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The 2021 BAAS Book Prize will open for submissions on 1 October 2020.

The £500 prize will be awarded for the best published book in American Studies this year. To be eligible for the 2020 BAAS Book Prize, books must have been published in English between 1 January 2020 and 31 December 2020 and authors must be members of BAAS.

Authors or publishers may submit books, three copies of which should be sent to arrive no later than 7 December 2020 to:

Louise Cunningham
BAAS Administrator
c/o Professor Ian Bell
School of Humanities
Room CBB1.043
Chancellor’s Building
Keele University
Staffordshire
ST5 5BG

Authors or publishers sending books should confirm their intention to submit items for this award by e-mailing awards@baas.ac.uk.

Please note that books received after the deadline will not be eligible for consideration.  Authors and publishers submitting books for consideration should ensure they are sent in time to arrive before the deadline.  If your book is due to be published close to the deadline then please contact us at awards@baas.ac.uk.

BAAS is committed to promoting best practice in matters of equality and diversity, and will be attentive to issues of equality and diversity when judging applications.For enquiries about the awards, contact awards@baas.ac.uk[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_single_image image=”5522″ css_animation=”fadeInRight” border_color=”grey” img_link_target=”_self” img_size=”full”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/1″][dt_gap height=”20″][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/1″][vc_column_text]

Previous winners of the BAAS Book Prize 

BAAS Book Prize 2020 

Eithne Quinn, The University of Manchester

A Piece of the Action: Race and Labor in Post-Civil Rights Hollywood (Columbia University Press, 2019)

Honourable Mentions

Pekka Hämäläinen, University of Oxford

Lakota America: A New History of Indigenous Power (Yale University Press, 2019)

Sarah Miller-Davenport, The University of Sheffield

Gateway State: Hawai‘i and the Cultural Transformation of American Empire (Princeton University Press, 2019)

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BAAS Book Prize 2019

Megan Black, London School of Economics and Political Science

The Global Interior: Mineral Frontiers and American Power (London and Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2018)

Honourable mentions

June Howard, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor

The Center of the World: Regional Writing and the Puzzles of Place-Time (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2018)

Daniel Peart, Queen Mary, University of London

Lobbyists and the Making of US Tariff Policy, 1816-1861 (Baltimore: John’s Hopkins University Press, 2018)

Graham Thompson, University of Nottingham

Herman Melville: Among the Magazines (Amherst: University of Massachusetts Press, 2018)

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BAAS Book Prize 2018

Professor Robert Cook, University of Sussex

Civil War Memories: Contesting the Past in the United States Since 1865 (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2017)

Honourable Mention

Dr Tom Davies, University of Sussex

Mainstreaming Black Power (Oakland: University of California Press, 2017)

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BAAS Book Prize 2017

Dr Peter Knight, University of Manchester

Reading the Market: Genres of Financial Capitalism in Gilded Age America (Baltimore: John Hopkins University Press, 2016)

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BAAS Book Prize 2014

Simon Newman University of Glasgow

A New World of Labour: The Development of Plantation Slavery in the British Atlantic

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BAAS Book Prize 2013

Celeste-Marie Bernier  University of Nottingham

Characters of Blood: Black Heroism in the Transatlantic Imagination

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BAAS Book Prize 2012

Paul Quigley
University of Edinburgh
Shifting Grounds: Nationalism and the American South, 1848-1865

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BAAS Book Prize 2011

Stephen Tuck
University of Oxford
We Ain’t What We Ought To Be: The Black Freedom Struggle from Emancipation to Obama

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BAAS Book Prize 2010

Peter Messent

University of Nottingham
Mark Twain and Male Friendship: The Twichell, Howells, and Rogers Friendships

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BAAS Book Prize 2008

Kasia Boddy

University College London
Boxing: A Cultural History

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BAAS Book Prize 2007

Richard Godden

University of California, Irvine
William Faulkner: An Economy of Complex Words

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BAAS Book Prize 2006

Simon Middleton
University of East Anglia
From Privileges to Rights

Honourable mention to:

Andrew Lawson (Leeds Metropolitan University)
Walt Whitman and the Class Struggle

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BAAS Book Prize 2005

Richard Follett
University of Sussex
The Sugar Masters: Planters and Slaves In Louisiana’s Cane World, 1820-1860

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BAAS Book Prize 2004

Richard King
University of Nottingham
Race, Culture and the Intellectuals, 1940-1970 (Wilson Center/Johns Hopkins University Press, 2004)[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/1″][dt_gap height=”20″][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/1″][vc_column_text]

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Submissions for the 2021 awards will be accepted from 1 October 2020 onwards.

The Arthur Miller Institute Prize for Best Journal Length Article

The Arthur Miller Institute Prize of £500 is awarded for the best journal length article on any American Studies topic by a United Kingdom citizen based at home or abroad or by a non-UK citizen who publishes their essay in a United Kingdom journal, providing that the entrant is a member of the British Association of American Studies in the year of submission.

Submissions, including the article and publications details, should be e-mailed to Emma Long at emma.long@uea.ac.uk or, if preferred, three hard copies should be mailed to the address below.

Deadline: 3 January 2021

The Arthur Miller Institute First Book Prize

The Arthur Miller Institute First Book Prize of £500 is awarded for the best first book on any American Studies topic in the preceding calendar year by a United Kingdom citizen based at home or abroad or by a non-UK citizen who publishes a book, providing that the entrant is a member of the British Association of American Studies in the year of submission.

Books submitted for consideration for the BAAS book prize are ineligible for consideration for the Arthur Miller Centre First Book Prize.

Those interested in entering a book for consideration should submit four copies, including publication details, to:

Dr Emma Long
The Arthur Miller Institute Prize Committee
c/o School of Art, Media, and American Studies
University of East Anglia
Norwich Research Park
Norwich, NR4 7TJ
UK

Please note that books should arrive no later than 18 December 2020.  Books received after this date will not be considered.  Authors are responsible for ensuring that publishers send books to arrive before the deadline.

For more details about these awards, please contact Dr Emma Long at emma.long@uea.ac.uk. The Awarding Committee includes a representative from the American Studies Sector at UEA and a BAAS committee member. The Awarding Committee is unable to notify unsuccessful applicants or to return copies of books and articles submitted for consideration.

BAAS is committed to promoting best practice in matters of equality and diversity, and will be attentive to issues of equality and diversity when judging applications.

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Past Winners:

2020:

Arthur Miller Centre Book Prize

Dr Charlie Laderman, King’s College London: Sharing the Burden: Armenia, Humanitarian Intervention and the Search for an Anglo-American Alliance, 1895-1923

Arthur Miller Centre Essay Prize

Professor Clive Webb, University of Sussex: The Nazi persecution of Jews and the African American freedom struggle

(Honourable mention to Dr Kaetan Mistry, University of East Anglia: A Transnational Protest against the National Security State: Whistle-Blowing, Philip Agee, and Networks of Dissent)

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2019:

Arthur Miller Centre Book Prize

Dr Tim Jelfs, University of Groningen: The Argument About Things in the 1980s: Goods and Garbage in the Age of Neoliberalism (West Virginia University Press, 2018)

Arthur Miller Centre Essay Prize

Professor Bridget Bennett, University of Leeds: “The Silence Surrounding the Hut”: Architecture and Absence in Wieland”, Early American Literature, 53:2 (2018)

(Honourable mention to Professor Simon Newman, University of Glasgow: “Disney’s American Revolution”, Journal of American Studies, 52:3 (August 2018)

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2018:

Arthur Miller Centre Book Prize

Sam Reese, University of Northampton
The Short Story in Midcentury America: Bowles, McCarthy, Welty, and Williams (Louisiana State University Press, 2017)

Nicholas Grant, University of East Anglia
Winning Our Freedoms Together: African-Americans and Apartheid, 1945-1960 (University of North Carolina Press, 2017)

Arthur Miller Centre Essay Prize
Rebecca Gould, University of Birmingham
Punishing Violent Thoughts: Islamic Dissent and Thoreauvian Disobedience in Post-9/11 America

Arthur Miller Centre Essay Prize – Honourable Mention
Christopher Phelps, University of Nottingham
The Sexuality of Malcolm X

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2017:

Arthur Miller Centre Book Prize
Dr J. Michelle Coghlan, University of Manchester
Sensational Internationalism: The Paris Commune and the Remapping of American Memory in the Long Nineteenth Century (Edinburgh University Press, 2016)

Arthur Miller Centre Essay Prize
Professor Maria Lauret, University of Sussex
‘Americanization Now and Then: The “Nation of Immigrants” in the Early Twentieth and Twenty-First Centuries’

Arthur Miller Centre Essay Prize – Honourable Mention
Dr Nicholas Grant, University of East Anglia
‘The National Council of Negro Women and South Africa: Black Internationalism, Motherhood, and the Cold War’

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[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Applicants are invited to apply for one of several awards to help support scholars wishing to visit London to use the British Library’s collections relating to North America (Canada, the United States and the Caribbean).

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Eccles Centre Visiting US Fellow in North American Studies

This award is for post-doctoral scholars resident in the USA whose research, in any field of North American Studies, entails the use of the British Library collection. The award holder must plan to be in research residence at the British Library for a minimum of one month.

The Eccles Centre Visiting US Fellow will be entitled to an award of £2,500 for travel and other expenses connected with the research visit to London. The award holder will have privileged access to the collections and the curatorial expertise of the British Library.

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Eccles Centre Visiting Canadian Fellow in North American Studies

This award is for post-doctoral scholars resident in the Canada whose research, in any field of North American Studies, entails the use of the British Library collection. The award holder must plan to be in research residence at the British Library for a minimum of one month.

The Eccles Centre Visiting US Fellow will be entitled to an award of £2,500 for travel and other expenses connected with the research visit to London. The award holder will have privileged access to the collections and the curatorial expertise of the British Library.

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Eccles Centre Visiting Fellows in North American Studies

This award is for post-doctoral scholars normally resident in the UK, outside the M25, whose research, in any field of North American Studies, entails the use of the British Library collection. The award holder must plan to be in research residence at the British Library for a minimum of one month.

Each Eccles Centre Visiting Fellow will be entitled to an award of £2,250 for travel and other expenses connected with the research visit to London. The award holder will have privileged access to the collections and the curatorial expertise of the British Library.

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Eccles Centre Postgraduate Awards in North American Studies

This award is for doctoral students normally resident in the UK, outside the M25, whose research, in any field of North American Studies, entails the use of the British Library collection. The Eccles Centre Postgraduate Fellows will be entitled to an award of £600 for travel and other expenses connected with the research visit to London.

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Eccles Centre Visiting European Fellow in North American Studies

This award is for post-doctoral scholars normally resident outside the UK, in a European country that has membership in the European Association for American Studies, whose research, in any field of North American Studies, entails the use of the British Library collection. The award holder must plan to be in research residence at the British Library for a minimum of one month.

The Eccles Centre Visiting European Fellow will be entitled to an award of £2,500 for travel and other expenses connected with the research visit to London. The award holder will have privileged access to the collections and the curatorial expertise of the British Library.

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Eccles Centre European Postgraduate Awards in North American Studies

This award is for doctoral students normally resident outside the UK, in a European country that has membership in the European Association for American Studies, whose research, in any field of North American Studies, entails the use of the British Library collection.

