JANUARY 2005
“Let the end be legitimate, let it be within the scope of the [newsletter], and all means which are appropriate, which are plainly adapted to that end, which are not prohibited, but consist with the letter and spirit of the [newsletter], are [newsletterworthy].”
John Marshall, McCULLOCH v. MARYLAND (1819)
Before the court of scholarly opinion, I submit my final SEASECS newsletter and beg the court's indulgence as I wax nostalgic for a moment. It is with humility and a sense of historical significance that I state before the learned bench that all SEASECS newsletters of the new millennium have come from the twisted quill of your humble and still upright Secretary. (That is, if we accept the view of many that 2001 was the kickoff year for the new mil and not 2000.) What a four-years-seeming-like-fourteen it has been. Member news, conference information, annual minutes of board and membership meetings, encouragements, admonitions, pleadings, reminders, lewd and lame jokes have all taken up residence within the sheets of The SEASECS Gazette. As I leave you, I return to my status as an unostentatious “SEASECS Citizen” and look forward to reading the missives of my successor and thinking from a safe distance about what exciting matters the Board will take up, put down, and hold in abeyance. But before I set sail, there are several important crates on dock to de-crate—the most important being
THE 2005 MEETING!
When is it again?
We will gather in Myrtle Beach on Thursday March 3, Friday March 4, and Saturday March 5 at the Sea Mist Resort. Let me print the splendid comments on our website for embellishment:
SEASECS and Coastal Carolina University are pleased to welcome you to Myrtle Beach , for the 2005 meeting. While our beachfront accommodations should allow you to confirm the opinion of the German botanist Johann Schoepf, who in 1784 claimed that the Grand Strand could “engage and excite the attention of the traveler at every step,” we hope you'll also take advantage of our resort's location on King's Highway—a favorite target of Francis Marion, and now Myrtle Beach 's main thoroughfare and your route to shopping, amusements and hundreds of restaurants.
Reservations, did you say?
Again, let me quote the website:
Sessions will be held at the conference center of the Sea Mist Resort, a beachfront hotel centrally located for golf, shopping and dining. When contacting the hotel, please mention SEASECS to get the conference rate of $54.00 per night (double) and $58.00 (studio). The Sea Mist is located at 1200 South Ocean Blvd , Myrtle Beach , SC 29577 , Phone: 800-200-8687, Fax 843-448-5858. For more information see www.seamist.com
How to get there, you ask?
Another encore, website:
Myrtle Beach International Airport is served by most major carriers, and features affordable taxi/shuttle service to downtown Myrtle Beach . Drivers can reach Myrtle Beach from I-95 via Highway 501 (east) and come in from points north and south using Highway 17. Parking is free at the conference hotel
When is my session scheduled?
The entire program is printed on the SEASECS website: http://www.seasecs.org/program.htm
And here is the general description of the program from the site:
A full slate of sessions will be highlighted by two plenary sessions: On Friday, Charles Joyner, Burroughs Distinguished Professor of Southern History at Coastal Carolina University , will speak on “The Emergence of Two Southern Traditions in Eighteenth-Century Coastal Carolina.” Saturday's keynote will feature Philip Stewart, Benjamin E. Powell Professor of Romance Studies at Duke University , who will deliver a lecture on “ The Advent of Sentiment: Where, When, and Why?” The visual arts have not been neglected, with Coastal Carolina University 's Bryan Art Gallery hosting an exhibition entitled “Chapters in South Carolina History: Colonial Life,” featuring seventeenth- and eighteenth-century works drawn from the collection of South Carolina State Museum .
What do I do to register?
Okay, don't sit around waiting for a registration form to land in your mailbox. Go to the website and click on “Meeting Info.” Then click on “Registration Form” and you will see exactly what it advertises. Fill out the sheet and send it to the person and address you see at the bottom of the form. Easy. No muss. No fuss. No cuss.
Check List
* Go to website.
* Print out registration form.
* Check out when your session is scheduled.
* Call hotel and make reservations.
* Pack your bags.
* Count the days.
Other Hotels
Remember that there are other hotels in the general area of the Sea Mist should you wish to rest far enough from the madding crowd. Some of these are very highly rated and have received excellent online reviews. Google “Hotels, Myrtle Beach ” and you'll get the information you want.
