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The ACH Guide to Humanities-Computing Talks at the 2000 MLA Convention


The Association for Computers and the Humanities has compiled this list of sessions with computing-related talks at the 2000 Modern Language Association Convention (in Washington, DC, from December 27 through 30). Some of these sessions contain only one or two computing-related talks, but this list includes the entire program for each session.

In most cases you must pay the convention-registration fee in order to attend any of these talks. But the following sessions are free and open to the public: "From Gutenberg to Gates: Metamorphoses of Media", "The Impact of the Internet on East Asian Literatures and Cultures", "The Humanities at Work: PhDs and New Media", "The Humanities at Work: University Innovators", "Still Reading in the New Millennium: A Conversation", "The Humanities at Work: Postacademic Culture Shock", and "Writing and Schooling at the Millennium".

Although the 2000 convention is now in the past, this information will remain available, as a record of what went on. Similar information for many other years is available via the main page on ACH MLA sessions.

Corrections and additions are welcome; please send them to John.Lavagnino@kcl.ac.uk.


Summary of Sessions


53: Rethinking Shakespeare and Performance Criticism

Wednesday, 27 December 2000, 7:00 to 8:15 p.m., Harding Room, Marriott Wardman Park

A special session; session leader: Sarah Werner, George Washington University


70: Getting Published, Electronically and in Print

Wednesday, 27 December 2000, 8:45 to 10:00 p.m., Park Tower Suite 8206, Marriott Wardman Park

Program arranged by the Council of Editors of Learned Journals. Presiding: Roy C. Flannagan, Milton Quarterly

Speakers: Raymond G. Siemens, Early Modern Literary Studies; Heidi McGregor, JSTOR; Joan Grenier-Winther, Rocky Mountain Modern Language Association


121: Online Discourse: Theoretical Perspectives

Thursday, 28 December 2000, 8:30 to 9:45 a.m., Virginia Suite A, Marriott Wardman Park

Program arranged by the Popular Culture Association. Presiding: Beth A. Ferri, Texas Woman's University


122: From Gutenberg to Gates: Metamorphoses of Media

Thursday, 28 December 2000, 10:15 a.m. to noon, Salon 1, Marriott Wardman Park

A forum. Presiding: Margaret W. Ferguson, University of California, Davis

For coordinated workshops, see meetings 321 and 484.

127: The Impact of the Internet on East Asian Literatures and Cultures

Thursday, 28 December 2000, 10:15 to 11:30 a.m., Hamilton Room, Washington Hilton

Program arranged by the Division on East Asian Literatures. Presiding: Toru Kiuchi, Nihon University, Japan

133: Distance Education for Learning and Teaching Foreign Languages I

Thursday, 28 December 2000, 10:15 to 11:30 a.m., Caucus Room, Washington Hilton

Program arranged by the Division on the Teaching of Language. Presiding: Helene Zimmer-Loew, American Association of Teachers of German

135: Representing the Seventeenth Century in Anthologies, Syllabi, and Curricula

Thursday, 28 December 2000, 10:15 to 11:30 a.m., Virginia Suite A, Marriott Wardman Park

Program arranged by the Division on Seventeenth-Century English Literature. Presiding: Constance A. Jordan, Claremont Graduate University

136: Functions of Victorian Culture at the Present Time I: A Roundtable

Thursday, 28 December 2000, 10:15 to 11:30 a.m., Virginia Suite C, Marriott Wardman Park

Program arranged by the Division on the Victorian Period. Presiding: Christine L. Krueger, Marquette University

140: Words on the Web

Thursday, 28 December 2000, 10:15 to 11:30 a.m., Maryland Suite B, Marriott Wardman Park

Program arranged by the Discussion Group on Lexicography. Presiding: Joseph P. Pickett, Houghton Mifflin Co.