The Eccles Centre European Postgraduate Fellow will be entitled to an award of £800 for travel and other expenses connected with the research visit to London.

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Further information

The British Library website, including public access to the catalogues, can be found at http://www.bl.uk. The Eccles Centre does not house a collection separate to that of the British Library, and the bibliographies on the Eccles Centre webpages give only a snapshot of some of the items in the British Library collection. For details of Eccles Centre activities see http://www.bl.uk/ecclescentre.

Enquiries regarding the British Library’s North American holdings can be directed in the first instance to the Eccles Centre.

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BAAS Executive Committee Meeting: September 24, 2005

Minutes of the 244th meeting of the Executive Committee, held at University of Manchester on September 24, 2005.

1. Present

S Newman (Chair), C Smith (Vice Chair), H Macpherson (Secretary), G Thompson (Treasurer), K Cooper, R Crockatt, J Davies, C Elliott, W Kaufman, S MacLachlan, C Morley, I Ralston, I Scott, G Thompson

Apologies
M Padget, J Kleinberg, T Woods, J Virden

In attendance

G Conyne

2. Minutes of the Previous Meeting

After minor typographical amendments, these were accepted as a true record and will now go on the website.

3. Matters Arising

JD raised the issue of the ALS invoice of £312 pounds (ref 7g of the actions list). JD did not get a response from the ALS Treasurer to find out why the fee had gone up so substantially. It is based on membership, but the former fee had been less than £100. The Committee agreed that JD should draft a second letter to the Treasurer and await a reply before BAAS paid.

4. Chair’s Business

a) The Chair began by noting the following appointments news: Professor Brian Ward (previously of the University of Florida) has been appointed to a Chair in American Studies at the University of Manchester and will take up the appointment next year; Professor David Seed (University of Liverpool) has been appointed to the AHRC Postgraduate Panel for English Language and Literature; Dr. Heidi Macpherson has been appointed Head of the Department of Humanities at the University of Central Lancashire. Kings College London did not make an appointment (as advertised) for a Chair but is considering the option of advertising two junior appointments instead.

b) The Chair offered congratulations to all those in the American Studies community who had received AHRC Research Leave Awards and circulated a complete list of award holders. Applicants proposing American Studies topics received 10 of 279 awards.

c) The Chair attended the Journal of American Studies editorial board meeting on Friday 2nd September along with the Treasurer, the Secretary, and the Chair of the Publications Subcommittee.

d) SN also attended a meeting of the UK Council for Area Studies Associations (UKCASA) on 16th September. Ed Hughes of RAE 2008 attended, as did Judie Newman as Chair of Main Panel L, along with three of the four sub-panel chairs (including Paul Cammack, Chair of American Studies Sub-Panel 47). At the meeting a notice was circulated about a series of workshops to be held over two days in Oxford on “The Future of Interdisciplinary Area Studies in the United Kingdom,” on 6th and 7th December 2005. This is being funded by the ESRC, and there will be AHRC and HEFCE representatives present. However, attendance is by invitation only; few people at the UKCASA AGM had heard about this meeting, and none had been invited. SN reported that the officers of UKCASA will contact the workshop organizers to express concern about the lack of publicity and knowledge about this funded event.

e) SN attended a reception welcoming Rick Roberts as Minister-Counselor for Public Affairs and Beth Poisson as Press Counselor, hosted by Ambassador Robert Tuttle at the US Ambassador’s residence in London on 19th September.

f) SN reported that he had received a message of solidarity from Marc Chénetier, Chair of the European Association for American Studies, after the London bombings in July.

g) SN circulated information about a series of discussions with Dr. Andrew O’Shaughnessy (Saunders Director of the Robert H. Smith International Center for Jefferson Studies at Monticello, affiliated with the University of Virginia), and the result has been that on a trial basis, the Center will make two fellowships available for British school teachers (which BAAS would judge). The first will be a place on the annual three-week long Monticello-Stratford Hall Summer Seminar for Teachers; the second will be for a similar length residency at Monticello during which the applicant will work with staff, developing materials to enhance their teaching. The awards will include all expenses while in the US. SN proposed that BAAS should offer travel bursaries: 2 x £500 bursaries in line with STAs. BAAS would advertise, judge, and send information to ICJS for final approval; in return, BAAS would ensure that the recipients contribute to our new website for teachers. The Committee approved of this proposal.

h) The Chair presided over a meeting of American Studies heads of programmes, centres, and departments, which was hosted by the Institute for the Study of the Americas (ISA), on Friday 23rd September. Several BAAS Executive Committee members were present, and the twenty-two attendees discussed American Studies recruitment and the RAE. It was agreed to hold similar meetings on an annual basis. Paul Cammack attended as BAAS’s guest. BAAS may also be invoiced for the lunch.

i) SN reported that he had written to American Studies department and programme heads to find out about current recruitment for American Studies programmes, and semester or year abroad programmes. He circulated a copy. Although it was hard to compare across programmes, there was a general sense of declining undergraduate numbers and a fear that the introduction of higher tuition fees would lead to further decline. This was discussed at the ISA meeting, which was attended by Hannah Lowe, an American Studies graduate who teaches at City and Islington Sixth Form College; HL has DFES funding to research American Studies recruitment. She has agreed to feed back the results of her research.

j) SN noted that, at the BAAS-ISA meeting, Philip Davies had raised the issue of advertising American Studies programmes more widely and disseminating information about them. An earlier survey done by Kasia Boddy was now out of date and perhaps did not delve as deeply as we need to now. It was agreed that a brochure should be produced (in conjunction with the Eccles Centre) advertising the merits of American Studies, and using real examples to demonstrate that the skills taught on such programmes are of interest to employers, and that there are a number of paths open to graduates. Departments will be contacted to provide such examples, and BAAS must then secure funding and create the leaflet in conjunction with the Eccles Centre, which can then be distributed to university programmes, schools, etc. The information might also be used for a THES or Guardian piece countering negative reports about the career paths and possibilities for American Studies graduates. There might be Embassy funding for such a proposal. SN reported that Martin Padget had been our original contact in relation to this. GC noted that he would be willing to help after the conference was underway. SN is to get in touch with MP about moving this forward.

k) SN circulated a number of publications received, including those from the Subject Centre for Languages, Linguistics and Area Studies. He also circulated a report of the Arts and Humanities Research Council’s working group on doctoral research in the arts and humanities. The AHRC have requested responses by 31st October. SN asked for any comments to reach him by 24th October.

l) SN reported that BAAS has been invited to send representatives to the QAA seminars on benchmarking: meetings for Subject Specialists are in York on 25 October, Manchester on 7 November, Birmingham on 14 November, and London on 13 December. HM will attend the Manchester event, and CS can attend the London event.

m) SN circulated a call from the ESRC regarding the need for quantitative assessments of the quality of research output (the Secretary had also circulated this information via email). The AHRC is obliged to produce a similar guide, but recognizes that science-style citation indexes are inappropriate. SN asked the Committee to come forward with constructive suggestions. The Chair has responded to the ESRC, as has at least one other member of the Executive Committee.

n) SN reported that the AHRC has written to subject associations requesting nominees for the Peer Review College. They are particularly looking for experts to peer-review applications for AHRC funding in Media and Communication Studies; Television History, Theory and Criticism; Film History, Theory and Criticism; American Studies/American Literature, early modern to 20th century; American History, Civil War to contemporary; Political History, modern and contemporary. The AHRC require nomination forms and details by 30 September. SN asked for nominations within the next few days. HM suggested that we revisit the RAE nominations for likely candidates.

o) SN noted that the British Academy has launched a new “Visiting Fellowships” scheme, designed to bring early-career scholars from abroad to host UK universities for 2-4 months. American Studies is certainly a logical area for applications, but in addition there is reserved funding for certain areas including Latin America (also includes Latino studies), which will accept applications from scholars dealing with Latin American communities within the United States. Details are on the British Academy website, and the closing date for applications is 15 December 2005.

p) SN reported that the AHRC and ESRC have launched a new Scholarship Scheme for research at the Library of Congress: “The key aim of this scheme is to enable these collections to be used to enhance research already being funded through an AHRC or ESRC award (including postgraduates). Scholarships will be available to doctoral students, postdoctoral fellows and research assistants funded by the AHRC and ESRC.” The deadline is October 31st, but it is a relatively simple application process, and could be particularly useful for AHRC or ESRC funded postgraduate students.

q) SN reported on initial consultations with universities affected by Hurricane Katrina. It was noted that the US higher education community had been very proactive in offering support and assistance for Tulane, Dillard and the others colleges and universities affected. Both MLA and ASA are very involved in offering support. RC reported that UEA is planning to take extra JYA students from affected campuses, and similar arrangements might be encouraged from other institutions.

r) SN reported that CS had finished compiling the official BAAS response on the draft criteria for the American Studies sub-panel 47, after the chair sent an email message to all members of the Executive Committee, and all American Studies programme, centre and departmental heads. In general feedback about the criteria has been very positive. SN also reported on detailed responses offered by Ed Hughes, Judie Newman, Paul Cammack and others discussed at the UKCASA AGM about how RAE 2008 will work. BAAS recognizes that most of its members will not be returned under Unit 47 but under other panels. CS agreed to write guidance notes to be published in the next issue of ASIB, particularly in relation to cross-referral. In many cases, cross-referring to American Studies might be a preferred option, since it would help funding councils, vice-chancellors and the like recognize the size of the American Studies community. This would be a strategic decision, since there’s no immediate financial return for American Studies. Finally, it was noted that Professor Shelley Fisher Fishkin is the international advisor for Panel L.

s) The Chair has written to Ed Hughes (RAE 2008) regarding the failure of RAE to count financial income from research awards and fellowships awarded in the United States. His response indicates that this can only be “counted” in RA5. There was also some discussion about the the proposed funding council directive that research will have to be published online within three years of it being funded, which has a number of implications.

5. Secretary’s Business

a) The Secretary circulated correspondence received, including the UKCASA call for a conference. Other correspondence has been circulated via email.

b) HM reported on actions taken as secretary. HM has helped direct people with research queries to the appropriate sources, circulated the 2006 CFP, and updated the BAAS externals list. She has distributed calls for papers, conferences, research queries, etc. through the listserv; updated our records with national surveys/records esp. in relation to the STAs and other awards (e.g., to the Encyclopedia of Associations: International Organizations); forwarded information to the treasurer regarding membership queries, especially from lapsed members; and liaised with CM as ASIB editor and GT as Treasurer to ensure that new members’ profiles will be published in the spring ASIB.

c) On BAAS’s behalf, HM sent a letter of condolence to the Ambassador regarding the devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina.

d) HM liaised with individuals about arrangements for the London ISA meeting and attended the JAS editorial board meeting.

e) HM has directed correspondence about advertising in JAS and/or ASIB to the appropriate sources.

f) HM has facilitated discussions about the next Teaching Assistantship round and reported that BAAS needed to find two volunteers from the Committee (ideally one historian and one literature expert) to shortlist and conduct interviews with Peter Boyle in Nottingham on Wed. 14 December. SM and IS both volunteered for the role and were thanked for their willingness and commitment. HM is to write to PB to let him know the news. The Teaching Assistantships have been advertised on the web.

