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digest 2002-05-31 #001.txt
litsci-l-digest Friday, May 31 2002 Volume 01 : Number
007
In this issue:
electronic text of summer Decodings
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Fri, 31 May 2002 12:41:35 +0000
From: "Carol Colatrella"
Subject: electronic text of summer Decodings
DECODINGS: THE SOCIETY FOR LITERATURE & SCIENCE NEWSLETTER
(NOTE: the SLS newsletter in on-line form does not include a conference
registration form or membership form; please see links to conference and
society websites for the latter two.)
Summer 2002 v.11, no.2
SLS 2002, PASADENA--Conference Highlights and Schedule
The conference will run from approximately 6 p.m., Thursday Oct. 10
through noon Sunday Oct. 13. Sessions of contributed panels and talks
will take place Friday morning and early afternoon, all day Saturday,
and
Sunday morning; depending on the number of contributions, an
additional session may be scheduled for Thursday evening.
The main plenary event will be held on Friday afternoon, from about 3-7
p.m., at the Huntington Library in nearby San Marino. This will feature
a
talk by Charles Falco (Professor of Physics, University of Arizona), who
has
been collaborating with artist David Hockney on his much-publicized and
controversial recent theory concerning use of lenses by painters. There
will
be a reception following the talk, and an opportunity to visit the
library's
galleries and gardens before it. Bus transportation from and to the
hotel
will be provided. An additional plenary event and welcoming reception
will
take place on Thursday evening. The annual SLS business lunch (included
in
registration fee) will be on Saturday, and the traditional dance on
Saturday
night.
The complete detailed schedule will be posted on the website as soon
as it is available. See http://SLS-2002.caltech.edu/.
Important Information for Speakers
The deadline for submissions is June 1. Late proposals will be
considered on a space-available basis. All (on-time) submitters will be
notified whether their proposal has been accepted by the end of June.
Speakers will be notified of their scheduled session as early as
possible,
but no later than September 1.
All speakers are required to provide an abridged abstract (80-100
words) for publication on the website and in the program book that will
be distributed at the conference. Speakers should also notify the
organizers about A/V needs as early as possible, and no later than
September 1. We hope to be able to provide all equipment at no cost,
but depending upon demand it may be necessary to charge for use of
digital projectors and/or VCR/monitors. The earlier we are informed of
requests, the better the chance that we can keep the costs down.
Abridged abstracts and A/V requests should be sent via e-mail to Jay
Labinger, jal@its.caltech.edu.
In keeping with SLS tradition, speakers are strongly encouraged to avoid
reading papers (copies may be brought for distribution to interested
attendees), and to limit the length of presentations to allow for plenty
of
discussion in each session.
Conference Registration
Participants are encouraged to register online at the conference website
(http://SLS-2002.caltech.edu/), paying by credit card. Alternatively
the
attached form may be filled out and mailed in, for payment either by
check or credit card. Note that the registration rates go up after
September 15. Questions about registration may be addressed to
Michelle Reinschmidt, 626-395-3563, michelle@hss.caltech.edu
All participants (speakers, panelists, respondents, session chairs) must
be members of SLS for the current calendar year (2002). SLS
membership includes subscriptions to Configurations and Decodings. If
you have not already joined for 2002, you may do so by mailing in the
enclosed form or by phoning the membership desk at Johns Hopkins
University Press, (800) 548-1784 and paying by credit cards.
Conference Hotel
The conference will be held at the Pasadena Hilton, 168 S. Los Robles
Ave., Pasadena, CA 91101. Rooms have been reserved for SLS
participants at the rate of $109 per night, single or double occupancy.
Triples and quads are $134 and $159 per night respectively.
Reservations should be made by calling 1-800-HILTONS and
mentioning the Society for Literature and Science to get the conference
rate. International attendees who do not want to phone may make
reservations with Maria Sandstrum at the hotel by either e-mail
(maria_sandstrum@hilton.com) or fax (626-584-3207). Reservations
should be made before September 1; rates and availability cannot
be guaranteed after that date. Attendees seeking possible roommates are
encouraged to make use of the bulletin board on the conference website
(http://SLS-2002.caltech.edu/) and/or the SLS listserv
(LITSCI-L@duke.edu)
The hotel is centrally located in Pasadena, with Old Town Pasadena and
other popular areas within easy walking distance. Hotel amenities
include an outdoor heated pool and spa, a fitness center, cable TV with
complimentary HBO, and ports for high-speed Internet access in all
rooms. Parking is available at $10/day. For more information, go to
the
hotel website, at www.pasadena.hilton.com. (Online reservations are
not available at this time.)
