CfP: Society For the History of Discoveries

Society for the History of Discoveries 2023 Conference

Worlds of Exploration

The James Ford Bell Library, with its extensive collection of rare books, maps, manuscripts, and archival collections, documenting the history and impact of trade and cultural exchange before the 19th century, offers an ideal venue to host the 2023 SHD conference.  This year’s conference locale aligns with the global breadth of the Society’s mission by supporting research into the expeditions, biographies, history, cartography, as well as the technologies of travel, the impact of travel and cultural exchange, and other aspects of geographic discovery.  With its expansive resources, the James Ford Bell, and other collections associated with the University of Minnesota’s libraries, offers members of the Society and presenters an ideal opportunity to conduct research prior to and after the conference.  The rich and fascinating collections emboldens the inspiration for our conference.

The Society for the History of Discoveries invites papers, 20 minutes in length, on all points of view of this theme, Worlds of Exploration, including: “discovery,” encounter, exploration, conquest, resistance, settlement, economy, daily life, and all aspects of socio-cultural and political encounter, as well as on the teaching of the history of exploration, broadly defined.

SHD welcomes submissions from graduate students, emerging and independent scholars, as well as established scholars and members of the Society.  Presenters are encouraged to use images (maps, paintings, photographs, etc.).  For the benefit of the audience, all visuals have to be presented as PowerPoint-compatible projection.  The audience at SHD meetings is diverse and includes academics and members of various professions

Where: Minneapolis-St-Paul, Minnesota

When:  21 September – 23 September, 2023 (With an optional excursion on Sunday, 24)

Venue: James Ford Bell Library, University of Minnesota

Please provide a proposal that includes the following components:

  • the title of the presentation
  • the author’s name and address, including email address and affiliation
  • an abstract summarizing the paper’s scope and conclusions (maximum of 500 words)
  • a statement about the originality of the contents of the paper: how much is new, unpublished material, based on research in primary sources, etc.
  • a statement indicating whether PowerPoint or other digital media will be used and whether internet access is necessary for the presentation
  • a brief biographic sketch of the author(s)

Paper proposals are due 17 April 2023, and must be submitted via the SHD website  – an online submissions portal.   Inquiries via Dr. Lydia Towns, SHD secretary.