6. Treasurer’s Business

a) The Treasurer distributed a full document on current membership figures and bank balances. Balances on 25.9.05 are as follows: Current account: £1,714.44; Conference: £9,204.30; Lib. Res.: £2.76; Ed. Development: £5,221.98; STA: £23,994.16; Deposit: £22,178.04, making a total of £62,315.68. In addition, the US dollar account shows a balance of $3367.46 and the RBS account currently has £14,778.40.

b) Membership figures were lower than were forecast in April. The figures were offered in three ways: fully paid up members, 407 (including 120 postgraduates); fully paid up members plus those who haven’t changed their standing orders, 498 (including 143 postgraduates); all of the above plus those who have yet to renew for 2005, 565 (including 174 postgraduates).

c) GT report that the 2004 accounts had been signed off and sent to the Charity Commission.

d) GT reported that BAAS is still having to deal with cases of unauthorized direct debits. Although we are quickly recredited this money by the bank, there is still concern that this is occurring on a semi-regular basis. Our bank manager is looking to ensure that nothing goes out on direct debit. GT also reported that the process for changing over the contact and signatory details from Nick Selby to GT had been long and drawn out.

e) GT submitted the Cambridge conference accounts, which revealed that the final shortfall was £12,043.37. The Mellon fund covered £10k. Tony Badger asked for £1500 from BAAS for the shortfall. After discussions with the officers, it was agreed that BAAS would pay this. BAAS also covered Shelley Fisher Fishkin’s conference fees.

f) GT reported that he had recredited the bank account of a BAAS member who had accidentally credited us with a large amount.

g) GT reported that progress on GiftAid was somewhat hampered by our membership records, which didn’t easily allow us to check when people became members and whether they stayed members. This will increasingly be a problem, given that the database currently includes partial information on 900 individuals (including lapsed members). GT has been in contact with an organisation called Data Development, who have developed a GiftAid software package. GT proposed that we buy their package. The cost of a membership package was £79, with an additional £99 for a GiftAid package. The Committee agreed that this was a sensible way forward.

h) GT proposed to institute a new expenses procedure. Whilst he was still able to write cheques to individuals for expenses, he felt that a more efficient way would be through internet banking. The Committee approved of this plan, and individual members should let GT have their banking details in order to facilitate this.

i) SN reminded Committee members of the need to keep travel expenses to a reasonable level. HM added that this was why the Committee met frequently in Manchester, because the Officers had done an analysis of the expenses required, and Manchester remained the most cost-effective location for meetings.

7. Development Subcommittee (IS reporting)

a) IS advised the Committee that a number of requests for funding were being sent to the Development Subcommittee every quarter, and he wished to standardize the procedures for such requests. Thus he proposed to create a standardized form for funding requests which would be distributed via the mailbase and on the web. This was agreed.

b) IS noted that BAAS now awards many prizes and that organising this has become a major part of his role. Not including the new Monticello scholarships, and the Book Prize (which is organised by the Publication Subcommittee), BAAS now needs prize committees for 6 different awards, including the Ambassador’s postgraduate award, the Ambassador’s undergraduate award, the Ambassador’s school essay prize (which is organized by IR and KC), the BAAS Postgraduate Essay Prize, the new Founders STAs, and the Postgraduate/Young Scholar STAs. Standing Orders require that either the Secretary or the Treasurer sits on the panel that judges the Postgraduate Essay prize and that the Chair sits on the panel that judges the STAs. It was agreed that the Secretary or Treasurer (in alternate years) should also sit on the committee that judges the new Founders’ STAs, so that all of the elected officers have a role each year. IS circulated a sign up sheet and asked for volunteers to coordinate the other panels and recruit 1-2 suitable members from outside the Committee to help with the judging. The judging of all of these prizes remains anonymous. IS would act as an overall coordinator, ensuring that the proposed prize committees offered a balance of specialisms. Most of the coordination for these prizes is done by email.

c) IS reminded the Committee of the new deadlines for prizes. The Book Prize deadline is 1 December. The STA deadlines are 15 December, with a January/February turn around. The Ambassador’s prize deadlines are 28 January 2006, and the Postgraduate Essay Prize deadline is 1 March 2006. All of the prize winners will be announced at the Kent Conference.

d) IS reported that BAAS had been successful in its applications for grants from the US Embassy. The total funding was as follows: £7600 for conference support, directed primarily at postgraduates; £2350 for the Ambassador’s Awards, to help fund the advertising and the awards themselves; and £5000 for postgraduate students’ travel, which allows BAAS to offer up to 10x£500 Postgraduate/Young Scholar STAs. This totals £14950 pounds. It is unclear how many applicants there will be for the Founders’ Awards, but the Committee agreed to fund up to 5x£500 awards. IS will organize a mailshot and other publicity for these prizes.

e) IS reported that the BAAS postgraduate essay prize had gone very well in 2005. He reminded the Committee of the earlier debate about whether to continue with the award. The excellent response for 2004-05 and the quality of the papers suggested that the award should continue. In addition, BAAS had no guarantee of continued Embassy funding for the Ambassador’s Awards, and it was felt that BAAS should offer clear support whatever external funding was available. IS reminded the Committee that the award had been set at £250 for several years, and he proposed raising the amount to £500. The Committee endorsed this proposal.

f) IS reported that he was continuing discussions with individuals involved in the Subject Centre for Languages, Linguistics and Area Studies. In particular, he is keen to continue discussions with John Canning, Philip Davies and Dick Ellis in order to promote Area Studies’ interests. There is a perceived problem with disseminating information about Area Studies. IS will continue discussions with UKCASA on this, but Committee members are enjoined to think of ways to promote Area Studies more effectively. JD noted that it might be appropriate for CE to approach John Canning for a statement on the mailbase for web links/information dissemination. SN noted the importance of working with UKCASA in organising these initiatives.

g) IS reported that at the morning meeting, CE had reported on postgraduate business. The Sheffield conference is being well organized. There are ongoing discussions about workshops targeted at postgraduates and research opportunities at the Kent Conference. A lunchtime postgraduate meeting will be held, and there may be a special session for US Studies Online. CS confirmed that it was a requirement of the post that the editor attend the BAAS conference.

8. Publications Subcommittee (CS reporting)

a) CS reported that there had been no official BRRAM report this quarter. She had, however, talked with Dr. Vassie after the last meeting and he was planning to meet with KM this month. They were to bring forward a discussion document on revising the contract. If it is produced, the subcommittee will explore the options at the next meeting.

b) CS noted that JK was unable to attend the meeting but that JK had recently chaired the JAS editorial board meeting at which SN, GT, CS and HM were all present. A special “50th anniversary” issue will come out in December which has papers by Michael Heale and Mick Gidley amongst others, prefaced by comments about the anniversary. CS reminded the Committee of the nominations procedure for the editorial board and noted that there were still 5-6 positions to be filled. CS also reported that she had already received one application in relation to the positions of JAS editor or associate editor; the closing date is 1 December. A final call will go out on the mailbase and the web, and the latest issue of ASIB has a one-page insert calling for a new editor.

c) CS reported that JK would like nominations for the CUP lecture at Kent.

d) In relation to the EUP BAAS paperback series, CS reported that she is still awaiting the arrival of the proposals mentioned in the last minutes. A new proposal has come from the last call, provisionally entitled The Music of Slavery. The author is revising the proposal and sending in a writing sample at present. Niall Palmer has sent draft material to SN.

e) CS reported on the progress of the CUP proposal. HM emailed Emma Baxter at CUP after the meeting, and CS then followed that up with a formal letter. EB contacted CM as editor of ASIB and together they are putting together an advertisement which will go in the next ASIB.

f) CS reported that there is a vacancy on the US Studies Online editorial board due to Douglas Tallack’s decision to stand down at present. The current board includes Celeste-Marie Bernier, Judie Newman, Graham Thompson, Catherine Morley, Theresa Saxon, Dick Ellis, Lisa Merrill, and Liz Rosen. The area that is particularly needed is cultural studies/film and/or visual culture. CS asked for nominations within the next three weeks, which the subcommittee will consider in an email exchange; it is expected that BAAS will be able to confirm the name at the next meeting.

g) CS reported that the editor of US Studies Online had raised the issue of extending the reach of the journal to an international audience. The subcommittee therefore proposed a review of the current remit. They felt that the journal will and should remain a forum for students at British universities, but it should also welcome submissions from the rest of the world. This was agreed. CS is to help Liz Rosen draft the official call for submissions that will announce this change of focus. CM reported that as outgoing editor, she had sent LR a list of names of individuals to approach directly to ask them about submitting work, including people who had won various BAAS prizes. CS will follow this up and also ensure that a call goes out on the mailbase and the postgraduate mailbase.

h) CS reported that the next issue of ASIB will be distributed on 30 September after a short delay. CM took the decision to ask for proofs before publication, and this appears to have been a wise decision. There was some discussion of moving the list of former BAAS chairs from the inside front cover, which costs a substantial sum of money, to another part of the newsletter. This was agreed. The next deadline is 15 December.

i) CS reported that there is a new section of the website devoted to the prizes. GT was thanked for adding this, and he noted that it had been SN’s idea originally.

j) CS reported that the book prize judging team will shortly be confirmed. CS will draft a document noting the timescales for the judges to make decisions. The guidelines remain the same this year: submissions must be published in 2005 (as in the copy right page) and only BAAS members are eligible to win this prize.

9. Conference Subcommittee (SM reporting)

a) SM reported that the majority of the subcommittee meeting was spent discussing Kent. There are no problems with the conference organisation at present, and 35 proposals have come in so far, which is promising. SM reminded the Committee that the deadline for proposals was October 7. GC aims to have a provisional programme by the end of November, and will send the information to ASIB, but in order to avoid the problems of last year, he will send out the registration details and programme out separately as well.

b) SM reported that there were ongoing discussions about the registration form, but that it had been agreed to keep it as simple as possible. In order to make this work, it had been agreed that there should be one price for the hotel accommodation option. SM reported that the conference office at Kent had been extremely helpful; GC will check out details of an account being set up and how much control we have over that account. GC will also check that the cost of conference support is included in charges quoted. SM reported that the subcommittee would be in regular email contact over the next month to ensure that the final details run smoothly.

c) SM suggested a visit to Kent in the next month or so and will organise a small group to tour the facilities.

d) SM noted that there had been a long discussion about plenaries and various names had been put forward. SM was liaising with both JK and Philip Davies about the CUP and Eccles Centre Lectures. GC would approach one of the individuals discussed about the third plenary address. Any other nominations would be welcome in the next week or so.

e) SM reported that there had been progress on civic involvement and plans were underway to have a Lord Mayor’s reception. SM requested that SN send her and GC a list of BAAS invitations that normally went out.

f) SM asked about the new contacts at the Embassy. The individual replacing Dan is Rick Roberts, but Dennis’s replacement hadn’t yet arrived. SM will be in contact with Sue Wedlake about the new personnel. There was also some discussion about requesting an additional Embassy Grant; SM reminded the Committee that the US Embassy had offered support for the Manchester conference in getting the abstracts online, though this was part of a large internet project. SM to liaise with IS and the Embassy about this. BAAS could also offer some financial support towards this. A figure of £150 was agreed.

g) SM reported that plans for the Leicester conference are well underway. Currently the conference organisers are exploring venues for a city event and banquet. One issue was that such venues require an early deposit; SM will liaise with GT about whether BAAS can pay the deposits from one of the accounts. GT will check on past practice with Nick Selby.

h) SM reported that Robert Mason has been in touch about provisional plans for the 2008 conference in Edinburgh.