142: Academic Labor and Radical Pedagogy: The Fateful Nexus

Thursday, 28 December 2000, 10:15 to 11:30 a.m., Wilson Room A, Marriott Wardman Park

A special session; session leader: Ronald L. Strickland, Illinois State University

160: Whose Standards? II

Thursday, 28 December 2000, 10:15 to 11:30 a.m., Eisenhower Room, Marriott Wardman Park

Program arranged by the MLA Committee on Scholarly Editions. Presiding: Katherine O'Brien O'Keeffe, University of Notre Dame

164: MOOs: The Theory and Culture of Virtual Worlds I

Thursday, 28 December 2000, 10:15 to 11:30 a.m., Coolidge Room, Marriott Wardman Park

Program arranged by the Association for Computers and the Humanities. Presiding: Neil Fraistat, University of Maryland, College Park

One talk originally scheduled as part of this session has been cancelled: "How to do things with MOO: A Hermeneutic Perspective on Virtual Worlds", by Espen Aarseth of the University of Bergen.

Further information is available on the World Wide Web.


174A: The Humanities at Work: PhDs and New Media

Thursday, 28 December 2000, noon to 1:45 p.m., Virginia Suite A, Marriott Wardman Park

A forum. Presiding: Maggie Debelius, Princeton University

For coordinated workshops, see meetings 266 and 413.

204: Computers and the Production of Literature

Thursday, 28 December 2000, noon to 1:15 p.m., Virginia Suite C, Marriott Wardman Park

A special session; session leader: Wayne V. Miller, University of California, Los Angeles

Respondent: Stuart M. Kurland, Duquesne University

216: Open Forum on Distance Learning

Thursday, 28 December 2000, noon to 1:15 p.m., Eisenhower Room, Marriott Wardman Park

Program arranged by the MLA Committee on Computers and Emerging Technologies in Teaching and Research. Presiding: Douglas Morgenstern, Massachusetts Institute of Technology


244: Changing Standards: Spanish in the New Millennium

Thursday, 28 December 2000, 1:45 to 3:00 p.m., Room C-326, Washington Hilton

Program arranged by the Division on Language Change. Presiding: Florencia Cortés-Conde, Universidad de San Andrés

256: Brain Work: Representations of Postindustrial Labor in American Literature

Thursday, 28 December 2000, 1:45 to 3:00 p.m., Wilson Room B, Marriott Wardman Park

A special session; session leader: Andrew Hoberek, University of Missouri, Columbia

Respondent: Lawrence Rothfield, University of Chicago

266: The Humanities at Work: University Innovators

Thursday, 28 December 2000, 1:45 to 3:00 p.m., Virginia Suite A, Marriott Wardman Park

A workshop arranged in conjunction with the forum The Humanities at Work: PhDs and New Media (174A). Presiding: Susan Basalla, Motley Fool

Respondent: Cary Nelson, University of Illinois, Urbana

270: The Fate of the Scholarly Monograph

Thursday, 28 December 2000, 1:45 to 3:00 p.m., Virginia Suite C, Marriott Wardman Park

Program arranged by the Advisory Committee on the MLA International Bibliography. Presiding: Susanna Bartmann Pathak, Virginia Commonwealth University; Catharine E. Wall, University of California, Riverside


308: Computer Studies in Language and Literature: What Counts and Why

Thursday, 28 December 2000, 3:30 to 4:45 p.m., Eisenhower Room, Marriott Wardman Park

Program arranged by the Discussion Group on Computer Studies in Language and Literature. Presiding: David L. Hoover, New York University

321: Still Reading in the New Millennium: A Conversation

Thursday, 28 December 2000, 3:30 to 4:45 p.m., Salon 3, Marriott Wardman Park

A workshop arranged in conjunction with the forum From Gutenberg to Gates: Metamorphoses of Media (122). Presiding: Charles Francis Altieri, University of California, Berkeley

Speakers: Geoffrey H. Hartman, Yale University; Kathleen A. McCormick, State University of New York, Purchase; Michael Levenson, University of Virginia; Carlos J. Alonso, University of Pennsylvania

323: Context, Culture, and Identity in Language Learning and Teaching: A Session in Honor of Claire Kramsch

