Complete Story
 

01/20/2020

ISHR 2021 - Call for Papers

Call for Papers

The Twenty-Third Biennial Conference of the
International Society for the History of Rhetoric (ISHR) 
Radboud University Nijmegen, The Netherlands
July 27-31, 2021

 

The Biennial Conference of ISHR brings together several hundred specialists in the history of rhetoric from around thirty countries.

Scholarly Focus of the Conference

The Society calls for twenty-minute conference papers focusing on historical aspects of the theory and practice of rhetoric. This year’s specific conference theme or focus is “Topics and Commonplaces in Antiquity and Beyond.”

Topical invention originated in ancient Greece and was developed and used throughout the western intellectual tradition as a systematized method of finding arguments to discuss abstract, philosophical questions, as well as specific questions determined by circumstances of time and space. Commonplaces are part of topical invention. They reflect commonly accepted views and ideas such as the benefits of peace vs. the harm caused by war, and can be geared to provide arguments which confirm, suggest, or create consensus. Studying topics and their application from a historical perspective thus highlights how persuasive texts reflect and contribute to the shaping of the intellectual and sociocultural contexts in which they are situated. We invite papers on the theory and practice of topics in all regions, periods and cultures. But of course we also welcome papers on both the theory and the practice of rhetoric in all periods and languages, and on its relationships with poetics, philosophy, politics, religion, law, and other aspects of the cultural context.

Procedure for Submission

Proposals are invited for 20-minute presentations delivered in one of the six languages of the Society, viz. English, French, German, Italian, Latin and Spanish. The Society also welcomes panel proposals consisting of three or four speakers dealing with a common theme, so as to form a coherent set of papers. The chair of the proposed panel may also be one of the speakers. Each speaker in a panel should submit a proposal form for his or her own paper, clearly specifying the panel to which it pertains. In addition, the panel organizer is expected to complete and submit a separate form explaining the purpose of the proposed panel and naming the participants. Please note that proposals for panel papers will be considered on their individual merits by the Programme Committee, and there is no guarantee that all papers proposed for a panel will be accepted.

Each person may only appear once as a speaker on the programme. Only one proposal for presentation per person can be accepted, including also presentations as parts of panels. Persons serving as (non-presenting) chairs are not affected by this rule.

Proposals for papers and for panels must be submitted on-line. Please complete the on-line form carefully and fully. For any questions please contact the chair of the programme committee, Prof. Lucía Díaz Marroquín (ldiazmar@ucm.es), or myself (m.v.d.poel@let.ru.nl). Please note that submitting a paper implies making the commitment to attend the conference if your paper is accepted. Guidelines for the preparation of proposals are provided at the bottom of this message. The length of the abstracts must not exceed 300 words. 

Deadline for Proposals

The deadline for the submission of proposals is 15 May 2020.

The submission website will be open for submission by February 2020. An alert will appear on the ISHR website and in your mailbox.

Notifications of acceptance will be sent out by September 2020. For participants who require an earlier acceptance date in order to secure funding, we will try to accommodate their requests if they are made with appropriate documentation.

Information about the Conference, including hotel accommodation, will be provided at the beginning of the academic year 2020-2021. The conference registration fee is still to be determined, but the Nijmegen organizers will endeavor to ensure that this is kept as low as possible. Graduate students and scholars from underrepresented countries pay reduced registration fees and may be eligible for travel grants. Click HERE to apply.

I am very much looking forward to welcoming you to Nijmegen in 2021!!!

Marc van der Poel,
President of the 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 its chronological period, language, texts and other sources;
  2. a statement of the specific problem that will be treated in your paper; its place in relation to the present state of research in the general field under consideration; and its significance for the history of rhetoric;
  3. a summary of the stages of argumentation involved in addressing the problem; and
  4. conclusions and advances in research.

Printer-Friendly Version