Call for Papers

The Sixteenth Century Society and Conference (SCSC) invites proposals for individual presentation submissions and complete panels for its 2019 annual conference. Under the presidency of Walter Melion (Emory University), the conference will take place from 17–20 October 2019 at the Hyatt Regency St. Louis at The Arch Hotel in St Louis, Missouri.

The SCSC was founded to promote scholarship on the early modern era (c. 1450 – c. 1660) and traditionally papers have ranged across the following fields:

  • Art & Architectural History
  • Digital Humanities
  • English Literature      
  • French Literature
  • German Studies
  • History
  • History of Science
  • Italian Studies
  • Spanish and Latin American Studies
  • Theology

This year the SCSC is introducing a new ‘Pedagogy and Professionalisation’ track, which invites submissions focused on issues related to teaching, mentoring, and non-academic careers.

Alongside established scholars in North America, the SCSC actively encourages the participation of international scholars working on the early modern period. Furthermore, an important aspect of the society’s role is to welcome early career researchers and postgraduates to the academic community.

This year marks the 50th anniversary of the society and in honour of that event the SCSC is returning to the city where it was established, and its first conference was held. While the programme will provide an opportunity to mark this important anniversary in the society’s history, it will also be an opportunity to think about future directions for early modern studies.

Abstracts (up to 250 words in the length) for individual presentations and panels should be submitted online at www.sixteenthcentury.org/conference.

Please note that the website is currently being redesigned to improve the submission process.

Proposals can be submitted online from early March.

The deadline for proposals is 30 April 2019. Within four weeks of this date, the Programme Committee will contact all those who have made submissions about their proposals.

In addition to standard panels, the organizing committee will consider proposals for four alternative panel types:

  • Round Tables sponsored by affiliated societies. Please note that for logistical reasons there will be a cap on the number of round table sessions that can be accepted. You might want to consider Workshop C as an alternative format.
  • Workshop A:  Discussion of pre-circulated papers in a workshop format. (Limit of 4 participants)
  • Workshop B:  Analysis of thorny translation/palaeography questions; pre-circulation is not required. (Limit of 3 participants)
  • Workshop C:  Examination of a big issue or question with brief comments from presenters and lively audience participation. These are similar to round tables but with more audience engagement. (Limit of 4 participants)

In recent years, the conference has welcomed poster sessions and will do so again this year. Those who are interested in contributing to a poster session should submit their proposals as ‘papers’ to the digital history track. Before submitting proposals, please email conference@sixteenthcentury.org to obtain a poster session code.

Questions about the conference format should be directed to conference@sixteenthcentury.org.

The SCSC is a not-for-profit scholarly organization. It receives no governmental or institutional funding. In order to participate in this conference, delegates or their sponsoring institution / organization will need to fund their own travel and lodging expenses in addition to a $ 225 per delegate registration fee ($ 110 for registered students). Advance registration online is recommended, but it can also be completed at the meeting with an additional administrative charge. Please note, conference registration fees are non-refundable. The fee is used to pay for conference facilities and general events. By paying the fee, delegates become members of the SCSC and receive one year’s subscription to the Sixteenth Century Journal.

For more information, please contact:

Andrew Spicer

SCSC Vice President and Programme Chairconference@sixteenthcentury.org