Date: January 2nd 2007

The following Call for Papers is forwarded from Paul E Ceruzzi at the National Air & Space Museum

Steve Dick

Dr Steven J Dick NASA Chief Historian Director, NASA History Division Office of External Relations NASA Headquarters 300 E Street SW Washington, D C 20546-0001 202 358 0383 (PH) 202 358 2866 (Fax) steven j dick@nasa gov

2007 Annual Conference of the Society for the History of Technology Call for Papers

The Society for the History of Technology will hold its annual

meeting in Washington, D C from October 17-21, 2007 This meeting, along with the following year's meeting in Lisbon, will celebrate the 50th anniversary of the founding of SHOT and of its journal, Technology and Culture The theme of both conferences will be SHOT@50: Looking Back, Looking Beyond To that end, the Program Committee seeks papers or sessions for the 2007 meeting that concern the History of Technology as it has been practiced in the past, and for the 2008 meeting as it may or ought to be practiced in the future

The Committee welcomes proposals for individual papers or

sessions, as well as works-in-progress from researchers of all stripes (including graduate students, chaired professors, and independent scholars) It also welcomes proposals from those new to SHOT, regardless of discipline The committee will also consider alternative venues for presenting one's scholarship, such as poster sessions, short (8-minute) quick sessions, author-meets-critics panels, discussion of pre-circulated papers, and others

Under the general theme of celebrating SHOT's past, several more

specific themes suggest themselves These are outlined below The Committee is open to proposals not falling within these themes, but it suggests these as possible topics for papers and sessions

Historiography

Over the past 50 years members of SHOT have debated and discussed a number of historiographic approaches to the discipline How successful have these approaches been in the past, and do they continue to serve us well? If they do not, what alternate approaches might one adopt? What has been the impact of computer and information technologies on conducting research and disseminating its results? If information technologies have "dissolved" traditional disciplines of engineering, as several SHOT members argue, how has this affected our work? What has been the effect of the increasing diversity among our members and audience on the study of the History of Technology?

The Historian and Other Disciplines

In SHOT's early days a significant number of members were practicing or retired engineers Engineers remain welcome, although their numbers and role in the Society have contracted The Committee welcomes papers that explore the ways that historians vs engineers, and their respective engineering societies, see the history of technology Likewise, the Committee seeks papers that explore the relationship between SHOT and other societies that count historians of technology among their members, e g the National Park Service, the branches of the military, the Society for Industrial Archaeology, the Society of Architectural Historians, etc We welcome papers from members of those societies, or from SHOT members who have interacted with them Finally, the Committee seeks papers that examine the relationship between SHOT and museums of technology, a relationship that-as with engineers-- was once closer than it is today These include not only the major national museums of the United States, the U K , and Germany, but also a host of smaller, specialized museums that deal with topics in the history of technology

The Changing Context Since SHOT's Founding

SHOT was founded in the context of the Cold War, especially after the orbiting of Sputnik implied a criticism of Western technology How did that context affect the practice of the history of technology? Has the end of the Cold War meant that this context is no longer relevant to SHOT's mission? How might the current conflicts around the world affect the direction of scholarship? Computer and information technologies have already been mentioned as affecting the practice of history Papers or sessions that explore "IT's" origins and ascendance in relation to other technologies, ancient and modern, are welcome Also welcome are papers that address the relationship of other, "post-1957" technologies, such as biotechnology, to technologies of an earlier era

The deadline for submission is March 16, 2007

Proposals for individual papers must include:

1) a one-page abstract (maximum 600 words) 2) a one-page curriculum vitae, including current postal and e-mail addresses 3) a completed A/V equipment request form, available on the SHOT web site http://www historyoftechnology org/fiftieth html

Proposals for complete sessions must include:

1) a description of the session that explains how individual papers contribute to an overall theme 2) the names and paper titles of the presenters 3) for each presenter, a one-page summary (maximum 600 words) of the paper's topic, argument(s), and evidence used 4) for the commentator, chair, and each presenter: one-page c v , with postal and e-mail addresses 5) for each presenter, a completed A/V equipment request form

Please indicate if a proposal is sponsored by one of SHOT's special interest groups

Submission Instructions

1) Materials should be sent as a text attachments to a single e-mail message to the Program Committee Chair, Paul Ceruzzi, at ceruzzip@si edu

2) Each component of the proposal should be a separate attachment Thus an e-mail that proposes a single paper would have three attachments; an e-mail that proposes a session could have up to a dozen or more attachments

3) Please adhere to the 600-word limit for all attachments Use no unusual fonts or special formatting, and save each attachment either as a Microsoft Word document ( doc) or as a Rich Text Format ( rtf) file Nearly all word processing programs, including those used on the Macintosh, can save text in the Rich Text Format Do not use Adobe Acrobat (pdf)

4) Save your proposal and name it with your last name and the word "proposal," e g "smith_proposal doc " Save your CV and equipment request form in the same manner, e g "smith_vitae doc" and "smith_av doc "

5) A session organizer should also attach a description of the overall session and save it as an abstract, e g "jones_abstract doc " If you are organizing a session and proposing a paper in that session, you will be attaching both an "abstract" and "proposal" with your name on them, plus your c v and equipment request form

6) If you are proposing a non-traditional session you may indicate that in the "abstract " These also require an A/V requirements form and a curriculum vitae

General information

SHOT rules do not allow multiple submissions (i e submitting more than one individual paper proposal, or proposing both an individual paper and a paper as part of a session) You may propose a paper and serve as a commentator or session chair at another session
Sessions should be focused on a single topic, but a sessions members should represent a diversity of approaches At the very least, the members of a session should not all be from the same academic or institutional department
Because of the unique nature of this and next year's meeting, SHOT is waiving its customary rule that prevents scholars from presenting at two consecutive domestic meetings As mentioned above, however, papers or sessions that address the future of the Society should be held for the 2008 meeting in Lisbon
SHOT cannot guarantee the availability of digital projectors for all sessions Those with access to projectors are encouraged to bring their own, and to let the Program Committee know if they might have equipment to share For more information about AV equipment, please see the AV request form
Additional information can be found online at the SHOT web site: http://www historyoftechnology org/fiftieth html For questions about the program themes, submission guidelines, or any other aspects of the Call for Papers, please call Paul Ceruzzi, Program Committee Chair: 202-633-2414, or send an e-mail to ceruzzip@si edu

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