SEA 2025 Biennial

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The Fourteenth Biennial Conference of the Society of Early Americanists, 5-8 June 2025

The Fourteenth Biennial Conference of the Society of Early Americanists will convene on the campus of the University of Notre Dame, 5-8 June 2025. Along with wide-ranging panels on various early Americanist topics, the conference will include:

Keynote Presentations from Sara E. Johnson (Literature, UC San Diego; author of Encyclopédie Noire: The Making of Moreau de Saint-Méry’s Intellectual World) and Zada Ballew (History, UW-Madison; historical consultant for Native American and Indigenous Initiatives at U of Notre Dame; citizen of the Pokagon Band of Potawatomi Indians).

Common Read Events on As Sacred to Us: Simon Pokagon’s Birch Bark Stories in Their Contexts, organized by Blaire Morseau (Religious Studies and American Indian and Indigenous Studies, Michigan State U; citizen of the Pokagon Band of Potawatomi Indians) and Kelly Wisecup (English, Northwestern U).

Plenary Panels on “1776 and the Age of Revolutions,” chaired by Sandra M. Gustafson (English, U of Notre Dame), with Eliga Gould (History, U of New Hampshire), Philip Gould (English, Brown U), Steve Sarson (English, U Jean Moulin, Lyon), and Lenora Warren (English, Cornell U); and “Religious Poetry and Biblical Interpretation” chaired by Jan Stieverman (American Studies, U of Heidelberg), with Catalina Andrango-Walker (Modern & Classical Languages and Literatures, Virginia Tech), April Langley (African American Studies and English, U of South Carolina), Wendy Roberts (English, U of Albany) and Abram Van Engen (English, Washington U).

James Greene and the Media and Communications committee have set up an SEA Discord server for conference attendees. Among its uses is to post ride share requests for the conference. Those scheduled to participate in the conference as of 7 May 2025 have received an invitation link to join the server. Please contact James Greene (james.greene@indstate.edu) with any questions or if you need a new invitation link.

The conference will also include a book exhibit, which will be located outside 215-216 McKenna Hall in the open space next to the Welcome/Registration area: Exhibitors include the University of Virginia Press, The Scholars Choice, Early American Reprints, and Early American Literature. In addition, there will be a table for a silent auction of early American-themed prints, organized by Mark Alan Mattes (University of Louisville), and a table for the Junior Scholars Committee. The Notre Dame bookstore will have copies available of Sara E. Johnson’s Encyclopédie Noire: The Making of Moreau de Saint-Méry’s Intellectual World and the Common Reading Initiative volume As Sacred to Us: Simon Pokagon’s Birch Bark Stories in Their Contexts, edited by Blaire Morseau. Johnson and Morseau will be available to sign books in the exhibit space from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. on Saturday, June 8.

Facilities: Directly across from the Morris Inn, and connected to it by a tunnel, is McKenna Hall, the main conference venue. See the McKenna floorplan and search for individual rooms. The registration desk, book exhibit, book signing, silent auction, opening reception, continental breakfasts and all sessions are in McKenna Hall. The Welcome/Registration desk is on the 2nd floor, near the Ryan Family Forum where the book exhibit and some meals (opening reception and breakfasts) take place. Both keynotes and both plenary panels are in 215-216 McKenna, just next to the Ryan Family Forum. All 200-numbered panel rooms are on the second floor of McKenna. B01 and B02 are in the McKenna basement, with access by a wide staircase and two elevators.

Campus Map: We suggest using Notre Dame’s searchable online map. Search results are colored yellow. The map can be downloaded and/or printed as needed.

AV Needs: All presentation rooms will be equipped with computers, screens, and projectors. In most instances, you should be able to access your email or the cloud to download a slideshow. You may wish to bring a flash drive as a backup. There will be tech support available.

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