SOCIETY OF EARLY AMERICANISTS (SEA & Omohundro Institute of Early American History and Culture) CONFERENCE 2007 Williamsburg, Virginia
June 7-10, 2007

The United States, now deemed the leading jailer of the world, may find its roots in early American politics and culture. What are the voices of and surrounding the early American gaol, and how might they connect and shed meaning on our "incarceration nation" of today? This panel invites papers that explore the issues of incarceration in early America. Panelists might consider such topics as the construction of "crime" and evolving penal boundaries in the colonies; the public spectacle of corpor(e)al punishment; religion, dissent, and the politics of confinement; the dialectic between the body and the state; sexuality, violence, and enforced entrapment; prison literacy culture; rhetoric and interrogation; and the literature of convicts and conviction.

To submit a proposal for this panel, please send a one-page summary of your paper and a short c.v. to Michele Lise Tarter (tarter@tcnj.edu) by September 10, 2006.