10. Libraries and Resources Subcommittee (IR reporting)

a) IR reported that the Library and Resources Subcommittee had met on the 21st September at the British Library. One item of business was the next long-term project. Kevin Halliwell had discussed a directory of specialist collections and library resources across the UK. KH will take responsibility for organizing this. (He was previously responsible for the US newspaper database, so he has a great deal of experience in this area.) Instead of producing a hard copy (as had occurred in 1992), it was agreed that a web-based directory would be most appropriate. KH will begin the project by conducting a survey of provision nationally. SN noted that this is exactly the sort of thing that AHRC enhancement grants would be useful for.

b) IR circulated copies of the new Resources for American Studies (2005, formerly the American Studies Library Newsletter). It was agreed that the next print run would be larger and that it would be distributed with ASIB. This year’s issue did have a grant from US embassy for £800; however, the cheque had been lost in the post, but will shortly be reissued. There had been a high cost for printing this edition because it had been turned around very quickly. GT suggested going to the printers we use for ASIB. GT and IR and CM will liaise about this proposal.

c) IR reported that John Pinfold has resigned from the subcommittee, so they are actively looking for new members. Committee members should make their own university/school librarians aware of this committee.

d) IR reported that the subcommittee requested a timetabled slot at the Conference; GC indicated that this would not be a problem. Matthew Shaw at the BL will identify someone to lead on this.

e) IR raised the issue of travel expenses for the subcommittee meetings. At present, only the chair of subcommittee received expenses. This is an historical anomaly and it was agreed that all subcommittee members should get their travel expenses paid.

f) IR reported that there are new officers: Jayne Hoare has now taken over as Secretary following R Bennett’s resignation and the new Treasurer is David Forster from the Liverpool American Studies Centre.

11. EAAS (HM reporting on behalf of JV)

a) JV was unable to attend the meeting but offered an emailed report which the Secretary conveyed to the Committee. The deadline for the EAAS Cyprus conference had passed and we are awaiting the provisional programme.

b) HM circulated a reminder from JV about the ASN Book Prize; this also has gone on the web and on the mailbase.

c) HM reminded the Committee that EAAS is launching an ejournal; Marc Chénetier had asked for a short piece on the state of American Studies in Britain; it was agreed that the Committee would approach Dick Ellis, who had recently published a letter to the ASIB editor about this, and Philip Davies to see if they would like to volunteer.

12. Fiftieth Anniversary Planning

a) The Committee agreed that 50th anniversary planning should no longer be an agenda item. GC suggested that BAAS should make some effort to think about the future and he suggested that a panel on the future of American Studies in Britain might be a good panel to construct for Kent.

b) The Committee thanked Sue Wedlake in her absence for her continued support over the last year on this project. The Secretary is to arrange for flowers to be sent to her.

13. Any Other Business

a) CM raised the issue of the wording of the Founders Award STA, which appeared to preclude young researchers. IS reported that the emphasis was on a wider division between the existing (primarily postgraduate) STAs and the new award. It was also made clear that individuals not in post/non-tenured could apply for the former postgraduate category. IS will work to ensure that there is clarity about this issue.

b) Thanks were offered to SM for organizing the meeting at MMU.

14. Date of next meeting

The next meeting will be held at Leicester on Friday 13 January 2006. The Conference subcommittee will meet at 10am for a tour of the facilities; all other subcommittees will meet at the regular time of 11am, with the Executive Committee meeting following in the afternoon. Those who require parking should be in touch with MH or GL for guidance.

Dr Heidi Macpherson, Secretary.
Phone (office): (01772) 893041 or 893040
Fax: (01772) 892970
email: hrsmacpherson@uclan.ac.uk

BAAS Executive Committee Meeting: June 18, 2005

Minutes of the 243rd meeting of the Executive Committee, held at University of Glasgow on June 18, 2005.

1. Present

S Newman (Chair), C Smith (Vice Chair), H Macpherson (Secretary), G Thompson (Treasurer), R Crockatt, J Davies, C Elliott, W Kaufman, S MacLachlan, C Morley, M Padget, I Ralston, I Scott, G Thompson, J Virden.

Apologies

K Cooper, J Kleinberg, T Woods

In attendance

G Conyne

2. Minutes of the Previous Meetings.

These were accepted as a true record.

3. Matters Arising

CS thanked everyone for their kind words, and the bouquet of flowers, on the birth of Rosa.

There were no other matters arising.

4. Chair’s Business

a) The Chair began by circulating some of the interesting enquiries he had received over the last quarter. These are becoming ever more varied.

b) The Chair noted the following promotions, appointments, and nominations: Martin Halliwell has been promoted to a Chair in American Studies at the University of Leicester; Professor Jay Kleinberg has been appointed to the International Board of the American Studies Association; and Robert H. Tuttle has been nominated as American Ambassador to the Court of St. James.

c) The Chair was invited to attend two events at the U.S. Embassy: the Reception for Departing Fulbright Scholars on June 16, which he was unable to attend, and the reception to bid farewell to Dan Sreebny, Dennis Wolf and Kimberley Murphy on June 7, which he was able to accept. JV, IS, Phil Davies, and Paul Giles also attended. On behalf of the Committee, SN thanked the Embassy officials for their willingness to work so closely with BAAS and for their support, and noted our desire to work successfully with the next incumbents of those positions.

d) The Chair received a message from Marc Chenetier, thanking Jenel, BAAS and Cambridge for hosting a successful EAAS series of committee meetings.

e) SN reported that Carol Smith was the only candidate for Vice-Chair, and thus has been elected for a second one-year term.

f) The Chair has been contacted by Sam Spicer, the IMAX Education Officer at the Science Museum (London), regarding a lecture by Dr. Paul Roches to accompany the December 2005 première of Magnificent Desolation: Walking On The Moon. The lecture will consider the conspiracy theories surrounding the Apollo moon landings; details of the event have been published on the BAAS email list.

g) SN has been contacted by Dr. David Gale, the Project Manager for Benchmarking Academic Standards at the QAA, who has written to the Chair regarding arrangements for the review of subject benchmarking statements. Area Studies will come up for review in 2007, and UKCASA and BAAS are listed as Subject Bodies to be consulted. SN circulated the information he had received. We will need to begin thinking about this at the next committee meeting.

h) SN noted that the tables ranking universities and programmes have been published by the Guardian and the THES. American Studies is not well represented in the latter’s table of ‘What Graduates Do?’ Our students go on to a wide range of professions, and this hasn’t been reflected. CS suggested that SN ask how institutions “rate” AS students (i.e., as AS or by a cognate discipline), so that we are fully aware of the picture, since sometimes, pathways are not necessarily clear. There is some concern over the percentage of respondents which may lead to inaccuracies in the figures. Niall Palmer (Brunel) and Kasia Boddy (UCL) have tracked student destinations in the past, and it was suggested that SN contact them to discuss their results.

i) The Chair has sent a message to all American Studies heads of departments and programmes, requesting updated contact information, feedback about current recruitment into 3 and 4 year programmes; and JYA programmes, and announcing a meeting of American Studies heads of department to be hosted by the ISA and organized by BAAS on 23^rd September. SN noted that there has been a good level of response so far, with many respondents noting a concern over declining numbers. SN hopes to receive more information about this in September. It was noted that it would be useful to have this as an annual meeting. SN would appreciate, by email, agenda items for the meeting.

j) The RAE have now announced the membership of all of the sub-panels. John Dumbrell (Leicester) represents American Studies on subpanel 39 (Politics and International Studies), as does James Dunkerley (ISA); Ian Bell (Keele) and Susan Manning (Edinburgh) are on subpanel 57 (English Language and Literature); Susan-Mary Grant (Newcastle) is on subpanel 62 (History); and Martin Barker (Aberystwyth) is on subpanel 66 (Communication, Cultural and Media Studies). In mid-July RAE 2008 will be publishing the draft criteria and working methods for all RAE panels and sub-panels (
href=”http://www.rae.ac.uk/”>http://www.rae.ac.uk). It is important that we review these for all relevant sub-panels, and BAAS can then provide any feedback by the mid-September deadline. SN asked for a volunteer to be a focus person for responses for this. CS has agreed to do this. Thanks were extended to her.

5. Secretary’s Business

a) The Secretary circulated correspondence received, including the British Academy Policy review on E-Resources. Other correspondence has been circulated via email.

b) HM reported on actions taken as secretary, noting that after the initial flurry of activities after the conference, this has been a quieter quarter than usual. HM has helped direct people with research queries to the appropriate sources, and issued another call for people to access and update their entries on the American Studies Research Portal as requested at the last meeting. She has distributed calls for papers, conferences, research queries, etc. through the listserv; updated our records with national surveys/records esp. in relation to the STAs and other awards (and has already fielded questions about the 2006 awards); forwarded information to the treasurer regarding membership queries, especially from lapsed members; and written thank you notes to the conference secretaries.

c) In addition, she has been in contact with Mick Gidley about the old BAAS textbook series he edited, and as a result of these discussions, offered Longman permission to quote from a specific text for a book that they are publishing. HM organized the call for a new ASIB editor and liaised with Ray Ryan at CUP about a closer working relationship between CUP and BAAS (see Publications report below).

d) With the other officers and Ian Scott, HM has checked on the value of our postgraduate prizes. We will revisit this discussion in the September meeting.

e) HM has informed EUP that GT is the new treasurer, so royalty cheques should go straight to him in the future. She has also written to CUP regarding our JAS editorial board nominations, and informed them that GT is the new Treasurer.

f) In relation to the BAAS archives, HM has passed the archive document onto GT, and this is now listed on the website. She also met with the Chair to sift through old documents, and two more boxes of material are now ready to be sent to the archives. These are mostly subcommittee minutes and the like from the late 1990s and very early 2000s. HM reported that Michael Heale had written up a report on the BAAS chair audiotapes. She and SN proposed that BAAS ask Michael Heale to interview the three former chairs, Richard King, Judie Newman, and Philip Davies, who were not included in the original undertaking. The committee approved this measure, so HM will write to MH shortly. It was also proposed that BAAS look into transcribing the tapes and digitizing them. This was also approved. HM will take a lead on this matter.

6. Treasurer’s Business

a) GT reported that he had had a successful handover meeting with NS and is now in receipt of all of the relevant documents for his new position. Everything appears to be in order. The process of changing the signature at the bank is still ongoing but should be completed for the next meeting, and expenses can still be paid.

b) GT will offer a fuller report, with membership and account figures, in September, but if there are any queries in the meantime, he is happy to discuss this with individual Committee members.

