CFP: Ephemera Society of America Annual Conference, “From Here to There: The Ephemera of Travel”

The Ephemera Society of America (ESA) invites presentation proposals on the theme “From Here to There: The Ephemera of Travel,” for Ephemera 43, its annual conference, which will take place at the Hyatt Regency in Greenwich, Connecticut, on March 17, 2023.

Travel is an integral part of our life, whether it be for pleasure, business, adventure, necessity or to visit friends or family. Ephemera 43 will focus on various aspects of travel, past, present and future – even imaginary. This rich topic allows us to explore not just diverse destinations and activities, but travel planning, the modes of transportation and our memories. What’s your pleasure? A luxury cruise? Trekking the Oregon Trail? The European “grand tour”? Cross-country train trip? A pilgrimage to every American baseball stadium? National parks? African safari? Travel to outer space? For some it is armchair travel, studying images of places we may never be able to visit or exploring the fictional realms of fantasy.

Each speaker will address a topic related to travel, relying heavily on tangible ephemera -posters, tickets, brochures, deck plans, official travel documents, menus, trade cards, broadsides, receipts, souvenirs, correspondence, itineraries, photographs, postcards, maps, diaries – to illustrate their subject. Keep in mind that our focus is not just the destination, but the promotion and planning, the means of getting there and the records/remembrances that we choose to keep.

ESA invites you to submit proposals for presentations.  Each presentation will be 30 minutes in length, followed by a brief Q&A.  Please submit the following:

• Presentation title and a written abstract, focusing on the way ephemera tells the story of your chosen topic.  Please describe the specific types of ephemera you will use to illustrate your topic.  Each presentation needs to feature at least three different types of ephemera.  Proposals should not exceed 150 words.
• 5 to 6 representative ephemera images
• A one-paragraph biography, including any affiliations
• A jpg photograph of yourself for publicity purposes
• Mailing address, phone number and e-mail address

Following a review of all proposals, finalists may be asked to submit 20 to 25 images of the types of ephemera that will be used to illustrate your talk.

Proposals must be submitted by September 15, 2022 to Barbara Loe, Ephemera 43 Conference Chair, by e-mail at [email protected] or by post to Barbara Loe, Ephemera Society of America, Inc., P.O. Box 95, Cazenovia, NY 13035-0095.

Decisions and notification about proposals will be made by October 31, 2022.  Presenters will be requested to sign a release at the time of acceptance allowing their presentation to be filmed for use by the ESA.

If selected, a draft PowerPoint presentation must be submitted by February 28, 2023. The final presentation must be submitted by March 7, 2023.  Presentations must include 25 or more ephemera images.  At this time, funding is not available from ESA to support travel or presentation costs. 

The Ephemera Society is eager to expand the use of ephemera in the classroom, and we encourage presentations on all subjects addressing the use of ephemera in teaching and academic research.  We encourage undergraduate and graduate students to submit proposals for the Young Scholars Panel to be held on Thursday afternoon, March 16th.  For more information, please see “Young Scholar Projects” under the “Conference” tab on our website:  www.ephemerasociety.org

Contact Info: Barbara Loe

Contact Email: [email protected]

URL: http://www.ephemerasociety.org