The Center for Material Culture Studies at the University of Delaware
is pleased to announce its call for papers for the Fourth Annual
Material Culture Symposium for Emerging Scholars (MCSES) to be held
Saturday, March 18, 2006 at the
Winterthur Museum, Garden, and Library in Winterthur, Delaware.

Purpose of the Forum: This symposium provides emerging scholars with a
venue for interdisciplinary dialogue centering on material culture.
By freeing scholars of chronological and topical restraints, the
symposium encourages discussion across perceived boundaries of time,
space and discipline. We seek papers that are grounded in the study
of a particular object or objects but that address multidisciplinary
themes—for example, the Atlantic World, comportment and the body, or
texts and contexts. We invite graduate students from American Studies,
Art History, Archaeology, English, History, Consumer Studies, and
other departments to
reevaluate the field of material culture studies, share their
research, and explore new avenues of interpretation and critical
thinking.

Format: Nine graduate students will give twenty-minute papers in
panels of three speakers each. There will be two morning sessions and
one afternoon session, each followed by a comments by established
scholars in the field and a discussion period. Coffee and pastries
will be provided during a short morning break; lunch will be available
for purchase in the Winterthur Visitors Center at the midday break.
Following lunch, participants will have opportunities to tour
Winterthur's library and its unparalleled collection of early American
decorative arts.

Sponsors: The symposium is co-sponsored by the Center for Material
Culture Studies and Winterthur Museum, Garden and Library. CMCS is an
umbrella entity that comprises the allied programs in material culture
at the University of Delaware. These include the Black American
Studies Program, Center for Historic Architecture and Design, History
of American Civilization Program, Museum Studies Program, Visual
Communications Group and Winterthur Program in Early American Culture,
as well as the University Gallery and related departments, such as
Anthropology, Art History, Art Conservation, Consumer Studies, English
and History. Winterthur maintains the nation's premier collection of
early American decorative arts and is an important catalyst for
American material culture scholarship through its journal, Winterthur
Portfolio, its publications, and the funding of original research
through its fellowship program.

How to submit your proposal: The proposal, not to exceed one
single-spaced page, should clearly indicate both the subject matter of
your paper and the interpretive or methodological problems that you
intend to address. Preference will be given to papers that promise to
generate provocative, productive discussion about issues central to
material culture scholarship. Send your proposal, along with a
current c.v. (no more than two-pages), to emerging.scholars_at_gmail.com

Deadline: Proposals must be received by November 11th. Speakers will
be notified of the vetting committee's decision in early December. Upon
notification speakers will be asked to provide conference organizers
with digital images for use in publicity. By February 17, 2006,
speakers will need to submit a final draft of their papers so that
commentators may have ample time to review them prior to the
symposium.

Website: http://materialculture.udel.edu Check it often for updates
during the year!

--The Fourth Annual Material Culture Symposium for Emerging Scholars (MCSES)emerging.scholars_at_gmail.comhttp://materialculture.udel.edu===================MCSES 2006 Committee Chairs:• Janneken Smucker, History of American Civilization, University ofDelaware: janneken_at_udel.edu• Lori Miller, Art History, University of Delaware: lamiller_at_udel.edu ========================================================== From the Literary Calls for Papers Mailing List CFP_at_english.upenn.edu Full Information at http://cfp.english.upenn.edu or write Jennifer Higginbotham: higginbj_at_english.upenn.edu ==========================================================Received on Wed Oct 05 2005 - 11:02:32 EDT