Thursday, 28 December 2000, 3:30 to 4:45 p.m., Military Room, Washington Hilton

Program arranged by the Association of Departments of Foreign Languages. Presiding: Arthur D. Mosher, University of Dayton

Respondent: Claire J. Kramsch, University of California, Berkeley


380: Under the Skin: Medical Imaging and the Virtual Body

Thursday, 28 December 2000, 7:15 to 8:30 p.m., Virginia Suite C, Marriott Wardman Park

Program arranged by the Division on Literature and Science. Presiding: Jim Swan, State University of New York, Buffalo

395: Media Theory and Literature

Thursday, 28 December 2000, 7:15 to 8:30 p.m., Wilson Room A, Marriott Wardman Park

Program arranged by the Discussion Group on Media and Literature. Presiding: Moneera Al-Ghadeer, Eastern Michigan University

413: The Humanities at Work: Postacademic Culture Shock

Thursday, 28 December 2000, 7:15 to 8:30 p.m., Virginia Suite A, Marriott Wardman Park

A workshop arranged in conjunction with the forum The Humanities at Work: PhDs and New Media (174A). Presiding: Sabrina M. Wenrick, FDC Reports

416: Documentary Editing in the Digital Age: New Ways of Thinking about Old Problems

Thursday, 28 December 2000, 7:15 to 8:30 p.m., Park Tower Suite 8211, Marriott Wardman Park

Program arranged by the Association for Documentary Editing. Presiding: Peter L. Shillingsburg, University of North Texas


436: Distance Education for Learning and Teaching Foreign Languages II

Friday, 29 December 2000, 8:30 to 9:45 a.m., Cabinet Room, Washington Hilton

Program arranged by the Division on the Teaching of Language. Presiding: Thomas J. Garza, University of Texas, Austin

451: Subjectivity Dot-Com

Friday, 29 December 2000, 8:30 to 9:45 a.m., Park Tower Suite 8212, Marriott Wardman Park

A special session; session leader: Shera Ahmad, Capital Thinking

Respondent: Shera Ahmad

457: Digital Media and Graduate Students in the Modern Languages

Friday, 29 December 2000, 8:30 to 9:45 a.m., Coolidge Room, Marriott Wardman Park

Program arranged by the MLA Committee on Computers and Emerging Technologies in Teaching and Research. Presiding: Matthew G. Kirschenbaum, University of Kentucky


467: World Wide Poetry on the Web

Friday, 29 December 2000, 10:15 to 11:30 a.m., Maryland Suite B, Marriott Wardman Park

Program arranged by the Division on Poetry. Presiding: Loss Pequeño Glazier, State University of New York, Buffalo

Respondent: Loss Pequeño Glazier

472: Symptoms of Theory: Nation, Enjoyment, Critique

Friday, 29 December 2000, 10:15 to 11:30 a.m., Georgetown East Room, Washington Hilton

Program arranged by the Discussion Group on Romanian Studies. Presiding: Christian Moraru, University of North Carolina, Greensboro

484: Writing and Schooling at the Millennium

Friday, 29 December 2000, 10:15 to 11:30 a.m., Salon 1, Marriott Wardman Park

A workshop arranged in conjunction with the forum From Gutenberg to Gates: Metamorphoses of Media (122). Presiding: David J. Bartholomae, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh

491: Literature through Multimedia: Ideas That Work

Friday, 29 December 2000, 10:15 to 11:30 a.m., Cabinet Room, Washington Hilton

Program arranged by the MLA Advisory Committee on Foreign Languages and Literatures. Presiding: Carol Marie Lazzaro-Weis, Southern University

492: Economies of Writing I

Friday, 29 December 2000, 10:15 to 11:30 a.m., Virginia Suite A, Marriott Wardman Park

Program arranged by the Society for Critical Exchange. Presiding: Martha A. Woodmansee, Case Western Reserve University

Paper summaries will be available before the meeting at http://www.cwru.edu/affil/sce.

