, msa-seminars@luc.edu, or Douglas Mao, dmao@fas.harvard.edu.

Seminars will be selected in late March. Please note that participants may not present a paper and lead a seminar at the same conference. Participants may present a panel paper and participate in a seminar, or chair a panel and lead a seminar.

LEADING A SEMINAR

The MSA will advertise seminars and register participants. To promote discussion, the size of seminars is limited to a maximum of 15. Leaders may, at their option, invite one or two individuals to join the seminar in some special role. Some leaders will wish to share the work of reading and responding to papers with the invited participants; others will simply want to assure a high standard of discussion by involving scholars whose work they know to be important for their topic. Please note that invited participants will not be specially listed as such in the conference program.

E-mail addresses for all seminar registrants will be provided to seminar leaders in May. At that time, leaders should

• Initiate communications by e-mail, introducing themselves and providing addresses to all participants.
• Set guidelines for the seminar. These might include questions to be addressed, reading to be done, and a specified length for the position papers (normally 5-7 pages).
• Set firm deadlines, no later than mid-September for the actual exchange of papers.
• Exchange and read papers during the 6-8 weeks before the conference.
• Plan the seminar format. The MSA will provide guidance, but leaders are, within reasonable limits, free to use the time (two hours) as they see fit.

  CALL FOR PANEL PROPOSALS

  Deadline: 1 May 2002

  Proposals for panels must include the following information. Please assist us by sending this information in exactly the order given here. Use as a subject line: MSA 4 PANEL PROPOSAL / [LAST NAME OF PANEL ORGANIZER].

  • Session title
  • Session Organizer's name, institutional affiliation, discipline or department, mailing address, phone, fax, and e-mail address
  • Chair's name, institutional affiliation, discipline or department, and contact information (If you cannot identify a moderator, we will locate one for you.)
  • Panelists' names, paper titles, institutional affiliations, disciplines or departments, and contact information
  • A 250-word abstract of the panel as a whole.
  MSA policy on panels:
  1. No participant may present more than one paper at one conference, and no participant may both present a paper and lead one of the conference's seminars.
  2. We do not accept proposals for individual papers.
  3. We encourage interdisciplinary panels, and discourage panels on single authors.
  4. We encourage panels with three participants. Panels of four and roundtables of five or six will be considered.
  5. Panels composed entirely of graduate students or of participants from a single institution are not likely to be accepted.
  6. All MSA panels must have a chair who is not giving a paper. Please attempt to locate a moderator, but if you do not have one, we will locate one for you.
  Send panel proposals by 1 May 2002 to: Elizabeth Evans, efevans@facstaff.wisc.edu. Email submission is strongly preferred. We will accept those sent by other means when access to e-mail is unavailable.

  For more information, visit our website: http://www.press.jhu.edu/associations/msa. Questions not addressed on the website may be directed to Jesse Matz, matzj @kenyon.edu or Douglas Mao, dmao@fas.harvard.edu.

  Panels will be selected in early June.