Travel
There are two airports convenient to Pasadena (LAX and Burbank), and
one (Ontario) a bit further. LAX offers a much better choice of
airlines/originating cities/flights; also good fares are often easier to
obtain using LAX. On the downside, lines for check-in and security can
be very long at times. It generally takes about 30 minutes between LAX
and Pasadena outside of rush hour, but up to an hour or even more at
the busiest times. Burbank is closer (20 minutes) and is generally much
quicker to get through check-in and security than LAX, but is served by
fewer airlines and most often requires connecting flights. Ontario is
comparable to Burbank in terms of flights and hassle but about an hour
away. The best airfares these days are frequently to be found online,
either at individual airline websites or from services such as Orbitz.
From the airport to the hotel there are basically two options for ground
transportation, shuttle vans and taxis. Two companies, Prime Time
Shuttle and SuperShuttle, serve LAX. There is a pickup stop in front of
each terminal on the arrival level; just go out to the orange sign
labeled
"Shared Ride Vans" and tell the company representative stationed
therewhere
you want to go. Normally, there will be a ride within 15 minutes or so.
For
advance reservation, see http://www.primetimeshuttle.com/ or
http://www.supershuttle.com/; that may get a better fare but will
probably
not affect how fast you get picked up. Typical one-way fares from LAX
to
Pasadena run about $20-30 per person. The same companies also serve
Burbank
and Ontario, with pickup outside baggage claim areas; the fares will be
somewhat less and somewhat more, respectively. A taxi from LAX costs $50
(or
more if traffic is bad), from Burbank about $25.
Travel Awards for SLS2002
SLS provides a limited number of travel awards for underfunded
individuals attending the annual conference. Members of SLS who
participate in the annual conference may apply for travel subventions.
An applicant should email name, title of SLS presentation, any
information about funding for the conference, and an indication of how
long one has been a member to Carol Colatrella at by September 1.
SLS officers will review the applications and approve funds for one to
three individuals. Each person awarded funds will be presented with a
$200 check at the conference.
2002 Bruns Essay Prize
The Bruns Graduate Essay Prize, in honor of Edward F. Bruns, is
awarded annually to the best essay written by a graduate student
member of the Society for Literature and Science. Graduate students
wishing to have their essays considered for the $250 prize should
submit them by September 1 to N. Katherine Hayles, Department of
English, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1530.
2002 Schachterle Essay Prize
Lance Schachterle, SLS founding president, has established an annual
prize of $250 in honor of his parents to recognize the best new essay on
literature and science written in English by a nontenured scholar.
Eligible authors wishing to submit essays (published or accepted for
publication) should send them prior to September 1 to the SLS
Executive Director, Carol Colatrella, LCC, Georgia Institute of
Technology, Atlanta, GA 30332-0165; please label envelope
"Schachterle Submission."
Note: SLS travel awards and essay prizes are presented during the
Business Meeting of the annual fall conference. One may submit only
one entry to one of the two essay prize competitions.
A REGISTRATION FORM FOR SLS 2002 IS ENCLOSED IN THIS
ISSUE. YOU MAY REGISTER VIA SURFACE MAIL OR ONLINE AT
THE CONFERENCE REGISTRATION SITE
http://SLS-2002.caltech.edu/
NOTE: ALL REGISTRANTS WHO ARE PRESENTING PAPERS,
ACTING AS RESPONDENTS, OR CHAIRING SESSIONS MUST BE
MEMBERS OF SLS FOR THE CURRENT CALENDAR YEAR (2002).
THE YEAR OF LAST/CURRENT MEMBERSHIP IS INDICATED ON
YOUR ADDRESS LABEL. A MEMBERSHIP FORM IS ENCLOSED.