7. Development Subcommittee (IS reporting)

a) IS reported that on BAAS’s behalf, he had put in an application for £14,000 for funding from the US Embassy for 2005-06. IS has been told that a “significant chunk” of that money has been approved, but he is awaiting written confirmation of the amount. The delay is likely to be due to the changeover of staff. If he hasn’t received confirmation by July, he will contact the Embassy again.

b) IS reported that the subcommittee had discussed the STA awards. This year, the winners of the named STA awards had received £1000 in recognition of the 50^th anniversary celebrations, but the subcommittee felt that to continue to do that year on year without any guarantee of external funding would not be practical or desirable. The subcommittee felt that giving away more £500 awards would be more valuable in the long run. For 2006, BAAS could potentially offer fifteen £500 awards. The Committee as a whole approved this position. IS reported that the subcommittee will revisit the BAAS postgraduate essay prize amount in September, and that the publicity for the prizes is not affected by any decision to vary the amount awarded.

c) IS reported that he has received two funding bids. The first was from IR for the Schools conference to be held in October. This annual conference has been a big success over the last few years. The subcommittee recommended that BAAS award £150. The Committee endorsed this. The second funding bid came from Eric Kaufman at Birkbeck, for a conference on New York Intellectuals to be held in May 2006. The conference organizers proposed to invite 5 overseas speakers and the bid was to cover the cost of one of the speakers, at £700. The subcommittee felt that this amount was well in excess of any funding BAAS had offered in the past, and also noted BAAS prefers to support postgraduate attendance at conferences. The subcommittee therefore recommended that BAAS offer £250, subject to the assurance that postgraduates could attend at low or no cost. This was agreed.

d) IS reported that he is a member of the Languages, Linguistics and Area Studies Board on BAAS’s behalf, and that Dick Ellis is the chair of the subpanel for LLAS. The Area Studies component has not fitted in easily to what it is doing, since most of its activities and funding are language based; therefore, there needs to be a new initiative that has Area Studies as a primary focus. A number of the most successful initiatives that they are involved with could be perfectly replicated for Area Studies as well. IS is to go back to the leading people (John Canning, Phil as chair of UKCASA, and a few others) who might be able to coordinate a plan that will get Area Studies initiatives off the ground. Committee members should contact IS with their ideas. IS also reported that James Dunkerley at ISA is trying to put together a stand alone PhD research methods course through the AHRC.

e) IS reported that the Schoolteachers’ Initiative continues to move forward, and that he is meeting with IR in the summer, with plans to get the webmaster in place at LJM. Other events include IR’s conference and a BAAS Northwest conference for teachers planned for next year. Once the Embassy funds have been confirmed, the subcommittee would like to use some of that funding to support the collation of information from and for schools. This is something a postgraduate might be willing to undertake for a small fee.

f) In relation to postgraduate issues, IS reported on CE’s behalf that the plans for the Sheffield BAAS Postgraduate conference are well underway, and that due to our funding, costs have been kept low at £10 for that conference. In addition, the postgraduate email list is doing very well, and there are plans for a discussion of postgraduate funding opportunities to take place at Kent, following on from a similar meeting at the Cambridge conference. CE will liaise with GC about this.

g) Thanks were offered to CM for attending the Academy of Learned Societies meeting and for offering such a full report, and to JD for standing for election. GT asked if there had been a discussion at that meeting of changes to membership fees, as he has received an invoice that seemed higher than usual. JD is going to the next meeting on Friday, so he will discuss this on BAAS’s behalf and report back.

8. Publications Subcommittee (CS reporting)

a) CS began by offering thanks to HM for reporting on her behalf at the AGM.

b) CS noted that KM is currently in Australia and was therefore unable to attend the subcommittee meeting, but he offered a comprehensive report. Progress has been made on several fronts since the last report from the editor in January 2005, including the following:

1) Agreement has been reached with the Bolton archive on contractual terms for an additional BRRAM issue on the Walt Whitman material there. Filming could commence by the autumn of 2005. Dr Carolyn Masel (now of the Australian Catholic University) has agreed to write an introduction for this release. This is a large collection and it is envisaged that it will be issued in periodic batches of 6-to-10 reels.

2) The British Library has supplied a proforma for the microfilming of the Edward Long Papers. KM signed a Special Editor’s agreement in 1996 to write the introduction for this project, so it is good to see that it now seems to be moving along. The filming will take 2-3 months.

3) A revised agreement has been received from the Merseyside Maritime Museum with regard to the filming of the additional Davenport material. It is hoped that the filming will start this summer.

4) KM is still hoping that one of his colleagues will agree formally to edit a title on British records relating to the USA and WW2.

5) Dr Vassie has suggested (and KM agrees) that BRRAM should now produce PDF booklets for the BRRAM series. They would like to know whether BAAS wishes to provide a logo or template for the title page/frontispiece. GT is to liaise with RV on this matter (see below under any other business).

6) KM has contacted the House of Lords Record Office to see whether the American parts of the Beaverbrook and Lloyd George Papers would be suitable/available for microfilming for the BRRAM series. KM will aim to have a decision before the next BAAS meeting.

c) CS reported that she and RV had discussed BRRAM issues. Dr. Vassie wants more publicity from us (a bigger advert in ASIB for MAP) in exchange for 10% discount for all members; this was agreed at our last meeting. He is also interested in offering digital formats, and wants to revisit the contract between BAAS and MAP. Before the next meeting, CS will work with him on a formal agreement, to be signed by SN, with input coming from the publications subcommittee.

d) In relation to JAS, CS noted that JK was unable to attend, but has confirmed that there will be a special issue of JAS, hopefully in December, for the 50^th anniversary. The 4 nominations for editorial board members that we made in April will go to the syndic meeting in June to be confirmed. However, we now need to consider up to 7 new editorial board members across the board: history, cultural studies, literature, etc. CS has asked JK to check the terms again, especially for some of the individuals that we would like to re-nominate. We may need to reconsider some of the names that came forward before. We should look to have 5-6 nominations by September, and Committee members are reminded that no one should be approached directly about the editorial board, but names should be forwarded, in confidence, to CS, JK and SN for further consideration. The next JAS editorial board meeting is Friday 2 September, which SN, HM, GT, and CS will attend.

e) CS noted that the call for applications for the new editor and associate editor of JAS went out on elist, on the web, and in the conference pack, with a deadline of 1 December. Some informal approaches have been made to Susan and Carol, and another announcement is planned for the next issue of ASIB. CS will liaise with JB as the former chair of the subcommittee to ensure that the same process of appointment is followed this time around.

f) CS reported that she and SN have met separately with Nicky Carr. EUP is happy with the series. The booklist is fine, though we need to ensure that popular culture/popular political issues are given sufficient coverage. WK’s book has now been edited and will be an excellent addition to the series: The Civil War in American Culture. Other accepted proposals are being written as we speak. The Palmer book has been delayed slightly but will come in at the end of the summer, and SN will edit it. Thanks are extended to Nicky Carr for her excellent efforts on behalf of the series.

g) CS outlined the negotiations that HM had initiated along with Janet Beer prior to the Cambridge Conference with Ray Ryan of CUP. HM worked closely with Emma Baxter in Marketing at CUP in order to put together a viable proposal. CUP offered three options for a closer working relationship: a) 20% discount on the American Literature and Culture series in return for a free advert in ASIB, managed through an exclusive members’ code; b) a discount in return for a free set of labels; and c) regular limited offer on selected backlists. The subcommittee recommended option A to the full committee. This was approved. CS is to contact Emma Baxter and let her know the outcome of our decision; she will also ensure that Emma Baxter is put in touch with the new ASIB editor.

h) CS reported that the new editor of US Studies Online, Liz Rosen, had suggested a new citation system for the journal, the MLA, as an easier alternative and one that was more html-friendly. The subcommittee felt that the current system should be maintained, but that the information and guidelines should state explicitly what system we use (MHRA), that there is a hyperlink to the website, and that contributors should be urged to look at current articles for individual examples. CS is to contact LR to explain the committee’s decision.

i) CS noted that there had been two excellent applications for the post of ASIB editor. CS, HM, and GT (as former ASIB editor) convened a working party to go through the applications, and as a result of their deliberations, asked Catherine Morley to be the new editor. She has accepted. Congratulations are extended to CM. The handover between CM and GT will need to take place as soon as possible, and the deadline for the next issue (usually early August) will need to be confirmed. CS will write to the unsuccessful candidate informing her of the subcommittee’s decision, but stressing the strength of her application. Thanks were extended to GT for his editorship of ASIB. CS also offered thanks to HM for managing the application process.

j) The latest issue of ASIB was finally distributed in June, and was a smaller issue, due to the fact that information about the conference was redundant and thus deleted. There was a discussion about the current printers and the situation that led to this long delay. It was recognised that the delay was due to issues beyond their control. However, if delays continue to be an issue, we will reconsider our relationship with them. GT reported that BAAS received a small discount of £75 on the last newsletter because of lateness.

k) CS noted that the website continues to run smoothly, and thanks were extended to GT for maintaining this important resource.

l) CS reported on the first BAAS Book Prize, which was a success. However, it was agreed that the deadline needed to be moved forward to 1 December to ensure that judges had enough time to read all of the entries. It was also agreed that the judging panel should be constituted earlier, and there was some discussion about extending the panel to 5 members; this was subsequently rejected as unwieldy and unfair on smaller presses who could not afford to send out 5 copies of a book. CS agreed to write up some guidelines for the prize and for the judging. CS would ask the former judges to comment on the guidelines. The publication subcommittee chair will act as a facilitating chair of the prize committee. PD has indicated his willingness to judge the next year’s prize. It was agreed that a shortlist would be drawn up to choose from, ensuring a broad range of disciplinary backgrounds, and including both Committee members and other BAAS members. SN suggested that the current winner should be asked to join the Book Prize committee. This was agreed. IS noted that we must ensure that all of BAAS awards and prizes (the rest of which are administered by Development) need to have a good pool of potential judges.

9. Conference Subcommittee (SM reporting)

a) SM began her first report as chair of the subcommittee by noting that the Kent conference (20-23 April 2006) is on track and everything is going well. There had been ongoing discussions regarding the establishment of a programme committee, but the Kent organizers felt that they had enough cross-disciplinary expertise already in place. GC will ask for help as and when needed, and will rely on the subcommittee for support.

b) It was agreed that the conference registration form and provisional programme will be sent out separately from the newsletter, to avoid the problems attached with the ASIB delay this year. It is likely that ASIB will still include the conference programme, and it will be available on the web.

c) SM reported that the subcommittee felt that abstracts for papers should be available on line, which was the case for the Manchester conference but not for Cambridge. SM had secured Embassy funding for this project in 2004, and this may be an option this year, or BAAS may seek to underwrite limited expenses in relation to this.

d) SM to contact JK regarding the JAS plenary and PD regarding the Eccles Centre lecture, to ensure that there is a balance of subjects for all three plenaries. It is likely that the JAS plenary will have a Cultural Studies focus. Committee members should contact JK with suggestions, and cc SM into these emails. GC is to contact PD

e) SM reported that accommodation and catering are both in order, with sufficient numbers and venues. There will be 3 levels of accommodation: there are limited numbers of on campus en suite rooms (80), unlimited basic accommodation on campus, and local hotel accommodation, most of which is within 20 minutes’ walking distance of campus (GC suggested that buses may be available to and from hotels.) Cost of hotel accommodation will be around £60/70 pounds which makes an approximate top rate of £325 pounds for hotel accommodation, £265 for en suite, and £200 for basic accommodation. These figures will need to be confirmed. There are also possibilities for hotel sharing. CS commended the subcommittee for keeping the costs down.

f) SN asked if there was a possibility of a civic reception in Canterbury; GC will look into this, but noted that evening entertainment included prize giving/banquet, disco, and a musical review by WK. RC notes that he has contact with a professional jazz quartet. Given the success of this year’s disco, Joe Mottershead was suggested for the DJ. Earlier plans to invite the Reduced Shakespeare Company would probably not go ahead, but GC is to contact Sue Wedlake about this before any final decision is made.

g) SM reported that dates for the 2007 conference at Leicester have been provisionally set at 19-22 April. All accommodation (of which there is plenty) will be based on one site away from the central university complex but near where the panel sessions will take place. Fees are provisionally set at £275 for en suite and £235 for standard accommodation. Those fees may well rise slightly given the passage of time. It is likely that the conference secretary will need to book more rooms for panel sessions, as currently there are only 6 already booked. There may be a plenary session and lecture in Leicester itself.

h) As a final item of business, SM noted that she needed to contact Cambridge in relation to the accounts, to check to see whether there is any surplus, or any outstanding bills.

