Call for Papers
From 17 – 22 October 2007, the Society for the History of Technology
(SHOT) will meet in Washington, DC, and celebrate its fiftieth
anniversary. As part of that celebration, the Smithsonian’s National
Postal Museum will host a one-day symposium on the history of
communication technologies on 17 October. The event’s organizers are the
Mercurians, a Special Interest Group of SHOT, and the National Postal
Museum. The symposium will be open to the public.
Proposals for papers and panels on any topic related to the history of
communication technologies are welcome. The term “communication
technologies” is construed in the broadest sense to include all
traditional electrical and electronic forms of communication, such as
telegraphy, telephony, radio, and television, as well as postal systems,
semaphores, print media, and telematics, which combines computer and
communication technologies. Proposals from those new to SHOT and the
Mercurians—as well as those who are not yet members of either—are welcome,
regardless of discipline or academic status (graduate student, independent
scholar, or professor).
The symposium will take place at the National Postal Museum, 2
Massachusetts Ave, NE, which is next to Union Station, a terminus for rail
(Amtrak and Marc) and Metro lines, making it convenient for those
attending the SHOT meeting and those coming from out of town. The
submission of proposal guidelines will follow SHOT guidelines, which are
posted at: http://www.historyoftechnology.org/annualmtg/2007SHOT_cfp.pdf.
In general, paper proposals should be no more than one page long and be
accompanied by a one page c.v. Panel proposals must include a description
of the session that explains how the individual papers contribute to an
overarching theme, a list of the presenters’ names and paper titles, and a
c.v. for the chair, session organizer, and commentator (if applicable), in
addition to a one-page abstract and one-page c.v. for each presenter. In
any case, please make known your need for audiovisual equipment (slide
projector, PowerPoint, etc.).
Please email complete proposals to Allison Marsh [log in to unmask] and Andrew
Butrica [log in to unmask]
Notification of accepted papers will be made in August 2007. Symposium
papers will be posted on the National Postal Museum’s website and will be
considered for possible publication.
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