The Vernacular Architecture Forum is soliciting paper proposals from academics, consultants, and other scholars for presentation at its Annual Meeting to be held in Tucson, Arizona, April 13-17, 2005. The conference theme is “La Frontera: Cross-Cultural Vernacular Landscapes.” Although papers may address any aspect of vernacular architecture from any geographic region worldwide, the papers committee especially encourages submissions investigating topics related to the conference theme. In addition, in celebration of VAF’s 25th anniversary, several sessions will be devoted to the history, theory, and practice of the VAF and vernacular architecture studies, topics for which papers are also being solicited.

Proposals may be for either a twenty-minute paper on a subject the author has extensively researched, or a ten-minute “work in progress” report. In either case, papers should be theoretical or analytical in nature, rather than descriptive. Selection will be based on the proposed paper’s original contribution to the study of vernacular architecture. Papers presented at the meeting will be considered for publication in the VAF’s new scholarly refereed journal _Perspectives in Vernacular Architecture_ (PVA). One-time fellowship awards may be available to students and young professionals whose papers have been accepted.

Proposals should include a title for the paper, the author’s name, mailing address, email address, telephone and fax numbers. The proposals should be single-sided, a maximum of 400 words, and accompanied by a brief curriculum vitae. They must state the argument of the paper, discuss the methodology, and lay out its scope and content. Only one submission per author will be accepted.

Deadline: Proposals must be postmarked by October 15, 2004. Accepted papers, tailored to the prescribed time limits, must be submitted in full to the session chairs by March 15, 2005. Presenters must deliver their papers in person and be VAF members at the time of the conference.

Please send proposals electronically to Laura Driemeyer at the address below.