Report on SLS2002, Aarhus: More than 150 participants attended the
second European Conference of SLS, held May 8-12, 2002, in Aarhus,
Denmark. Plenary talks by Barbara Duden, Claus Emmeche, Anna
Everett, Joan Foncuberta, Celia Lury, Ulf Mellstrom, Barbara Herrnstein
Smith, and Lucy Suchman, the mayor??s opening reception, the
Marselisborg banquet, and a trip to Silkeborg were among the highlights.
Thanks are owed the Danish organizers (Randi Markussen, Finn
Olesen, and Casper Bruun Jensen of Information and Media Studies,
Aarhus University) and their colleagues for hosting a splendid event.
Looking forward to SLS2003, Austin, Texas: The 17th Annual SLS
Conference will be held in Austin, Texas, at the Marriott at the
Capitol,
October 23-26, 2003. The general theme of the conference is
?¨Rethinking Space and Time Across Science, Literature, and the Arts,?Æ
although papers and panels on all topics are welcome. Austin offers
many attractions, including its much-celebrated live music scene as well
as the collections of the Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center at
the University of Texas, with its strong literary and history of science
collections (see http://www.hrc.utexas.edu/). The Ransom Center will
have newly reopened in 2003 with an exhibition on Modernism and will
host a reception for SLS attendees on Friday evening, October 24.
More details about the conference will follow in the fall. In the
meantime, address any queries and suggestions to co-organizers Linda
Henderson (dnehl@mail.utexas.edu) and Bruce Clarke
(bruce.clarke@ttu.edu).
SLS ELECTIONS: CANDIDATE STATEMENTS
For 2nd Vice President, two-year term to begin October 2003 and to
be followed by successive two-year terms as 1st Vice President and
President, the candidates are Bruce Clarke and Alan Rauch.
Bruce Clarke: I am professor of English at Texas Tech University, direct
TTU??s Center for the Interaction of the Arts and Sciences, and
specialize
in literature and science, with current interests in science fiction,
technology studies, media theory, and systems theory. My publications
include Allegories of Writing: The Subject of Metamorphosis (SUNY,
1995); Dora Marsden and Early Modernism: Gender, Individualism,
Science (Michigan, 1996); and Energy Forms: Allegory and Science in
the Era of Classical Thermodynamics (Michigan, 2001). With Linda D.
Henderson I??ve co-edited the collection of essays From Energy to
Information: Representation in Science and Technology, Art, and
Literature, forthcoming from Stanford UP later this year. My current
project, Observing Frames, applies the constructivist epistemology
developed in neocybernetic systems theory to contemporary
conceptions of metamorphosis in literature, cinema, and art.
In recent years there was some discussion whether the SLS should
change its name to reflect how the increase of art and media scholars in
its ranks has moved the society beyond the literary focus of its
inception.
My favorite proposed new acronym from that discussion was SALSA
(Science, Art, and Literature Studies Association). Were I elected as
2nd
VP of the SLS, I would keep open the debate about the evolution of the
SLS into some newly emergent form. I remain committed to inter- and
trans-disciplinarity, and see the beauty of our association as being its
embrace and ongoing cultivation of cross-disciplinary interaction,
which,
for instance, was such a prominent feature of the discourse at the
Aarhus meeting this May. The future viability of the society, especially
as it moves into its international formation, will be contingent upon
preserving our traditional base of members and values while keeping
our doors and minds open to new scholarly audiences and intellectual
developments.
Alan Rauch, Associate Professor of Literature, Communication, and
Culture at the Georgia Institute of Technology, does work in the
cultural
studies of science in the nineteenth century. A recipient of the C. P.
Snow Fellowship at the Harry Ransom Research Center (U. of Texas),
Rauch recently completed a chapter on Victorian Poetry and Science for
the Blackwell Companion to Victorian Poetry. His recent book, Useful
Knowledge: The Victorians, Morality, and the March of Intellect (Duke,
2001), examines the impact of science on culture prior to Darwin. His
current projects include Private Reading: Public Knowledge, which
focuses on 19th century private subscription libraries and their role in
the dissemination of knowledge, as well as a reprint of William Paley's
Natural Theology. Rauch also edited Jane Webb Loudon's 1827 novel
The Mummy! A Tale of the Twenty-Second Century (Michigan, 1994)
and, with George Levine, One Culture: Essays in Science and Literature
(Wisconsin, 1987). A founding editor of Configurations: A Journal of
Literature, Science, and Technology, Rauch helped establish the
program in Science, Technology, and Culture at Georgia Tech.
