Both of our proposed papers deal with authors and their books, but other areas of analysis would be great. One paper would be an examination of early modern conceptions of the self, person, soul and human nature through analysis of the writings of the author of a 17th-century German text of judicial skepticism about witchcraft. The other paper would compare the self-presentation of 17th-century French and English commercial atlas-makers -- how they constructed public identities as geographic authorities through their atlas texts and portraits.

The deadline for proposing the session is Feb 15. Please respond as soon as possible if you're interested. Thanks!