From information at http://www.historyoftechnology.org/fiftieth.html

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2007 Society for the History of Technology Annual Meeting

CALL FOR PAPERS Deadline March 16, 2007

The Society for the History of Technology will hold its annual meeting
in Washington, D.C. October 17-21, 2007. This meeting, along with the
following year's meeting in Lisbon, will celebrate the 50th anniversary
of the founding of SHOT and of its journal, Technology and Culture. The
theme of both conferences will be "SHOT@50: Looking Back, Looking
Beyond." To that end, the Program Committee seeks papers or sessions for
the 2007 meeting that concern the History of Technology as it has been
practiced in the past, and for the 2008 meeting as it may or ought to be
practiced in the future.

The Committee welcomes proposals for individual papers or sessions, as
well as works in-progress from researchers of all stripes (including
graduate students, chaired professors, and independent scholars). It
also welcomes proposals from those new to SHOT, regardless of
discipline. The committee will also consider alternative venues for
presenting one's scholarship, such as poster sessions, short (8-minute)
quick sessions, author-meets-critics panels, discussion of
pre-circulated papers, and others.

Under the general theme of celebrating SHOT's past, several more
specific themes suggest themselves. These are outlined below. The
Committee is open to proposals not falling within these themes, but it
suggests these as possible topics for papers and sessions.

Historiography
Over the past 50 years, members of SHOT have debated and discussed a
number of historiographic approaches to the discipline. How successful
have these approaches been in the past, and do they continue to serve us
well? If they do not, what alternate approaches might one adopt? What
has been the impact of computer and information technologies on
conducting research and disseminating its results? What has been the
effect of the increasing diversity among our members and audience on the
study of the History of Technology?

The Historian and Other Disciplines
In SHOT's early days, a significant number of members were practicing or
retired engineers. Engineers remain welcome, although their numbers and
role in the Society have contracted. The Committee welcomes papers that
explore the ways that historians vs. engineers, and their respective
engineering societies, see the history of technology. Likewise, the
Committee seeks papers that explore the relationship between SHOT and
other societies that count historians of technology among their members,
e.g., the National Park Service, the branches of the military, the
Society for Industrial
Archaeology, the Society of Architectural Historians, etc. We welcome
papers from members of those societies, or from SHOT members who have
interacted with them.

Finally, the Committee seeks papers that examine the relationship
between SHOT and museums of technology, a relationship that-as with
engineers-- was once closer than it is today. These include not only the
major national museums of the United States, the U.K., and Germany, but
also a host of smaller, specialized museums that deal with topics in the
history of technology. 

The Changing Context Since SHOT's Founding
SHOT was founded in the context of the Cold War, especially after the
orbiting of Sputnik implied a criticism of Western technology. How did
that context affect the practice of the history of technology? Has the
end of the Cold War meant that this context is no longer relevant to
SHOT's mission? How might the current conflicts around the world affect
the direction of scholarship? Computer and information technologies have
already been mentioned as affecting the practice of history. Papers or
sessions that
explore "IT's" origins and ascendance in relation to other technologies,
ancient and modern, are welcome. Also welcome are papers that address
the relationship of other, "post-1957" technologies, such as
biotechnology, to technologies of an earlier era.

In addition to the themes suggested above, proposals for other topics
that reflect the spirit of "Looking Back" are welcome.

The deadline for submission is March 16, 2007.

Proposals for individual papers must include:
1) a one-page abstract (maximum 600 words)
2) a one-page curriculum vitae, including current postal and e-mail
addresses
3) a completed A/V equipment request form (available on the SHOT web
site).

Proposals for complete sessions must include:
1) a description of the session that explains how individual papers
contribute to an overall theme.
2) the names and paper titles of the presenters
3) for each presenter, a one-page summary (maximum 600 words) of the
paper's topic, argument(s), and evidence used
4) for the commentator, chair, and each presenter: one-page c.v., with
postal and e-mail addresses
5) for each presenter, a completed A/V equipment request form.

Please indicate if a proposal is sponsored by one of SHOT's special
interest groups.

Submission Instructions
1) Materials should be sent as a text attachment to a single e-mail
message to the Program Committee Chair, Paul Ceruzzi, [log in to unmask]
2) Each component of the proposal should be a separate attachment. Thus
an e-mail that proposes a single paper would have three attachments; an
e-mail that proposes a session could have up to a dozen or more
attachments.
3) Please adhere to the 600-word limit for all attachments. Use no
unusual fonts or special formatting, and save each attachment either as
a Microsoft Word document (.doc) or as a Rich Text Format (.rtf) file.
Nearly all word processing programs, including those used on the
Macintosh, can save text in the Rich Text Format. Do not use Adobe
Acrobat (pdf).
4) Save your proposal and name it with your last name and the word
"proposal," e.g. "smith_proposal.doc." Save your CV and equipment
request form in the same manner, e.g. "smith_vitae.doc" and
"smith_av.doc."
5) A session organizer should also attach a description of the overall
session and save it as an abstract, e.g. "jones_abstract.doc." If you
are organizing a session and proposing a paper in that session, you will
be attaching both an "abstract" and "proposal" with your name on them,
plus your c.v. and equipment request form.
6) If you are proposing a non-traditional session you may indicate that
in the "abstract." These also require a completed A/V requirements form
and a curriculum vitae. 

General information
SHOT rules do not allow multiple submissions (i.e. submitting more than
one
individual paper proposal, or proposing both an individual paper and a
paper as part of a session). You may propose a paper and serve as a
commentator or session chair at another session.
Sessions should be focused on a single topic, but a session's members
should represent a diversity of approaches. At the very least, the
members of a session should not all be from the same academic or
institutional department. 

Because of the unique nature of this and next year's meeting, SHOT is
waiving its customary rule that prevents scholars from presenting at two
consecutive domestic meetings. As mentioned above, however, papers or
sessions that address the future of the Society should be held for the
2008 meeting in Lisbon. 

SHOT cannot guarantee the availability of digital projectors for all
sessions. Those with access to projectors are encouraged to bring their
own, and to let the Program Committee SHOT 2007 know if they might have
equipment to share. For more information about AV equipment, please see
the AV request form.

Additional information can be found online at
www.historyoftechnology.org/
fiftieth.html  For questions about the program themes, submission
guidelines, or any other aspects of the Call for Papers, please call
Paul Ceruzzi, Program Committee Chair: 202-633-2414, or send an e-mail
to [log in to unmask] 

Audio-visual equipment information
There will be a $35 fee ($25 for graduate students) (payable at
pre-registration) for anyone who wants to use a digital projector that
SHOT provides. Presenters are welcome to bring their own Powerpoint
projectors to use for free (but neither SHOT nor the hotel can be
responsible for security or for helping set up). Anyone who wants to use
Powerpoint will also be responsible for supplying their own laptop
computer to use for
their presentation. Presenters can still request overhead projectors or
slide projectors from SHOT at no extra cost. Please see the A/V
equipment request form available on the SHOT web site for more
information, and please note that proposals will not be accepted without
a completed AV form. Late equipment requests will not be accepted.

Cancellation policy
Anyone who puts in a paper proposal that gets accepted and then
subsequently cancels their presentation or does not show up at the
meeting, without a good excuse (i.e., family emergency), will not be
allowed to give another SHOT paper until the 2010 meeting.