Past Conferences & Meetings

The SEA hosts and sponsors annual conferences. In odd-numbered years, the Society hosts an open-topic general conference known as the Biennial Conference. In even-numbered years, it sponsors Special Topics conferences and workshops. The SEA also sponsors panels at our affiliated societies: the American Literature Association & the American Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies.

SEA Biennial Conferences

  • 1999: The Society of Early Americanists held its first conference in Charleston, South Carolina, March 4-7, 1999. Program.
  • 2001: The second Society of Early Americanists Biennial Conference was held in Norfolk, Virginia, March 8-10, 2001. Information. Program. David Shields’s Presidential Address.
  • 2003: The third Society of Early Americanists Biennial Conference was held in Providence, Rhode Island, April 10-13, 2003. Program
  • 2005: The fourth Society of Early Americanists Biennial Conference was held in Old Town Alexandria, Virginia, March 31-April 2, 2005. Zabelle Stodola’s Presidential Address.
  • 2007: The fifth Society of Early Americanists Biennial Conference was held in Williamsburg, Virginia, June 7-10, 2007, jointly with the Thirteenth Annual Omohundro Institute of Early American History and Culture conference. Program. Dennis Moore’s Presidential Address; OIEAHC’s Director Comments.
  • 2009: The sixth Society of Early Americanists Biennial Conference was held in Hamilton, Bermuda, March 4-7, 2009. Program.
  • 2011: The seventh Society of Early Americanists Biennial Conference was held in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, March 3-5, 2011. Program.
  • 2013: The eighth Society of Early Americanists Biennial Conference was held in Savannah, Georgia, February 28-March 2, 2013. Program.
  • 2015: The ninth Society of Early Americanists Biennial Conference was held jointly with the Omohundro Institute of Early American History and Culture in Chicago, June 18-21, 2015. Conference website
  • 2017: The tenth Society of Early Americanists Biennial Conference was held in Tulsa, Oklahoma, March 2-4, 2017. Conference website.
  • 2019: The eleventh Society of Early Americanists Biennial Conference was held in Eugene, Oregon, February 28-March 2, 2019. Conference website.
  • 2021: The twelfth Society of Early Americanists Biennial Conference was held Virtually, March 3-7, 2021. Conference website.
  • 2023: The thirteenth Society of Early Americanists Biennial Conference was held in College Park, Maryland, June 8-11, 2023. Conference website.

Special Topics Conferences

  • First Ibero-Anglo Summit, May 16-19, 2002, Tucson, Arizona
  • Second Ibero-Anglo Summit, November 4-6, 2004, Providence, Rhode Island
  • Early American Cartographies, March 2-4, 2006, The Newberry Library, Chicago, Illinois
  • Prophetstown Revisited: A Summit on Early Native American Studies, April 3-5, 2008, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana
  • Early American Borderlands, May 12-15, 2010, St. Augustine, Florida
  • “Triumph in my Song”: 18th & 19th Century African Atlantic Culture, History, & Performance, May 31-June 2, 2012, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland
  • London and the Americas, 1492-1812, July 17-20, 2014, Kingston University, London. Program
  • Translation and Transmission in the Early Americas: The Fourth Early Americanist ‘Summit’, June 2-5, 2016, Washington DC and the University of Maryland
  • Religion and Politics in Early America, March 1-4, 2018, St. Louis, Missouri
  • What Does it Mean to Remember?, Plymouth, 24-27 June 2020, Cancelled. However, a number of panels and papers were included in the SEA 2021 Biennial Conference in March 2021.

SEA Workshops and Symposia

SEA Seminar Series

SEA Affiliated Societies Conferences

American Literature Association Conference: SEA Sponsored Panels
  • American Literature Association, May 24-27, 2001, Cambridge, Massachusetts, SEA Panels 2001
  • American Literature Association, May 30 – June 2, 2002, Long Beach, California, SEA Panels 2002
  • American Literature Association , May 22-25, 2003, Cambridge, Massachusetts, SEA Panels 2003
  • American Literature Association, May 27-30, 2004, San Francisco, California, SEA Panels 2004
  • American Literature Association, May 26-29, 2005, Boston, Massachusetts, SEA Panels 2005
  • American Literature Association, May 25-28, 2006, San Francisco, California, SEA Panels 2006
  • American Literature Association, May 24-27, 2007, Boston, Massachusetts, SEA Panels 2007
  • American Literature Association, May 22-25, 2008, San Francisco, California, SEA Panels 2008
  • American Literature Association, May 21-24, 2009, Boston, Massachusetts, SEA Panels 2009
  • American Literature Association, May 27-30, 2010, San Francisco, California, SEA Panels 2010
  • American Literature Association, May 26-29, 2011, Boston, Massachusetts, SEA Panels 2011
  • American Literature Association, May 24-27, 2012, San Francisco, California, SEA Panels 2012
  • American Literature Association, May 23-26, 2013, Boston, Massachusetts, SEA Panels 2013
  • American Literature Association, May 22-25, 2014, Washington, DC, SEA Panels 2014
  • American Literature Association, May 21-24, 2015, Boston, Massachusetts, SEA Panels 2015
  • American Literature Association, May 26-29, 2016, San Francisco, California, SEA Panels 2016
  • American Literature Association, May 25-28, 2017, Boston, Massachusetts, SEA Panels 2017
  • American Literature Association, May 24-27, 2018, San Francisco, California, SEA Panels 2018
  • American Literature Association, May 23-26, 2019, Boston, Massachusetts, SEA Panels 2019
  • American Literature Association, July 7-11, 2021, Boston, Massachusetts, SEA Panels 2021
  • American Literature Association, May 26-29, 2022, Chicago, Illinois, SEA Panels 2022
  • American Literature Association, May 25-27, 2023, Boston, Massachusetts, Program
American Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies Conference: SEA Sponsored Panels
  • American Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies, March 24-28, 2004, Boston, Massachusetts
  • American Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies, March 31-April 3, 2005, Las Vegas, Nevada
  • American Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies, March 30-April 2, 2006, Montreal, Quebec
  • American Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies, March 22-25, 2007, Atlanta, Georgia
  • American Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies, March 27-30, 2008, Portland, Oregon
  • American Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies, March 26-29, 2009, Richmond, Virginia
  • American Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies, March 18-21, 2010, Albuquerque, New Mexico
  • American Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies, March 17-20, 2011, Vancouver, BC, Canada
  • American Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies, March 22-25, 2012, San Antonio, Texas
  • American Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies, April 4-7, 2013, Cleveland, Ohio
  • American Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies, March 20-22, 2014, Williamsburg, Virginia
  • American Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies, March 19-22, 2015, Los Angeles, California
  • American Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies, March 31-April 3, 2016, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
  • American Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies, March 30-April 2, 2017, Minneapolis, Minnesota
  • American Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies, March 22-24, 2018, ASECS 2018 program, Orlando, Florida
  • American Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies, March 21-23, 2019, SEA Panel ASECS 2019, Denver, Colorado
  • American Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies, March 31-April 2, 2022, Baltimore, Maryland, Program 

Portrait of Benjamin Franklin


 Image credit: Portrait of Benjamin Franklin (Chamberlin), 1762. London. Mason Chamberlin. Oil on canvas; Stretcher size: H. 50 3/8 in. (128.2 cm), W. 40 3/4 in. (103.5 cm); framed: H. 66 in. (167.5 cm), W. 58 in. (147.5 cm). Philadelphia Museum of Art (Philadelphia, Pa.), 1956-88-1. Benjamin Franklin Tercentenary

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