THIS CALL FOR PAPERS IS AVAILABLE IN ENGLISH, FRENCH, GERMAN, ITALIAN, AND SPANISH.   CET APPEL À COMMUNICATIONS EST DISPONIBLE EN ANGLAIS, FRANçAIS, ALLEMAND, ITALIEN ET ESPAGNOL.   DIESE AUFFORDERUNG ZUR EINSENDUNG VON VORTRAGSTHEMEN IST IN DEN SPRACHEN ENGLISCH, FRANZÖSISCH, DEUTSCH, ITALIENISCH UND SPANISCH VERFÜGBAR.   questa richiesta di contributi è disponibile in versione inglese, francese, tedesca, italiana e spagnola.   esta convocatoria está disponible en inglés, francés, alemán, italiano y español. For a Word version of the CFP in five languages, click here. For an Adobe .pdf version of the CFP in five languages, click here. For a Word version of the form for submissions, click here. For and Adobe .pdf version of the form for submissions, click here.

The Sixteenth Biennial Conference of the International Society for the History of Rhetoric (ISHR) will be held in Strasbourg, France, from Tuesday 24 July to Saturday 28 July 2007. The biennial conference of ISHR brings together several hundred specialists in the history of rhetoric from around thirty countries. This will be the first meeting of the Society in France since 1987.

SCHOLARLY FOCUS OF THE CONFERENCE

            The Society calls for papers that focus on the theory and practice of rhetoric in its connection to history. The main theme of the conference is "Rhetoric and Religion." Papers dedicated to this theme may deal with any aspect of the history of rhetoric and with any religion. They will explore the points of contact between rhetoric and religion, including, for instance, the forms of communication addressed to the gods or to God; the ways of speaking about the gods or about God; language in its relationship to the holy; the expression of religious feeling or awareness; the role of religious discourse, and even anti-religious discourse, in society; the relationship between speaker and audience in religious contexts; the affinities between persuasion and belief, and so on.

            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, law, and other elements of the cultural context.

PROCEDURE FOR SUBMISSION

            Proposals should be submitted for a 20-minute presentation delivered in English, French, German, Italian, Latin, or Spanish.Group proposals are welcome, under the following conditions. The group must consist of 3 or 4 speakers dealing with a common theme in order to form a coherent panel. One person must be responsible for the panel. Each paper must stand on its own as an independent presentation. Each speaker submits a proposal form for his or her own paper; proposals for such papers must specify the group for which they are intended. In addition, the person who is responsible for the group must complete and submit a form explaining the purpose of the proposed panel.

            Proposals for papers and for groups must be submitted using the form available at the link above. Please fill out the form carefully and send it by e-mail to ishr2007@umb.u-strasbg.fr.

Proposals may also be sent by mail to the following address:

CARRA - Université Marc Bloch - UFR Lettres - Le Portique - 14 rue Descartes - 67084 Strasbourg Cedex – France.

If you do not use the form provided, please be sure that your proposal includes all of the required information. Guidelines for preparing proposals are provided at the bottom of this message. The length of the abstracts must not exceed 350 words.

DEADLINE FOR PROPOSALS

            The deadline for submitting proposals is 17 April 2006.

            Notifications of acceptance will be sent out in October 2006. 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 negotiated favorable rates, will be provided during the academic year 2006-2007. The conference registration fee is still to be determined; by way of indication it was around 125 euros / 150 US dollars for the previous conferences. Graduate students and scholars from certain countries may be eligible for reduced registration fees.

Looking forward to your participation,

Laurent Pernot

President, 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 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 stakes for the history of rhetoric;

3) a summary of the stages of argumentation involved in treating the problem;