Dickens Society Symposium
July 13 – 15, 2012
As part of its Dickens in Lowell celebration, the University of Massachusetts Lowell will host one of the two 2012 Dickens Society Symposia being offered in this bicentennial year. Scholars will present their work July 13–15, 2012 at the Tsongas Industrial History Center.
Hotel accommodations in downtown Lowell at the UMass Lowell Inn & Conference Center will provide easy access to a major exhibition at the National Park’s Boott Gallery, "Dickens and Massachusetts: A Tale of Power and Transformation." The exhibition will include several rare artifacts, including the 1842 portrait of Dickens by Boston painter Francis Alexander, the Daniel Maclise portrait of the Dickens children, and the Boston Line Type edition of *The Old Curiosity Shop* donated by Dickens to the Perkins School for the Blind in 1868.
The popular Dickens walking tour of Lowell (first offered at the Dickens and America conference in 2002) and an interactive workshop at the Tsongas Industrial History Center will also be featured offerings of the symposium. Evening events include participation in “Dickens and Steampunk” and other "Dickens in Lowell" community programming. For more information, see http://www.uml.edu/dickens.
Paper proposals on any aspect of Dickens and his works are invited. Final papers must be readable in twenty minutes. Please send one-page proposals by email, as an attachment, to Joel J. Brattin no later than March 31, 2012: jjb@wpi.edu. Scholars at all stages of their careers are encouraged to submit proposals. Registration fee is $100 standard fee, $50 graduate students. The Dickens dinner is $25. Contact DickensinLowell@uml.edu for more information. A downloadable registration form and symposium schedule information will be available soon on our website: http://www.uml.edu/dickens.
Announcement: The Partlow Prize may be awarded to one or two graduate students, independent scholars, or non-tenured faculty, in the amount of $300 to $500. Those who wish to be considered for the Partlow Prize should submit a cv and a proposal/synopsis of 500-1000 words. The Partlow Prize includes a monetary award, a waiver of the symposium registration fee, and the cost of the Dickens dinner. Dickens Quarterly has the right of first refusal for publication. The Secretary/Treasurer will inform the host(s) of the symposium of the sum available for support.