10. Libraries and Resources Subcommittee (IR reporting)

a) IR reported the revamped newsletter, Resourcing American Studies, is due out shortly. It has received a US Embassy grant for the first time. This issue had had to be trimmed slightly because publishing costs were higher than estimates, but any information that is not included will go out in the next issue. If anyone wants to receive a copy automatically, they should contact Matthew Shaw at the British Library (Matthew.Shaw@bl.uk). CE has sent message out on the mailbase in relation to this.

b) IR reported that Iain Wallace, the former subcommittee chair, and John Pinfold (Rothermere) are writing a history of the subcommittee, which will hopefully be published in a future issue. The Subcommittee is still discussing the contribution that they can make to the Kent conference; their next meeting is scheduled for the end of the summer.

c) IR reported that a new Secretary has been elected: Jayne Hoare (Cambridge). HM is to ensure that this information is reflected on the website and in the details of the committee minutes. The Treasurer position is vacant at present. IR is to remind Matthew Shaw to send the newsletter to GT for the BAAS website.

11. EAAS (JV reporting)

a) JV reported that the new issue of the American Studies in Europe newsletter (number 54, May) is now out on line and runs to 46 pages. It can be accessed on
href=”http://www.eaas.info/”>www.eaas.info.

b) JV reported that EAAS is also calling for an editor for a new e-journal which has the support of the French Educational Research Authorities. It will be published in English and be fully refereed, with 1-2 issues per year. Marc Chenetier is currently being trained on the system; EAAS is looking for a team of people to come on board this new project. The application deadline is 15 October. JV will pass details on to GT and CE for the website and the mailbase.

c) JV also reported that the American Studies Network Book Prize, for books published in 2004 or 2005, has a deadline of December. Three copies of publications (in English) are required, and the prize is 1000 euros.

d) JV noted that arrangements are underway for the next EAAS conference, to be held on 7-10 April 2006, in Nicosia, Cyprus. Workshops have been announced (in newsletter), and the procedure to follow is set out there. Individuals must submit abstracts to the workshop chairs by 1 September 2005. SN has been selected to give a parallel lecture, as has Mick Gidley. Six workshops will be chaired or co-chaired by BAAS members: Alan Bilton, William Blazek, Allan Lloyd Smith, Jon Roper, Nick Selby, and Alex Waddan.

e) JV has updated the BAAS details with EAAS, including letting them know that GT is now the treasurer, and this will soon be reflected on the website.

f) JV asked GC to send her the Kent CFP for the EAAS to put on their website, and she noted that BAAS members’ recent publications can go on the EAAS newsletter; JV is to send CE a notice to that effect for the mailbase.

12. Fiftieth Anniversary Planning (JV reporting)

a) There were no substantial new items to report for the 50^th anniversary celebrations.

13. Any Other Business

a) GT has found someone who can do the logo for us. Fee negotiations are still underway. Once it has been finished, GT will send the new logo to CS to send to Roderick Vassie for MAP.

14. Date of next meeting

Saturday 24 September, 2005. Venues to be considered: Rothermere, Nottingham, Manchester and UEA. HM to check with JK for Brunel. Other London venues to be explored.

Dr Heidi Macpherson, Secretary

Phone (office): (01772) 893039 or 893040

Fax: (01772) 892970

email: hrsmacpherson@uclan.ac.uk

BAAS Executive Committee Meeting: April 14, 2005

Minutes of the 242nd meeting of the Executive Committee, held at Robinson College, Cambridge on April 14, 2005.

1. Present S Newman (Chair), H Macpherson (Secretary), N Selby (Treasurer), C Elliott, J Kleinberg, S MacLachlan, C Morley, M Padget, I Scott and G Thompson

Apologies C Smith (Vice Chair), K Cooper, J Davies, I Ralston, P Thompson, J Virden and T Woods.

In Attendance

George Conyne

2. Minutes of the Previous Meeting

After the correction of minor typographical errors, the minutes were accepted as a true record.

3. Matters Arising

a) Reference 4d of the minutes of 241 noted that SN was to explore further links with ASA. He plans to use the presence of the ASA president at the 50^th anniversary conference to move this forward.

B) Reference 6i noted that HM was to contact EUP about royalty statements; she plans to do so once a new Treasurer has been appointed.

C) Reference 8d noted that GT and CE were going to explore a web-based facility for subscribing to the mailbase. This is ongoing.

D) Reference 13a on drafting a notice for ASIB on legacies will be referred back to PT.

4. Chair’s Business

a) The Chair began by offering congratulations to Executive Committee members Carol Smith and Jude Davies on the birth of their daughter Rosa on 8 April. The Committee wishes the new family well. SN also reported that Ian Ralston, Chair of the Libraries and Resources Subcommittee, has been unwell, and the Chair and the members of the Executive Committee send Ian their best wishes for a speedy recovery.

B) SN announced that appointments had been made to the RAE2008 subpanel (Unit 47) American Studies and Anglophone Areas Studies. The subpanel will be chaired by Professor Paul Cammack (Manchester Metropolitan University). The BAAS Chair, BAAS Secretary Heidi Macpherson, and Executive Committee member Tim Woods have all been appointed. Other members include Dr. Betty Wood, Dr. Diana Paton, Dr. Jonathan Munby, Professor Anthony McFarlane, Professor Christopher Bailey, Professor Helen Taylor, Professor Mark Jancovich, Professor Peter Stoneley, Professor Richard Godden, Professor Scott Lucas, Dr. Susan Billingham and Professor Susan Castillo. The subpanel has had two meetings (3 March, and 8 April). The subpanel reflects BAAS nominations well.

C) As agreed at the January 2005 meeting of the Executive Committee, the Chair wrote a letter to Professor Geoffrey Crossick, protesting the AHRB journal reference list project. On 25 January Professor Crossick sent a circular letter stating, “It is clear that we need to take more time to discuss, develop and refine the proposal… we shall over the coming year engage in consultation and discussion with the research community… to ensure that there is a wide input to the development of this proposal.” See 4j for further discussion of this list.

D) The Chair responded to a request from the AHRB regarding the identification of strategic programmes for the new research council, suggesting ideas for new programmes, and making a strong plea for the funding of research on the Americas (and not just comparative research, which, if privileged, would exclude many members of BAAS). MP attended a framework seminar for the diasporas initiative and was concerned about the comparative element. BAAS should continue to investigate this further.

E) The Chair wrote to Sir Martin Harris in response to a request for assistance in a review of HEFCE funding for the Institutes of the School of Advanced Study, University of London. SN’s letter reflected the Community’s potential concerns about the new Institute for the Study of the Americas, but did so in a constructive manner.

F)   SN reported that the following Americanists had been awarded promotions or prizes: Jon Roper has been awarded a Chair in American Studies at Swansea; Michael O’Brien’s two-volume Conjectures of Order: Intellectual Life and the American South, 1810-1860 has been named as one of three joint-winners of this year’s Bancroft Prize in American History, the most prestigious prize for US History; and the Chair has received a British Academy Research Readership (2005-2007) for his project “The Transformation of Working Life and Culture in the British Atlantic World, 1600-1800.”

g) On 7 April the Chair attended an AHRC consultation meeting for learned societies and subject associations at the Globe Theatre, to discuss the implications of the transition to a research council. BAAS was one of thirty learned societies and subject associations invited to participate in this meeting. Other consultations are planned. There is strong support within the AHRC for interdisciplinary research, and the organization is receptive to SN’s suggestion that the assessment procedure for funding applications should be made more accessible to interdisciplinary approaches. ESRC already has an interdisciplinary panel judging applications, and AHRC may well follow this route. The Executive Committee should continue to encourage BAAS members to make more funding applications. At present 50% of Research Leave applications are successful (though this is likely to drop when Full Economic Costing is levied), and 61% of Small Grant applications are successful. SN noted that over the last year, the AHRB, the British Academy and the ESRC have granted £345,000 to American Studies projects.

H) SN reported that the AHRC is introducing new projects and awards, including various strategic programmes such as the upcoming Diasporas and the Landscapes programmes; Network Grants (£20,000 over 2 years) and Workshop grants (£10,000 over 1 year), which could be used to run a series of seminars. These are intended to encourage and promote interdisciplinary work, and are in part meant to aid the development of larger projects and funding applications; there are also grants of up to £2,000 for Research Student Conferences (under the Collaborative Research Training Awards scheme). There is a deadline of 27 May for this award, so the Development Sub-Committee Chair, PG Representative and the organizers of the next BAAS postgraduate conference should investigate and apply. Postgraduate funding will be changed so that the number of doctoral awards (612 last year) will be increased to match the number of master’s awards (920 last year). Full Economic Costing of AHRC research support will be in place within a year, and AHRC funding has been increased to allow for this. For example, Research Leave will include actual overheads, and pay for “real” salary not just at the lowest level; the matching fund requirement will still be in place. Some concern remains, expressed by G Crossick, that the QR funding stream may be under threat. Officials at the AHRC do not want this to happen.

i)   SN also reported that the AHRC has begun an evaluation-based subject review of all of its subject domains. Expert panels of 6-8 academics will be established not to evaluate individuals or departments, but rather to assess the health of a discipline, and whether the AHRC is enhancing high quality research through its programmes. American Studies is not part of this at present, though the AHRC is likely to turn to BAAS when this subject review is set up.

J)   In relation to the AHRC Journals Reference List, SN reported that now that the AHRC is about to become a fully-fledged research council, it is answerable to the Office of Science and Technology of the Dept. of Trade and Industry, and there is consequently an absolute, non-negotiable requirement for a numerical assessment of the success of funding. The AHRC has avoided the use of citation indexes common in the sciences; the Journal Reference List was actually designed simply to illustrate the successes of British academics, not to be a list that was comprehensive in scope. It is meant to represent a “Snap shot list” to show that research money is working and to offer evidence that British academics are being published. The Committee is not entirely convinced by this explanation, and sees three problems: journal innovation may suffer; monographs and edited collections are not being represented as research; and the academic community does not trust a list (85% of Heads of History wrote to the AHRB to say such a system would not work). SN noted the concerns raised but also reiterated the fact that BAAS must have a positive input into the dialogue with AHRC about how this should go forward. More negotiations are scheduled to take place this autumn.