496: Visual Communication in Cyberspace

Friday, 29 December 2000, 10:15 to 11:30 a.m., Park Tower Suite 8212, Marriott Wardman Park

Program arranged by the Association of Teachers of Technical Writing. Presiding: Sam Dragga, Texas Tech University


512: The Brown Women Writers Project Online: "New" Texts, New Questions

Friday, 29 December 2000, noon to 1:15 p.m., Park Tower Suite 8212, Marriott Wardman Park

Program arranged by the Division on Methods of Literary Research. Presiding: Elizabeth H. Hageman, University of New Hampshire, Durham

See also Other events and activities for a related exhibit.

513: Effects of Technology on Student and Faculty Learning

Friday, 29 December 2000, noon to 1:15 p.m., Coolidge Room, Marriott Wardman Park

Program arranged by the Division on Teaching as a Profession. Presiding: Darren Cambridge, University of Texas, Austin

517: Comparative United States Literatures I: Turn-of-the-Century Sexualities

Friday, 29 December 2000, noon to 1:15 p.m., Harding Room, Marriott Wardman Park

Program arranged by the Division on Late-Nineteenth- and Early-Twentieth-Century American Literature. Presiding: Betsy Jacqueline Erkkila, Northwestern University

518: Germanic Philology

Friday, 29 December 2000, noon to 1:15 p.m., Room C-326, Washington Hilton

Program arranged by the Discussion Group on Germanic Philology. Presiding: John M. Jeep, Miami University, Oxford

528: The Book as Object and Metaphor in the Digital Age

Friday, 29 December 2000, noon to 1:15 p.m., Delaware Suite B, Marriott Wardman Park

A special session; session leader: Charles Bernstein, State University of New York, Buffalo

531: What's New about the New?

Friday, 29 December 2000, noon to 1:15 p.m., Wilson Room B, Marriott Wardman Park

A special session; session leader: Elena Pearl Glasberg, California State University, Los Angeles

536: Pedagogical Uses of New Media in the Foreign Language Classroom

Friday, 29 December 2000, noon to 1:15 p.m., Room C-328, Washington Hilton

A special session; session leader: Sylvie L. F. Richards, Columbia University

Respondent: Sylvie L. F. Richards

537: Mobile Citizens, Media States

Friday, 29 December 2000, noon to 1:15 p.m., Marriott Balcony C and D, Marriott Wardman Park

Program arranged by the PMLA Editorial Board. Presiding: Emily Apter, University of California, Los Angeles; Anton Kaes, University of California, Berkeley; David Norman Rodowick, University of London

Respondent: N. Katherine Hayles, University of California, Los Angeles

539: Teaching Boccaccio's Decameron

Friday, 29 December 2000, noon to 1:15 p.m., Cabinet Room, Washington Hilton

Program arranged by the MLA Publications Committee. Presiding: James H. McGregor, University of Georgia

Respondents: Robert W. Hanning, Columbia University; Bonnie D. Irwin, Northern Indiana University; Robert Bayliss, Indiana University, Bloomington

541: Electronic Rhetoric: Persuasion, Narrative, and the Web

Friday, 29 December 2000, noon to 1:15 p.m., Park Tower Suite 8209, Marriott Wardman Park

Program arranged by the Association for Business Communication. Presiding: Melinda A. Knight, University of Rochester


555: Leveling the Field: Literature and Science and Science Studies

Friday, 29 December 2000, 1:45 to 3:00 p.m., Virginia Suite A, Marriott Wardman Park

Program arranged by the Division on Literature and Science. Presiding: Arielle Saiber, Bowdoin College

558: Medieval Iberia Online

Friday, 29 December 2000, 1:45 to 3:00 p.m., Cabinet Room, Washington Hilton

Program arranged by the Division on Spanish Medieval Language and Literature. Presiding: Barbara F. Weissberger, Old Dominion University

563: History and Future of Rhetorics outside the Paradigm

Friday, 29 December 2000, 1:45 to 3:00 p.m., Maryland Suite B, Marriott Wardman Park

