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The ACH Guide to Humanities-Computing Talks at the 1999 MLA Convention


The Association for Computers and the Humanities has compiled this list of sessions with computing-related talks at the 1999 Modern Language Association Convention (in Chicago, Illinois, 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 two sessions are free and open to the public: "A Reading of Collaborative Texts from the World Wide Web", and "Chaucer Futures: Graduate Study in the Twenty-First Century".

Although the 1999 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


29: Technical Communication in Cyberspace

Monday, 27 December 1999, 3:30 to 4:45 p.m., Columbus Hall B, Hyatt Regency Chicago

Program arranged by the Association of Teachers of Technical Writing. Presiding: Patricia Elder Cearley, South Plains College, Texas

36: Technology and the Literature Classroom

Monday, 27 December 1999, 3:30 to 4:45 p.m., Colorado Room, Sheraton Chicago

Program arranged by the American Association of Teachers of German. Presiding: Rex Clark, University of Michigan, Dearborn


54: The Old and the New: Editorial and Manuscript Research and the Challenge of the New Century

Monday, 27 December 1999, 5:15 to 6:30 p.m., Atlanta Room, Hyatt Regency Chicago

Program arranged by the MLA Committee on Scholarly Editions. Presiding: Joseph V. Ricapito, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge

60: Joycean Communities: Fictional, Biographical, Scholarly, Virtual, Imagined, ...: A Communal Discussion

Monday, 27 December 1999, 5:15 to 6:30 p.m., Du Sable Room, Hyatt Regency Chicago

Program arranged by the International James Joyce Foundation. Presiding: Michael Groden, University of Western Ontario

Speakers: Christy L. Burns, College of William and Mary; Hoi F. Cheu, University of Western Ontario; Michael Patrick Gillespie, Marquette University; Patrick Colm Hogan, University of Connecticut, Storrs; Timothy P. Martin, Rutgers University, Camden; Mark Nunes, Georgia Perimeter College; Bonnie Kime Scott, University of Delaware, Newark


101: The Impact of Technology

Monday, 27 December 1999, 7:00 to 8:15 p.m., Haymarket Room, Hyatt Regency Chicago

Program arranged by the Association for Computers and the Humanities. Presiding: Julia H. Flanders, Brown University

Further information is available on the World Wide Web.


144: Life Writing and the Visual

Tuesday, 28 December 1999, 8:30 to 9:45 a.m., Water Tower Room, Hyatt Regency Chicago

Program arranged by the Division on Autobiography, Biography, and Life Writing. Presiding: Hertha D. Sweet Wong, University of California, Berkeley

146: Social Dialects and Bilingualism in the Media and the World Wide Web

Tuesday, 28 December 1999, 8:30 to 9:45 a.m., Columbus Room A and B, Sheraton Chicago

Program arranged by the Division on Language and Society. Presiding: Patricia C. Nichols, San Jose State University

147: Innovative Perspectives on Technology

Tuesday, 28 December 1999, 8:30 to 9:45 a.m., Grand Ballroom D South, Hyatt Regency Chicago

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

153: Quantitative Analysis of Aspects of Style

Tuesday, 28 December 1999, 8:30 to 9:45 a.m., Columbus Hall B, Hyatt Regency Chicago

Program arranged by the Discussion Group on Computer Studies in Language and Literature. Presiding: Michael Neuman, Georgetown University


178: Girling Popular Culture

Tuesday, 28 December 1999, 10:15 to 11:30 a.m., Water Tower Room, Hyatt Regency Chicago

Program arranged by the Division on Popular Culture. Presiding: Cynthia J. Fuchs, George Mason University

209: Editing in the Digital Age: W. B. Yeats and Marianne Moore

Tuesday, 28 December 1999, 10:15 to 11:30 a.m., Acapulco Room, Hyatt Regency Chicago

Program arranged by the Association for Documentary Editing. Presiding: Richard J. Finneran, University of Tennessee, Knoxville


243: Medieval Literature on the Web

Tuesday, 28 December 1999, noon to 1:15 p.m., Grand Ballroom D South, Hyatt Regency Chicago

A special session.


289: Getting Some Distance on Distance Education

Tuesday, 28 December 1999, 1:45 to 3:00 p.m., Columbus Hall B, Hyatt Regency Chicago

Program arranged by the MLA Committee on Community Colleges. Presiding: Carolyn L. Jacobs, Houston Community College, Texas

295: Technical Communication, Ethics, and Privacy

Tuesday, 28 December 1999, 1:45 to 3:00 p.m., Acapulco Room, Hyatt Regency Chicago

Program arranged by the Association of Teachers of Technical Writing. Presiding: Kirk St. Amant, University of Minnesota, Twin Cities

296: The "New" Computer-Assisted Literary Criticism: What Does it Look Like? What Will it Look Like?