A Jaundiced Eye Examines the Program
Excluding the plenary talks, there are sixty-five papers scheduled for the three days on a wide variety of topics: literature, art, music, theater, education, patronage, pedagogy, history, religion, and families—with several sessions devoted to matters French and a good many papers given over to matters Women. Honored authors with sessions devoted entirely to them include Dryden, Sterne, Anna Seward, and Austen. Perennials abound, of course, but the conference will as well feature as presenters not only several Newbies but also a bunch of Periodicals —that august group we see every other or every third March. The names of the sessions are wonderfully succinct and adequately descriptive, especially the panels titled “Sex I” and “Sex II.” (There is no truth to the rumor that “Sex I” is a prerequisite for attending “Sex II.” Nor is it true that one's past activities should dictate whether one ought to skip “I” and go directly to “II.” It is true, however, that one must claim to be eighteen in order to gain admission. Or was that claim merely to like the 18 th Century? I'm not really sure. Anyway . . .)
Don't Forget to Thank
Our Program Chair Bill Edmiston and our Local Arrangements Chair Dan Ennis as you pass them in the halls. Should you have any questions for them before the conference, here are their email addresses, which I give without their approval or knowledge:
edmistonw@sc.edu
dennis@coastal.edu
SEASECS Journal
I trust you have all seen the first number of
XVIII. New Perspectives on the Eighteenth Century. A fine, fine journal it is—and will continue to be. For information about the journal, contact the editor
Samia Spencer
The Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures
Auburn University
Auburn , AL 36849
Spencsi@auburn.edu
334-844-6374
Annual Dues
A reminder: SEASECS membership is now going to a calendar-year format. Dues are now to be paid by January 1 for the 2005 year. Membership will expire for us all (except for Lifetime Members, of course) on December 31 st.
(And you thought the Millennium New Year's Eve was scary.) For answers to dues questions, contact Linda at lszilagyi@mindspring.com
News of Members
Congratulations to Sylvia Kasey Marks (Polytechnic Univ. Brooklyn) for the publication of her book Writing for the Rising Generation: British Fiction for Young People 1672-1839 ( Univ. of Victorian English Literary Studies , 2003)
Dorothy Medlin ( Winthrop Univ. ) has co-authored with Arnold Heertje ( Univ. of Amsterdam ) an article on “Andrè Morellet's
Correspondence in 1780 and 1782,” published in the July 2004 issue of SVEC.
Eighteenth-Century Life is now in new editorial hands, after being molded, shaped, and caressed for twenty-five years by Robert Maccubbin (William & Mary). The new editor is our friend Cedric Reverand ( Wyoming ). (Mark Booth is also on the new editorial team.) Submissions should be sent to CR at Dept. of English, Box 3353 University Station, Laramie WY 82070-3041. Or to reverend@uwyo.edu . Bob Maccubbin reports that, after twenty-five years, when sending his last issue to press, he learned “what Noah felt like when he sent the dove in search of land.”
Kevin Cope (LSU) wishes to announce the mounting of his new journal websites— http://1650-1850.net and http://eccb.net. He would also like to invite us to consider 1650-1850 as a venue for our scholarly works and ECCB as an opportunity to write reviews.
Joe Johnson has moved to a new position at Clayton College and State University in south Atlanta .
Other Reminders
Tom Nairn ( RMIT Univ. , Melbourne ) has asked us ponder attending the Third International Conference on New Directions in the Humanities (at Cambridge Univ. 2-5 August 2005). See http://www.HumanitiesConference.com.
Erika Gaffney (acquisitions editor at Ashgate Publishing Company) informs us of a new interdisciplinary book series, “Studies in Performance in the Long Eighteenth Century: Theatre, Music, Dance.” The editors welcome proposals. See the website www.ashgate.com or email Erika at egaffney@ashgate.com.
For information on new titles in your area and on Ashgate Publishing's Email Update Service, see http://www.ashgate.com/joinmail_e-mail.htm.
**Also keep in mind the comings and goings of the MWASECS. Find out more from Jim Tierney at jetier@umsl.edu. And for info about the ECASECS, contact our pal Jim May at jrm4@psu.edu.
Institutional Membership
Remember to solicit a SEASECS membership from our home institution. A bargain at $40.00. Contact our Treasurer Linda Szilagyi at 10014 Willow Cove Rd. Huntsville , Alabama 35803
Questions for Your Humble Editor
Contact www.itwon'tbemeanymore.com
Best, and a hearty farewell --JV
Archived Newsletters:
2005 - August