Program arranged by the Division on the History and Theory of Rhetoric and Composition. Presiding: Catherine Lynn Hobbs, University of Oklahoma

580: Educating Modern Language Graduate Students in Information Technology

Friday, 29 December 2000, 1:45 to 3:00 p.m., Park Tower Suite 8210, Marriott Wardman Park

Program arranged by the MLA Committee on Computers and Emerging Technologies in Teaching and Research. Presiding: F. Tyler Curtain, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill

Respondents: F. Tyler Curtain; James S. Noblitt, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill; Sarah Jane Sloane, Colorado State University; Matthew Berk, Inc.com

581: What the Government Funds in Foreign Languages

Friday, 29 December 2000, 1:45 to 3:00 p.m., Map Room, Washington Hilton

Program arranged by the MLA Office of Foreign Language Programs. Presiding: James Efstathios Alatis, Georgetown University


606: Bibliography and the Internet

Friday, 29 December 2000, 3:30 to 4:45 p.m., Coolidge Room, Marriott Wardman Park

Program arranged by the Discussion Group on Bibliography and Textual Studies. Presiding: Betty T. Bennett, American University

625: Teaching American English I

Friday, 29 December 2000, 3:30 to 4:45 p.m., Park Tower Suite 8212, Marriott Wardman Park

Program arranged by the American Dialect Society. Presiding: Michael P. Adams, Albright College

632: American Literary Studies at a New Millennium: Publishing, Teaching, Working the Field

Friday, 29 December 2000, 3:30 to 4:45 p.m., Marriott Balcony C and D, Marriott Wardman Park

Program arranged by the American Literature Section. Presiding: Robert S. Levine, University of Maryland, College Park


666: Research Methods Developed from Electronic Resources

Friday, 29 December 2000, 7:15 to 8:30 p.m., Park Tower Suite 8212, Marriott Wardman Park

Program arranged by the Division on Methods of Literary Research. Presiding: Susanne Woods, Wheaton College, MA

668: Issues in Discourse Analysis

Friday, 29 December 2000, 7:15 to 8:30 p.m., Room C-328, Washington Hilton

Program arranged by the Division on Language and Society. Presiding: José Del Valle, Fordham University, Bronx


734: Beyond Hypertext: Exploring Online Communication and Community

Saturday, 30 December 2000, 10:15 to 11:30 a.m., Park Tower Suite 8210, Marriott Wardman Park

A special session; session leader: Michael Eberle-Sinatra, University of Toronto


799: Economies of Writing II

Saturday, 30 December 2000, 1:45 to 3:00 p.m., Virginia Suite B, Marriott Wardman Park

Program arranged by the Society for Critical Exchange. Presiding: Richard M. Ohmann, Wesleyan University

Respondent: James E. Porter, Case Western Reserve University

Paper summaries will be available before the meeting at http://www.cwru.edu/affil/sce.

805: MOOs: The Theory and Culture of Virtual Worlds II

Saturday, 30 December 2000, 1:45 to 3:00 p.m., Coolidge Room, Marriott Wardman Park

Program arranged by the Association for Computers and the Humanities. Presiding: Neil Fraistat, University of Maryland, College Park

Further information is available on the World Wide Web.

808: Rhetoric, Technical Communication, and Theory

Saturday, 30 December 2000, 1:45 to 3:00 p.m., Park Tower Suite 8210, Marriott Wardman Park

Program arranged by the Association of Teachers of Technical Writing. Presiding: Michael J. Goeller, Rutgers University, New Brunswick


Other events and activities

The Women Writers Project and the Dickinson Electronic Archives Project will share a booth in the exhibition hall: Booth 912, in Exhibit Halls B and C, Marriott Wardman Park. The exhibit halls will be open on 28 and 29 December 2000 from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., and on 30 December 2000 from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. (See The Brown Women Writers Project Online: "New" Texts, New Questions for a related session.)