News Notes

NewsNotes 401 News Notes The Program Committee for the EIGHTH BIENNIAL CONVENTION OF THE AMERICAN STUDIES ASSOCIATION invites the submission of proposals for papers, sessions, workshops, panels or other professional contributions to the meeting. The theme of the convention is"Region in American Culture." In focusing upon region, the committee seeks to draw upon the divergent interests of all constitutent areas of American Studies. The idea of region is viewed as a problematic concept rather than simply as a given. The committee is receptive to a wide range of proposals which explore the implications of region for the various substantive interests and intellectual and methodological directions in American cultural studies today. Especially solicited are proposals which bring together the concerns of American Studies scholars within and outside the academy. The hope is not only to encourage the closer examination of regional cultures, institutions, styles and traditions, but also to stimulate thinking about several broad questions concerning the problem of region in relation to American Studies. For further information please write: John A. Hague, Chair, ASA Program Committee , Box 1255,Stetson University, DeLand, FL 32730. THE AMERICAN ACADEMY OF RELIGION is seeking top-quality, finished doctoral dissertations relating to the history of religious thought, institutions or movements, for publication in its DISSERTATION SERIES. Manuscripts will be refereed by scholars in the field and competitively judged by the editors of the series. Those dissertations selected will be published by Scholars Press. Only dissertations completed after February 1, 1978, are eligible. Manuscripts will be considered only upon receipt of a formal nominating letter by the dissertation advisor or a member of the examining committee, although preliminary inquiries may be made by the author. No nomination should be sent, however, without first requesting a copy of the editorial guidelines from: Editors, AAR Dissertation Series, Department of Religious Studies, University of Denver, Denver, CO 80208. THE CENTER FOR GREAT PLAINS STUDIES announces its sixth interdisciplinary symposium, 18-20March 1982. The meeting will expand upon the work done at the 1978Crossing Frontiers Conference in Banff, Alberta. The sumposium will organize the discussions of the plains into three major categories: 1) physical and geographic conditions, 2) social, political and historical constructs, and 3) imaginative orderings and reconstructions. The symposium committee asks interested scholars to submit, by 1 July 1981, 150-200word abstracts of proposals for papers from which the committee will organize interdisciplinary sessions. Papers with at least an implicit cross- 402 News Notes national or cross-disciplinary thesis will be preferred, although papers on any aspect of the Great Plains in Canada or the United States will be considered . Proposals should be addressed to: Professor Frances W. Kaye, Department of English, Andrews Hall, University of Nebraska, Lincoln, NE 68588. Eastern National Park and Monument Association announces the HAROLD L. PETERSON AWARD for the best article on Military History (Sl,000 to be awarded to an article on any facet of American military history written in the English language and published during 1980 in an American or foreign journal). The Association is a non-profit educational group authorized by Congress to aid and promote the historical, scientific and educational activities of the National Park Service. The late Harold Peterson, chief curator of the Park Service, was active in the Association for many years. Nominations may be made by publishers, editors, authors or interested parties on behalf of articles that deal not only with military history directly but also with economic, political, social or cultural developments during a period of war or affecting military history between wars from the time of settlement to the present. Clear copies of articles nominated must be received at the principal office of Eastern National Park and Monument Association, 339 Walnut Street, Philadelphia, PA 19106, not later than February 1, 1981. ...