K) In relation to the Cambridge Conference, SN offered thanks to everyone involved, and on behalf of the entire Executive Committee, offered BAAS’s thanks to Professor Tony Badger, Dr. Sarah Meer and Mrs. Ann Holton for their work in organizing this conference, which commences the fiftieth anniversary celebrations.

L)   SN raised the unresolved issue of conference fees for plenary speakers, since different conferences have had different practices in relation to this: sometimes these costs were rolled into conference costs and other times they were not. It was agreed that when institutions invite their own special lectures, this should be part of their conference budget. SN reported that for the JAS speaker, CUP offers 750 pounds sterling, an amount that covers airfare but does not generally cover fees. The Eccles Centre speaker is almost always a local member of BAAS who will be at the conference anyway. Accommodation costs of the last speakers (Eccles/JAS) at Manchester were paid as part of conference budget. The Committee felt that the JAS Speaker is a conference expense on the conference account, so it was proposed that in the future, these fees should be rolled into conference budget. After a short debate, this was agreed. It was further agreed that Shelley Fisher Fishkin would be reimbursed her conference fees. NS was to look into whether it was possible to use the dollar account to do this. SM reminded the Committee that conference organizers should continue to seek funding from external sources for these expenses wherever possible, especially to offset the astronomical rise in conference costs.

M)     For the Kent Conference, SN recommended approaching the British Academy. Although conference grants (up to £1000) are usually not awarded to annual conferences, there is some leeway here: the Conference Subcommittee Chair and Kent conference organizer should investigate and apply (perhaps for expenses of visiting international speaker). SN also suggested that GC should contact Colin Nicolson in History at Stirling who has experience with this.

N) In the absence of JV, who was at the EAAS meeting, it was agreed that we would discuss the 50^th Anniversary celebrations under the Chair’s business. The fiftieth anniversary year begins with the Cambridge conference and concludes with the Kent conference: we need to continue to discuss other possible events to mark the anniversary, as well as long-term strategies for commemorating it, such as travel and other awards, endowments, etc. SN noted that a better postgraduate conference is already being explored, and that the accountant would still like us to explore options for setting aside funds in relation to the BAAS accounts. GC asked about particular expenses for the second 50^th anniversary conference, and NS noted that roughly £5000 is designated to support the anniversary celebrations. Discussions included a series of high profile speakers and other events, additional support for conferences, and opening short term travel awards for employed academics as well as postgraduates. This met with a lot of approval, and it was agreed that the Short Term Travel Awards should be renamed the Postgraduate Short Term Travel Awards and an additional award could be named the Founders’ Research Travel Awards, named after the founders of BAAS. It was proposed and agreed that 5 awards at £500 should be awarded in the first instance. The Committee would seek to continue to award approximately 10 Postgraduate Short Term Travel Awards even if Embassy funding was not forthcoming. Continuation of the Founders’ Awards may depend on securing additional funding resources, but this could be linked into a drive to encourage members to give more. Gift Aid monies could also go towards BAAS awards.

o) The Chair reported that there were problems with the BAAS logo that he encountered when he had a trophy made for the inaugural book award. There is currently no high-resolution version available. There was some discussion about creating a new logo, but in the end, it was agreed that BAAS should look into the professional creation of high quality version of our existing logo. GT agreed to take this forward since he has the existing logo. Thanks were extended to him.

P) The Chair circulated a letter from Samuel A. Floyd, Director Emeritus of the Center for Black Music Research of Columbia College, Chicago (CBMR). This organization is interested in expanding its outreach through regional CBMR chapters in Europe, and is interested in collaboration, and possible joint membership. SN sent a holding message as joint membership seemed unlikely, but it might be possible to set up a website link. IS is to pursue this further, gathering more information about CBMR before a final decision is made.

5. Secretary’s Business

a) The Secretary reported that this past quarter had been another very busy one, with a great deal of correspondence undertaken in relation to the 2005 conference (and even in some instances the 2006 conference). As before, her role as Secretary mainly revolves around information flow, and most of her time is taken up receiving information or responding to email queries.

B) HM circulated a hard copy of an email (previously circulated electronically) from David Mills about ESRC funding.

C) HM reported that in response to her request for a Committee Member to attend the Academy of Learned Societies for the Social Sciences/College of Learned Societies Annual General Meeting, CM had agreed to do so. CM then offered a short report on the meeting, noting that our nominee, Jude Davies, had been elected to serve. CM reported that the meeting itself, which lasted over 3 hours, included discussions about the nature of the Academy, and that this was complicated by the use of different terminology: college, committee, academy. CM was offered an imprint of an article in Higher Education Review which explains everything, which she circulated, and she offered a written synopsis of the meeting for the BAAS records. The meeting included a PowerPoint presentation by Ian Diamond on the use of metrics in the social sciences for the next RAE. There was also a discussion about postgraduate awards and fellowships from the ESRC. Thanks were offered to CM for attending on BAAS’s behalf.

D) HM reported that actions taken over the last quarter included ensuring that information about the AGM and voting was distributed via the mailbase, and that the information would also be available in the conference packs; she expected to make several announcements at the Conference drawing members’ attention to the elections.

E) She has also distributed calls for papers, conferences, etc. through the listserve; answered queries about travel grants and other awards; updated BAAS records with national surveys/records especially in relation to the STAs and other awards; liaised with the Accountant over the list of Trustees’ names; forwarded information to the treasurer regarding membership queries, especially from lapsed members; and answered a variety of odd queries.

F)   The Secretary noted that she had helped direct people with research queries to the appropriate sources, and these are becoming ever more varied. She raised the issue of a BAAS experts list. Although membership applications currently have a tick box for interests, this is too general to be of much assistance for specific queries. It was agreed that HM should direct most people to the American Studies Research Portal and send a message out on the mailbase to members asking them to update their entries.

G) HM reported that she has been following up a copyright request for the old BAAS textbook series edited by Mick Gidley, which has proven to be quite complicated.

H) HM reported that she has chased information for Ken Morgan about his appointment as BRRAM editor, offering a copy of the minutes that announced this to MAP.

i)   The Secretary noted that while she has responded to queries about declining American Studies, she has also helped to advertise new jobs, and there is an increasing number of US queries about postgraduate study. She generally directs potential students to the website links, and offers advice as applicable.

J)   HM reported that she was going to have a meeting at the Conference with Ray Ryan from CUP to discuss their American Literature and Culture Series.

K) HM noted that BAAS Archive negotiations have gone very smoothly now, and all of the archival records are now up to date. She will liaise with GT to have the archives list placed on the website.

L)   Finally, HM noted that she had been commissioned to write an article for Prospects on the current state of studies of American culture in Britain, so any feedback would be welcome.

6. Treasurer’s Business

a) The Treasurer reported that he had also had a busy quarter, particularly with renewals. Current membership figures stand at 600 members, including 194 postgraduates. This includes 216 who have not fully renewed for this year.

B) Balances on 13.4.05 are as follows: Current account: £1013; Conference: £17,226; Lib. Res.: £766; Ed. Development: £5189; STA: £23,789; Deposit: £26,640, making a total of £74,623. In addition, the RBS Jersey has £14,778.40, and US dollar account has $3260. More people are paying dues in dollars.

C) NS tabled the annual accounts, for approval at the AGM. He drew the Committee’s attention to the amount of £9823, and reiterated the position of the Accountant that we should take care to ensure that BAAS does not appear to maintain a surplus. The Committee acknowledged the concerns of the Accountant but reiterated our position that past conferences operated at a loss, and it was important that we had funds in place to protect the Association from this. The new Treasurer will take forward the plans to convene a small working party on finances, drawing on all of the subcommittees. (Members of this working party were agreed as JK and IS in the September 2004 minutes).

D) NS to check the registered address of BAAS, which currently is noted as DeMontfort. HM gave NS the Charity Commission information and forms to pass on to the new Treasurer.

E) The Treasurer reported that, via the web, people have again attempted to take money out of the BAAS account. In order to avoid future problems, it was agreed that it would be wise to take the Standing Order mandate off the webpage, since it has the details of the bank account. In its place, there will be a link to the Treasurer, who can send forms directly to individuals who express interest.

F)   SN reported that Phil Davies had asked if BAAS had made any progress on paying subscription fees by credit card, and NS noted that this was still ongoing. Concerns were expressed about the fact that credit card details expire, and this may make a lot of work for the Treasurer. Direct debits would cost us £15,000 a year, so this is not a viable option.

G) NS reported that Gift Aid is in progress, and he will liaise with the new Treasurer about it.

H) JK suggested that we record our thanks to NS for all the work he has done. NS noted that we should also thank Mrs. Margo Hunter, who ran the membership database.

7. Development Subcommittee (IS reporting)

a) IS reported that he went on behalf of the Committee to the Languages, Linguistics and Areas Studies Subject Board in early February in London (they meet two times a year). This was, he reported, an interesting meeting, and he plans to discuss with JD the role that JD felt BAAS might have within it, and his own experience on the board. It was clear that the LLAS are concerned with representing Area Studies, but this is not yet fully implemented, particularly in relation to funding initiatives and projects. IS plans to write a full report for the next Executive meeting. He noted in particular that the LLAS has diverse constituent members and that it is sometimes hard to find a common ground for these constituencies. It is also important that the rationale for the funding of projects become clearer.

