I'm in the process of pulling together an Academic Track for the International Steampunk City, to be held on May 6-8 in Waltham, Massachusetts. The event, which is a benefit for the Charles River Museum of Industry, is going to involve the entire town of Waltham, with performances, exhibitions, and events of many kinds. I've been given a room in the public library, with the mandate to program it with academic panels, lectures, and roundtable discussions, dealing with steampunk, or with 19th century history, culture, technology, literature, architecture, fashion, etc.
We're looking for the following, for programming on Saturday May 7 and Sunday May 8:
1) Academic panels: I'm looking for proposals for individual papers or entire panels on topics related to steampunk or to relevant 19th century history, culture, technology, literature, architecture, fashion, etc. Because of the relatively short time frame in planning this, I would encourage you to submit informal indications of intent sooner, rather than later. Formal proposals are due by March 15.
2) Lectures: If you have a 30-45 minute presentation you'd like to make on a relevant topic, there will be room on the schedule for some presentations of this type. Again, formal proposals by March 15, but I would appreciate hearing sooner, if you're planning to propose something.
3) Roundtables: These would be more informal discussions, with a single moderator or a panel, again on topics relevant to steampunk or 19th century history and culture.

If you're interested in participating, please contact me at csiemann@gmail.com and let's discuss it. This is going to be a major event, and one well worth being involved with. There has been media coverage on Boing Boing: http://www.boingboing.net/2011/02/13/waltham-mass-becomes.html
The official website is here: http://internationalsteampunkcity.com/

Catherine Siemann
Adjunct Assistant Professor, Cooper Union & John Jay College, CUNY