The 59th Annual Society for French Historical Studies conference will be held at the Cambridge Marriott Hotel in Kendall Square, Cambridge MA, from Thursday, April 4, through Saturday, April 6, 2013.  It will be hosted jointly by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard University.  Jeff Ravel (MIT) and Mary Lewis(Harvard) are the co-organizers.

The theme for this conference will be “Nature and Technology in French History.”  Plenary sessions will include a presentation by Robert Darnton, the Carl H. Pforzheimer University Professor and University Librarian at Harvard University, on digital technologies and the practice of history; a session on the digital humanities from the perspective of both researchers and granting agencies; and a roundtable on trends in the environmental and technological history of France and its colonies featuring Michael Bess, Caroline Ford, and Jean-Francois Mouhot.  There will be a Friday night reception at the Harvard Museum of Natural History and a Saturday evening banquet in the new wing of MIT’s Media Lab Building, from which we will enjoy a spectacular view of the Charles River and the Boston skyline.  

The conference theme, “Nature and Technology in French History,” shall be understood broadly.  The Program Committee also welcomes papers and proposals on all subjects in the history of France, its colonies, and other Francophone countries, from the middle ages to the contemporary period. We encourage individuals to organize complete panels composed of three papers, a chair and a commentator -- including panels that cut across traditional periodizations.  Roundtables and other formats will also be considered.  In conjunction with the SFHS Technology Committee, we also welcome proposals for sessions to be webcast, on topics of broad interest.

Proposals should include the following items, integrated into one file (preferably a PDF):  an abstract (no more than 1 page) for each paper; a CV (no more than 1 page) for each participant, including contact information; and the proposed chair’s and commentator’s names, affiliations, and email addresses.  Please submit complete proposals to sfhs2013@fas.harvard.edu.  Please do not send proposals for papers that have already been presented or are scheduled for presentation elsewhere, or that have already been published.  Please be very specific regarding your audio-visual needs at the time of submission.  The financial well-being of SFHS depends on membership dues.  All conference participants must be members in good standing of SFHS at the time of the conference.  If you are not already a member, please join now by logging on to the Duke University Press site.  There are reduced membership fees for students.

All sessions will be held at the Cambridge Marriott Hotel, Harvard, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.  The hotel is located adjacent to the MIT campus in Kendall Square, a rapidly developing area of East Cambridge that is home to many high-tech companies and interesting restaurants and businesses.  Harvard Square in Cambridge, and the Waterfront, Back Bay, and the Fenway in Boston, are all easily accessible via public transportation.  The special hotel rate will be $169.00 per night.

As new information about the conference becomes available, the conference website  sfhs2013.fas.harvard.edu will be updated periodically.




Conference web site:  http://sfhs2013.fas.harvard.edu



Reservations at the Cambridge Marriott:  http://www.marriott.com/hotels/travel/boscb?groupCode=sfhsfha&app=resvlink&fromDate=4/2/13&toDate=4/10/13