Tourism and the rise of resorts reflect nineteenth-century economic, social, and cultural developments which brought about increased time for leisure, sport, entertainment, and vacation activities beyond prescribed hours of “work.” While both the nature of the Grand Tour (formally restricted to the wealthy) and desirable destinations for travel evolved over time, sport, leisure, and vacation activities also extended to various levels of society: resort businesses boomed, exotic locales drew tourists, advances in transportation opened new destinations, and tourism became an attractive and widespread diversion. Other travel, however, was inspired by the desire to map space, to explore new territories and gather species of plants or animals there, to engage in missionary work or to study other peoples, to flee famines, and to migrate to a new home. Travel and tourism altered conceptions of home, nation, and progress as people adapted to (or even resisted) the demands and/or pleasures of their journeys and destinations.

For our 27th Annual Conference, NCSA encourages proposals that explore the meanings of travel, tourism, and resorts from a variety of disciplinary perspectives. Papers may come from the fields of architecture, art history, ethnic or race studies, history, literature, medicine, museum or library studies, music, or the social sciences. NCSA was founded to promote interdisciplinarity; proposals which approach the theme of the conference from an interdisciplinary basis are especially encouraged.

Proposals should consist of a one-page, single-spaced abstract (12-point font), with the title of the paper and author as heading; the paper must be able to be presented within 20 minutes. Proposals should be accompanied by a one- to two-page vita. The deadline for submissions is October 14, 2005. Acceptances will be sent by mid-December, 2005.