Having reached an important level of maturity as a professional
organization, SLS must begin to think about its direction and mission in
the coming years. Part of that mission should include efforts to
disseminate the practices of cultural studies of science and technology
both within and beyond the profession. By undertaking about this kind of
"outreach," particularly at the secondary and post-secondary SLS will
help advance an awareness of interdisciplinary studies. To pursue that
mission, and to heighten awareness, the Society should also consider
alliances with other professional organizations and societies, as well
as
grant opportunities and even, if possible, endowments. In short, the
organization is ready to be foregrounded and SLS must take steps to
increase its public profile and the interests of its membership.
For Member-at-Large, two-year term (2003-2005), Ursula Heise is
running unopposed:
Ursula Heise is Associate Professor of English & Comparative
Literature at Columbia University, where she teaches contemporary
literature and literary theory. Her book Chronoschisms: Time, Narrative,
and Postmodernism appeared with Cambridge University Press in 1997.
She is currently finishing an ecocritical book project entitled World
Wide
Webs: Global Ecology and the Cultural Imagination. She has published
articles on a range of contemporary authors and on ecocritical topics.
statement: As Member-at-Large, I'd like to encourage SLS to seek more
extensive conversation and collaboration with working scientists so as
to
enhance genuinely interdisciplinary work between the humanities and
sciences. I'd also like to work toward closer contact with the emergent
field of ecocriticism, which addresses the relation between literature,
culture and science from an environmentalist perspective. Cooperation
with ASLE, the Association for the Study of Literature and the
Environment, wouldbe particularly productive in reaching this goal.
*************************************************************please
cut**********
BALLOT (see candidate statements in this issue)
Vote for one candidate for 2nd Vice-President for a two-year term
(2002-2004); the winner of the election will succeed Eve Keller (who
will become 1st Vice-President as Jay Labinger takes over as
President for 2002-2004):
______Bruce Clarke
______Alan Rauch
Vote for one candidate for Member-at-Large for a two-year term
(2002-2004); the winner of the election will succeed Bruce Clarke.
_______ Ursula Heise
Please mail this ballot to Carol Colatrella/SLS, LCC, Georgia Tech,
686 Cherry St., Atlanta, GA 30332-0165 BY SEPTEMBER 1, 2002.
FROM WAYNE MILLER about the LITSCI-L Web Resources Page,
which contains a searchable archive of the LITSCI-L email list, list
subscription information and the Literature and Science Resources on
the Web database. The database includes links to online syllabi, Web
indices, conferences, associations, scholarly works and other resources.
Browse or submit your own links. Contact: Wayne Miller Director,
Educational Technologies Duke University School of Law (919)
613-7243 Fax: (919) 613-7237. Those of you who have been on the
LITSCI-L list for a while know that I periodically announce a
revolutionary new database for syllabi or other creatures. Well, it's
that
time again! This time, though, I intend to take the bull by the horns
and
lead the way in adding resources. I may even periodically let you know
about
some of the additions, although I do not intend to bother the list much
with
it. Still, as always, the point is to provide a location for you to
share
your knowledge with one another. The database has areas for links to
your
syllabi, your home pages, and your online scholarly works.
There's even a rubric for your online science-related literary efforts!
Please check it out at the LITSCI-L Resources Web page at:
http://www.law.duke.edu/sls. I have links there to the Configurations
Web
site, the SLS Web site hosted at Virginia Tech, the 2002 conference
site, as
well as archives for and info about this list.
Poem: THE PEGGY SUE QUASAR
One drum, unsnared, one amplified guitar,
her name repeated, pulsing with the beat,
of verbs that name her object of desire
that no counter-music ever could requite,
or wish to--it's a song of simple yearning:
it's Peggy Sue. for nearly forty years,
that song has been my quasar to the stars,
which it seeks out at Planck's constant, now nearing
the solar system of P-51,
where a large planet wobbles awkwardly,
in its orbit about an aging star,
and Buddy's yearning bends like light rays there,
but does not change the local gravity
much more than does our weak and local sun.
-Stuart Peterfreund
_________________________________________________________________
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End of litsci-l-digest V1 #7
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