Tuesday, 28 December 1999, 1:45 to 3:00 p.m., Field Room, Hyatt Regency Chicago

Program arranged by the Association for Computers and the Humanities. Presiding: Raymond G. Siemens, Malaspina University-College

Further information is available on the World Wide Web.


326: Looking Glasses: Reflections on Vision Machines

Tuesday, 28 December 1999, 3:30 to 4:45 p.m., Picasso Room, Hyatt Regency Chicago

A special session; session leader: Brenda R. Silver, Dartmouth College

334: Reinventing Undergraduate Pedagogy II

Tuesday, 28 December 1999, 3:30 to 4:45 p.m., Columbus Room A and B, Sheraton Chicago

Program arranged by the MLA Office of Foreign Language Programs. Presiding: Arthur D. Mosher, University of Dayton


349: A Reading of Collaborative Texts from the World Wide Web

Tuesday, 28 December 1999, 5:15 to 6:30 p.m., Grand Ballroom D South, Hyatt Regency Chicago

Program arranged by the MLA Committee on Computers and Emerging Technologies in Teaching and Research. Presiding: Stuart Moulthrop, University of Baltimore

Speaker: Rob Wittig, Chicago, Illinois


386: Queer Visuals on the Verge...

Tuesday, 28 December 1999, 7:15 to 8:30 p.m., Truffles Room, Hyatt Regency Chicago

Program arranged by the Division on Film. Presiding: Chris Holmlund, University of Tennessee, Knoxville

Respondent: Patricia White, Swarthmore College

390: Technology and the Teaching of Writing: Possibilities and Challenges

Tuesday, 28 December 1999, 7:15 to 8:30 p.m., Acapulco Room, Hyatt Regency Chicago

Program arranged by the Division on the Teaching of Writing. Presiding: Deborah H. Holdstein, Governors State University

400: Caught in a Web? Liberal Arts Teaching in the Information Age

Tuesday, 28 December 1999, 7:15 to 8:30 p.m., Stetson Room G, Hyatt Regency Chicago

A special session; session leader: Shawn Patrick Gillen, Beloit College

Respondent: Shawn Patrick Gillen

412: Evaluating and Supporting Academic Work in the Digital Age I

Tuesday, 28 December 1999, 7:15 to 8:30 p.m., Columbus Hall B, Hyatt Regency Chicago

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

Respondent: Sarah Jane Sloane, University of Puget Sound


460: The New Variorum Shakespeare in the Electronic Medium

Wednesday, 29 December 1999, 8:30 to 9:45 a.m., Columbus Hall B, Hyatt Regency Chicago

Program arranged by the MLA Committee on the New Variorum Edition of Shakespeare. Presiding: Paul Werstine, University of Western Ontario

Speakers: Gregory Crane, Tufts University; Hilary Binda, Tufts University; David Smith, Tufts University


492: Distance Learning and the Humanities: A Roundtable

Wednesday, 29 December 1999, 10:15 to 11:30 a.m., Columbus Hall B, Hyatt Regency Chicago

Program arranged by the MLA Committee on Computers and Emerging Technologies in Teaching and Research. Presiding: Gail E. Hawisher, University of Illinois, Urbana

Respondent: F. Tyler Curtain, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill

505: Teaching and Learning German

Wednesday, 29 December 1999, 10:15 to 11:30 a.m., Parlor C, Sheraton Chicago

Program arranged by Delta Phi Alpha (National German Honor Society). Presiding: Michael E. Schultz, New York University


521: Black American Literature and Culture at the Millennium: New Technologies

Wednesday, 29 December 1999, noon to 1:15 p.m., Acapulco Room, Hyatt Regency Chicago

Program arranged by the Division on Black American Literature and Culture. Presiding: Farah Jasmine Griffin, University of Pennsylvania


558: Spanish Medieval Language and Literature

Wednesday, 29 December 1999, 1:45 to 3:00 p.m., Ohio Room, Sheraton Chicago

Program arranged by the Division on Spanish Medieval Language and Literature. Presiding: Mercedes Vaquero, Brown University

579: Books, Bytes, and Teaching: Technological Fixes or Junk Research?

