02/28/2015

ISHR 2017 - Call For Papers

Call for Papers

The Twenty-First Biennial Conference of the International Society for the History of Rhetoric (ISHR) will be held at Queen Mary, University of London, from Wednesday 26 July to Saturday 29 July 2017. The Biennial Conference of ISHR brings together several hundred specialists in the history of rhetoric from around thirty countries.

Scholarly Focus of the Conference

The Society calls for papers that focus on the historical aspect of the theory and practice of rhetoric. As we meet in one of Europe’s largest and most crowded capitals, the special theme of the London conference will be ‘The Spaces of Rhetoric’. Where does rhetoric take place? What restrictions does the meeting space impose on the performance of rhetoric? How do speakers exploit the opportunities presented by the meeting space? In addition to the traditional legal and political settings, papers are invited which explore other contexts and approaches, such as the educational, recreational and domestic spheres.

Papers are also invited on every aspect of the history of rhetoric in all periods and languages, and the relationship of rhetoric to poetics, literary theory and criticism, philosophy, politics, art, religion, sport and other cultural areas.

Procedure for Submission

Proposals are invited for 20-minute presentations delivered in one of the six languages of the Society, viz. English, French, German, Italian, Latin and Spanish. Panel proposals are welcome, under the following conditions. The panel must consist of three or four speakers dealing with a common theme, so as to form a coherent set of papers. The person responsible for the panel, who may also be one of the speakers, has the task of introducing the papers and guiding the discussion. Each speaker in a panel should submit a proposal form for his or her own paper, and send the finished paper to the panel organiser before the conference. Proposals for panel papers must specify the panel for which they are intended. In addition, the panel organiser must complete and submit a separate form explaining the purpose of the proposed panel and naming the participants. Please be aware that proposals for panel papers will be considered on their individual merits by the Program Committee, and there is no guarantee that all papers proposed for a panel will be accepted.

Proposals for papers and for panels must be submitted on-line.

Please complete the on-line form carefully. In exceptional cases, proposals may also be sent by mail to the following address:

Professor Mike Edwards
Head of Department of Humanities
University of Roehampton
Roehampton Lane
London SW15 5PH
UK

Guidelines for the preparation of proposals are provided at the bottom of this message. The length of the abstracts must not exceed 300 words.

Deadline for Proposals

The deadline for the submission of proposals is 8 May, 2016.

Notifications of acceptance will be sent out before the end of August 2016. In a few cases participants may require an earlier acceptance date in order to secure funding. We will try to accommodate such requests if they are made with appropriate documentation.

Information about the Conference, including accommodation at favourable rates, will be provided during the academic year 2016-17. The conference registration fee is still to be determined, but the London organisers will endeavour to ensure that this is kept as low as possible. Graduate students and scholars from underrepresented countries pay reduced registration fees and may be eligible for travel grants.

I am very much looking forward to welcoming you to London in 2017.

Mike Edwards,
President of the International Society for the History of Rhetoric

Guidelines for the preparation of proposals:

The members of ISHR come from many countries and academic disciplines. The following guidelines are intended to make it easier for us to come together and understand one another’s proposals. The Program Committee recommends that all proposals contain:

1. a definition – accessible to a non-specialist – of the field of the proposal, including its chronological period, language, texts and other sources;
2. a statement of the problem that will be treated; its place in relation to the present state of research in the field under consideration; its significance for the history of rhetoric;
3. a summary of the stages of argumentation involved in addressing the problem;
4. scientific results and advances.