This conference will address the world of print in which religions and religious practices were inherited, constructed and promulgated over the last 125 years. In addition to keynote speakers to be announced, there will be a number of additional special presentations. Papers should focus on and illuminate the interaction between the reader and printed materials (e.g. books, Bibles, periodicals, newspapers, church bulletins, hymnals, tracts, etc.) aimed at or produced and read by religious individuals and groups. Studies dealing with religion and class, regionalism, feminism, immigrant groups, racial and sexual minorities, radicals, etc. are especially welcome. The Center hopes that the conference will include scholars interested in Protestantism (in its many manifestations, including revivalism and missionary outreach), Roman Catholicism (both The official church and grassroots phenomena such as Marian visitations), Eastern Orthodox churches, Mormonism, Judaism (all varieties), Islam (both immigrant and native originated), and indigenous religions, as well as new or less-well-known religious movements. Studies of single group experiences and studies that compare the historical sociology of print in the lives of religious groups and individuals located at the periphery of power are of great interest to the Center.

The conference is being cosponsored (support requested) by the University of Wisconsin-Madison's Religious Studies Program, Departments of English, History, Educational Policy Studies, General Library System, the School of Journalism and Mass Communication, Department of Afro-American Studies, School of Library and Information Studies, Center for the Humanities, George L. Mosse/Laurence A. Weinstein Center for Jewish Studies, Asian American Studies Program, Women's Studies Program, and the Center for the Study of Upper Midwestern Cultures.

The Center encourages the interdisciplinary study of print culture history and welcomes proposals from scholars in all fields. The Director and Advisory Board will select a number of papers from the conference for publication in a volume in the Center's series "Print Culture History in Modern America" published by the University of Wisconsin Press. Papers most likely to be selected for publication will be those that combine innovative theoretical perspectives, clarity of organization, a pleasing and accessible prose style, and significant research in primary resources to produce an account that deals with texts and readers in meaningful ways. A listing of books produced by the Center, available on the Center's website, offers a guide to prospective authors. For more information on the Center and its programs consult: http://slisweb.lis.wisc.edu/~printcul/

Proposals for individual papers or entire sessions (up to three presentations) should include a 250-word abstract and a one-page curriculum vitae for all the proposed presenters. If at all possible, submissions should be made via email. Deadline for submission is January 30, 2004. Notification of acceptance will be made by late February. For information contact:

James P. Danky, Director
Center for the History of Print Culture
in Modern America
Wisconsin Historical Society,
816 State Street
Madison, WI 53706
608/264-6598 FAX 608/264-6520
jpdanky@whs.wisc.edu