Wednesday, 29 December 1999, 1:45 to 3:00 p.m., Columbus Hall B, Hyatt Regency Chicago

Program arranged by the Advisory Committee on the MLA International Bibliography. Presiding: Mark R. V. Southern, University of Texas, Austin; C. P. Haun Saussy, Stanford University

593: Desplazamientos: Women and Resistance

Wednesday, 29 December 1999, 1:45 to 3:00 p.m., Parlor C, Sheraton Chicago

Program arranged by Feministas Unidas. Presiding: Linda Irene Koski, Santa Clara University; Dara E. Goldman, University of Illinois, Urbana

Papers are available through the organization's Web site.


617: Old Texts, New Strategies: Researching and Teaching Early Women Writers Online

Wednesday, 29 December 1999, 3:30 to 4:45 p.m., Grand Ballroom D South, Hyatt Regency Chicago

A special session; session leader: Elizabeth H. Hageman, University of New Hampshire, Durham

626: Chaucer Futures: Graduate Study in the Twenty-First Century

Wednesday, 29 December 1999, 3:30 to 4:45 p.m., Acapulco Room, Hyatt Regency Chicago

A workshop arranged in conjunction with the forum "Millennial Chaucer: 1400/2000". Presiding: Robert W. Hanning, Columbia University

631: Graduate Education in Foreign Language for the Twenty-First Century

Wednesday, 29 December 1999, 3:30 to 4:45 p.m., Colorado Room, Sheraton Chicago

Program arranged by the MLA Advisory Committee on Foreign Languages and Literatures. Presiding: Diane Birckbichler, Ohio State University, Columbus

635: The Awkward Stage I: Henry James and the Invention of Postmodernity

Wednesday, 29 December 1999, 3:30 to 4:45 p.m., San Francisco Room, Hyatt Regency Chicago

Program arranged by the Henry James Society. Presiding: Michael Anesko, Penn State University, University Park

Respondent: David McWhirter, Texas A&M University, College Station


644: Business Meeting and Cash Bar Arranged by the Women's Caucus for the Modern Languages, in Collaboration with the Brown University Women Writers Project, Feministas Unidas, Women in French, and Women in German

Wednesday, 29 December 1999, 5:15 to 6:30 p.m., Acapulco Room, Hyatt Regency Chicago


689: Electronic Editions: Who Will Read and How?

Wednesday, 29 December 1999, 7:15 to 8:30 p.m., Skyway Suite 280, Hyatt Regency Chicago

A special session; session leader: S. Chris Koenig-Woodyard, University of Oxford

For more information, see the British Women Playwrights around 1800 web site.

702: Working in Publishing

Wednesday, 29 December 1999, 7:15 to 8:30 p.m., Columbus Hall B, Hyatt Regency Chicago

Program arranged by the MLA Office of English Programs. Presiding: James Ralph Papp, MLA


720: Faulkner, Modernity, and Mechanization

Wednesday, 29 December 1999, 9:00 to 10:15 p.m., Toronto Room, Hyatt Regency Chicago

A special session; session leader: Patrick H. Samway, Saint Peter's College

731: Writing the Circuit: Technology, Language Transmission, and Transformations in Linguistic Practice

Wednesday, 29 December 1999, 9:00 to 10:15 p.m., Burnham Room, Hyatt Regency Chicago

A special session; session leader: Jill Galvan, University of California, Los Angeles


744: From Observation to Analysis to Action: Confronting the Job Crisis

Thursday, 30 December 1999, 8:30 to 9:45 a.m., Acapulco Room, Hyatt Regency Chicago

Program arranged by the Discussion Group on Part-Time Faculty Members. Presiding: John J. Regan, Boston University

757: Evaluating and Supporting Academic Work in the Digital Age II

Thursday, 30 December 1999, 8:30 to 9:45 a.m., Water Tower Room, Hyatt Regency Chicago

Program arranged by the MLA Committee on Computers and Emerging Technologies in Teaching and Research. Presiding: Donna Christine Van Handle, Mount Holyoke College

764: Humanities Futures II

Thursday, 30 December 1999, 8:30 to 9:45 a.m., Columbus Hall A, Hyatt Regency Chicago

Program arranged by the Society for Critical Exchange. Presiding: Max W. Thomas, University of Iowa

Papers will be available before the convention on the society's web site.


779: Millennial Shakespeare

Thursday, 30 December 1999, 10:15 to 11:30 a.m., Gold Coast Room, Hyatt Regency Chicago

Program arranged by the Division on Shakespeare. Presiding: Kim Felicia Hall, Georgetown University