4.0745 Shakespear Electronic Conference Update (1/49)

Elaine Brennan & Allen Renear (EDITORS@BROWNVM.BITNET)
Fri, 23 Nov 90 23:56:55 EST

Humanist Discussion Group, Vol. 4, No. 0745. Friday, 23 Nov 1990.

Date: Wed, 21 Nov 90 16:24:19 EST
From: Ken Steele <KSTEELE@vm.epas.utoronto.ca>
Subject: Shakespeare Electronic Conference Update

Since its initial announcement this past summer, the
International Electronic Shakespeare Conference, SHAKSPER,
has grown steadily and moved in new and exciting directions.
I would like to take this opportunity to describe some of
the changes in SHAKSPER, and to invite those who might have
missed the initial announcement to join us.

SHAKSPER is a scholarly BITNET seminar modelled on
HUMANIST, currently involving more than ninety Shakespearean
researchers, instructors, students, and interested amateurs
from seven countries. A number of national and international
Shakespeare organizations have expressed an interest in
formal involvement, and a number of traditional journals have
announced it to their readership.

The SHAKSPER Fileserver offers conference papers and
abstracts, an Index to Scholarly Works in Progress, an
International Directory of Shakespeare Institutes, a
Directory of Shakespearean Conferences and Calls for Papers,
biographies of conference members, and reference files on a
wide variety of subjects. Members of a number of seminars
at the upcoming SAA Conference in Vancouver will find their
colleagues ready to share papers, comments, and strategies
in advance. SHAKSPEReans also gain indirect access to the
SHAKSPER Quarto/Folio Textbase, a 17-megabyte textbase of
all 55 authoritative quarto and folio texts of the 38 plays.

The daily SHAKSPER digests offer an opportunity for
informal discussion, eavesdropping, peer review, and a fresh
sense of worldwide community. Conference announcements,
Shakespeare Association bulletins, member notes and queries,
book and theatre reviews, textual debate, discussion of
lecture strategies -- SHAKSPER has already logged all this
and much more.

No academic qualifications are required for membership in
SHAKSPER, and anyone interested in English Literature, the
Renaissance, or Drama is welcome to join us. Write to the
editor, Ken Steele <KSTEELE@vm.epas.utoronto.ca>, or issue
the command "TELL LISTSERV@utoronto SUB SHAKSPER firstname
lastname," and you will receive a more detailed information
file with further instructions for becoming a SHAKSPERean.
(SHAKSPER is not open to automatic subscription, but no one
is refused.)

(Please consider forwarding this announcement to
colleagues who might be interested, whether or not they
are currently using Bitnet, or posting a paper copy in
your English or Drama department.)