B) IS reported on the names of award winners who will be announced at the Banquet. These will be placed on the website and are listed below:

Peter Parish STA: Catherine McGowan, University of Edinburgh, “Origins of the Convent Narrative in America”

Marcus Cunliffe STA: Catalina Neculai, University of Warwick, “A Critique of Urban Regime Changes in New York 1970s-90s”

Malcolm Bradbury STA: Jeffrey Farley, University of Glasgow, “The Interaction between Sources of Jazz Information”

John Lees STA: Yvonne Ryan, UEA, “The Leadership of Roy Wilkins, Head of the NAACP”

Ambassador’s STA: Sinéad Moynihan, University of Nottingham, “The Hard-Boiled Crime fiction of Robert Skinner”

Winners of the £500 BAAS STAs for 2005:

David Watson, University of Dundee

Patrick Flack, University of Cambridge

Holly Farrington, Middlesex University

Anne-Marie Evans, University of Sheffield

James Burton, University of Nottingham

BAAS Ambassador’s Postgraduate Essay Prize:

Winner: Camilla Cox, University of Nottingham, “African-American Cultural Artefacts in the Antebellumn Period”

Honourable mention: Tim Nelson, University of Hull, “Fighting on JFK’s New Frontier: Marvel Comics’ Cold War”

BAAS Ambassador’s Undergraduate Essay Prize:

Winner: Thomas Herron, University of Durham, “Forging an Identity in the New World: Charles Brockden Brown and the American Declaration of Literary Independence”

Honourable mentions Jackie Cahif, University of Glasgow, “The Irrelevance of the American Revolution to the poor of late 18^th Century America”

Gary Cape, UCLAN, “Celebration or Critique? John Dos Passos’s Modernist Response to the American Metropolis in Manhattan Transfer”

Francesca Ziolkowska, University of Edinburgh, “The Dust Bowl As Historic Fact and Artistic Representation”

Ed Flett, University of Bristol, “The Glass Eye: Hollywood, Film, and the Impact of the Mechanisation of production on the perception of the work of Art”

BAAS Ambassador’s School Essay Prize

Winner: Gillian Harrison, Haydon School, Pinner, Middlesex, “Assess the Impact of Affirmative Action”

BAAS Postgraduate Essay Prize:

Winner: Andrew Wyn Jones, University of Glasgow, “Singing the Body (Politic) Eclectic? Problems of Nationhood within the American Poet Laureateship”

Honourable Mentions: Rachael McLennan, University of Glasgow, “Dark Unpackings: Narrating Southern Female Adolescence in Jill McCorkle’s The Cheer Leader, Sylvia Wilkinson’s Bones of My Bones, and Thulani Davis’s 1959”

Joanne Hall, University of Nottingham, “I’ Hobo: Textual Travels and Apocryphal Autobiographies”

The Arthur Miller Prize:

Peter Nicholls (University of Sussex) ‘George Oppen in Exile: Mexico and Maritain’, Journal of American Studies 39 (2005), 1-18.

c) IS noted that the breadth and quality of the essays that were presented this year was very impressive, and as a result, the Subcommittee made a decision to declare not only the winners, but also highlight honourable mentions, to whom certificates will be sent. IS extended thanks to all of the judges, noting contributions from particular members. He also thanked the US Embassy for funding, and individual institutions who encouraged their students to apply. There was a good response to the publicity, and gratifyingly a number of individuals corresponded and said that the prizes were a good idea. The success of these awards and prizes inevitably created more interest, which means that it will be necessary to draw on a wider pool of judges in 2006.

d) IS distributed a document containing two requests for funding. One was from Sheffield for the BAAS Postgraduate conference in November, and second application was from R.J. Ellis (Birmingham) for a colloquium, “Becoming Visible: Women in Public in the 19^th Century America”, to be held in June. The Sheffield bid did not specify an amount. Birmingham asked for 10×50 pound sterling bursaries for postgraduates to attend the colloquium. NS noted a precedent of offering £100 which was recently raised to £200. In relation to the Sheffield bid, CE noted that the organizers wanted to link it to the 50^th anniversary celebrations, and there was some discussion about Embassy funding for related internet projects, which CE will discuss with the organizers. After a long discussion, it was agreed to support the postgraduate conference with grant of £200, and that BAAS would make an additional £300 available for postgraduate subsidies, to reduce the cost to individual students. IS is to write to the organizers about this plan. It was agreed to offer £250 for postgraduate bursaries to the “Becoming Visible” colloquium. This was more than was usually offered to event organizers.

E) In the absence of IR and KC, IS asked to postpone a full discussion of the Schoolteachers’ Initiative until the summer meeting. He did, however, draw the Committee’s attention to the Teachers’ meeting on Saturday.

F)   IS noted that contrary to our fears, the BAAS postgraduate essay was very successful this year with a strong applicant field. Thus the Development Subcommittee will revisit the issues around the various prizes at the summer meeting, and will ensure that new submission dates are advertised.

G) Thanks were offered to Ian for all his hard work in organizing the prizes.

8. Publications Subcommittee (HM reporting)

a) Carol Smith was unable to attend the meeting but offered a comprehensive written report that HM read out on her behalf. The report indicated that some progress had been made with reviewing the relationship between BAAS and MAP for the BRRAM series. Dr. Roderick Vassie sent CS the existing agreement (dated May 1990) signed by M Heale to act as a basis for future revisions. The free advertising spot in ASIB and BAAS members 10% discount as agreed at our last meeting was mentioned. The Subcommittee will return to this item at the next full meeting in June, with the hopes that a new agreement could be signed and negotiated on behalf of BAAS by CS and SN.

B) The report noted that the EUP BAAS series continues to do well and that EUP remain happy with sales and list. A proposal from Dr. Celeste-Marie Bernier (African American Visual Arts) was accepted by the EUP editorial board meeting. Further research into funding for illustrations will be undertaken. The manuscript of The Civil War in American Culture by Dr. Will Kaufman has now arrived with CS (one whole year early) and is being edited. A call for new titles was placed in ASIB.

c) Thanks were offered to JK, SN and Susan Castillo for all their hard and delicate work over the nominations for the vacant positions of the editorial board of JAS. As per the agreed procedure between BAAS and CUP, nominations and CVs were brought to the meeting to replace Prof. Hart, Prof. Tallack and Prof. Badger, who have all been thanked for their sterling work. The Committee considered and approved the nominations of Prof. Emily Miller Buddick (who is a re-nomination); Prof. Rhodri Jeffreys-Jones, Prof. Peter Williams (who offers specific expertise in religious studies and architecture) and Prof. Werner Sollors. HM will write to Joe Mottershead at CUP as per the agreed guidelines to recommend our nominations to the Syndics. Further nominations will be required later in the year, so CS invites Committee members to offer suggestions to her and to JK, SN and SC for discussion at the next subcommittee meeting.

D) Also in relation to JAS, the report noted that an advertisement for the new editor and associate editor of JAS was part of the conference pack and would be announced at the AGM. It will also be advertised in ASIB, on the web, and on the mailbase.

E) There was a discussion about the delay in printing of the last issues of ASIB. This was due to the printers suffering from repeated break-ins, and our status as a small client meaning that our needs were given a lower priority. Thanks were offered to GT and CE for remedial action in identifying and overcoming the problem; apologies would be offered to the AGM. GT recommended that in the future, hard copies of the conference registration form should be sent separately from ASIB to avoid any potential problems. This was agreed. It was also noted that it may be necessary to seek a new ASIB editor if GT were to be elected to the position of Treasurer. Should this happen, HM would then take charge of advertising the post in the same way as the US Studies Online editorship was advertised. [This subsequently proved to be necessary.]

f)   It was reported that Elizabeth Rosen was offered and accepted the position of editor of US Studies Online. She and CM have been in touch regarding the handover after Easter. The other candidates were thanked for their interest and informed they were not successful. CM reported that her final issue is coming out next week, and that Elizabeth Rosen will be attending the Conference.

G) In relation to the BAAS book prize, it was reported that there had been 9 eligible entries, with the winner to be announced at the Conference Banquet. [The winner was subsequently announced as Professor Richard King.] Thanks were offered to Prof. Davies, Prof. Castillo and Prof. Lucas for the exemplary process they followed in arriving at their decision; they will be publicly thanked at the AGM and PD will offer a speech at the banquet, which will be published in ASIB. Timings of this award need to be reconsidered for next year. CS will write to all entrants informing them of the decision shortly.

9. Conference Subcommittee (SN reporting)

a) TW as Chair was unable to attend, but SN read out his emailed report. The report noted that there had been little business to report apart from the running of the 2005 conference. The Cambridge team was thanked for their organization of the conference.

B) It was reported that Kent’s CFP was collectively revised to shift emphasis slightly away from Benjamin Franklin. This version was circulated at the conference and will go on the website shortly. The next conference will be held at the University of Kent, 20-23 April 2006.

c) Subsequent conferences will be held at the University of Leicester (2007) and the University of Edinburgh (2008).

10. Libraries and Resources Subcommittee (IR reporting by email)

a) IR was unable to attend the meeting, but he offered a written report which HM read out. The main emphasis for the work of BLARS this academic year has been on the re-launch of the former Libraries Newsletter, now entitled Resources for American Studies. The journal will be in a larger format with a wider range of reviews and articles that will be of value and interest to librarians, lecturers and postgraduate students. Thanks were offered to the US Embassy for the support they provided in order to make this possible. Colleagues who felt that they could contribute an article or review of a new database or other form of electronic resource, or a hard text review, were urged to contact the magazine editor, Dr. Matthew Shaw at matthew.shaw@bl.uk.

B) It was also reported that there has been one significant change to the membership of the committee this year. After many years as Secretary of BLARS, Richard Bennett resigned due to personal reasons. On behalf of all the Committee, sincere thanks were recorded to RB for all the work that he undertook. To date, the post of Secretary remains vacant. It is hoped that this will be resolved at the next meeting in May

11. EAAS

a) There was no EAAS report as the EAAS representative was attending the EAAS meeting, held at Clare College Cambridge, prior to the BAAS Conference. Any business will be addressed firstly at the AGM and subsequently at the next Executive Committee meeting.

12. Fiftieth Anniversary Planning

a) This business was addressed above under the Chair’s report. A fuller report will come to the next Executive Committee meeting.

13. Any Other Business

a) CE drew the Committee’s attention to the postgraduate meeting on Saturday and urged members to encourage every postgraduate to attend.

B) CM noted that a BBC book world programme on Joyce Carol Oates, to be broadcast 20 May, is looking for student voices (preferably undergraduates) to participate. All queries should be directed in the first instance to CM. This information will go out on the mailbase.

C) SN offered thanks to the officers and the whole Committee for making this first year of his position so memorable; thanks were also offered to SN in return for his leadership over the year.

14. Date of next meeting

Saturday 18 June at the University of Glasgow, in order to facilitate handover of the Treasurer duties as well as archive discussions between the Chair and the Secretary. The September meeting is likely to be held in London.

Dr Heidi Macpherson, Secretary

Phone (office): (01772) 893039 or 893040

email: hrsmacpherson@uclan.ac.uk

BAAS Executive Committee Meeting: January 15, 2005

Minutes of the 241st meeting of the Executive Committee, held at The Rothermere Institute, Oxford on January 15, 2005.

1. Present

S Newman (Chair), C Smith (Vice Chair), H Macpherson (Secretary), N Selby (Treasurer), C Elliott, C Morley, I Scott, G Thompson, J Virden and P Thompson.

Apologies
K Cooper, J Davies, S MacLachlan, M Padget, I Ralston, J Kleinberg and T Woods.

In Attendance
George Conyne

2. Minutes of the Previous Meeting.
After the correction of minor typographical errors, the minutes were accepted as a true record.

3. Matters Arising
There were no matters arising.

4. Chair’s Business

a) The Chair began by reporting that Professor Paul Cammack (Manchester Metropolitan University) had been appointed Chair of RAE sub-panel 47, “American Studies and Anglophone Area Studies.” SN reported that invitations to serve on the panels are expected to be issued over the next three weeks.

b) SN reported that Anna Clarke, a former administrative Secretary of BAAS and well known mystery novelist, died in November 2004. The Independent ran an obituary on 28 December 2004.

c) SN reported that the BAAS mailbase was now up and running again, and he thanked Clare Elliott for all of her work in creating a new and improved BAAS email distribution list. For a variety of reasons, Clare had had to construct a new email list from scratch, inputting email addresses that she had gathered from a range of sources, and working with University of Glasgow support staff to create a proper email distribution list. CE reported there are currently 618 people on the list.

d) SN attended the annual conference of the American Studies Association in Atlanta, Georgia, 11-14 November. (Other representatives of BAAS included Jay Kleinberg, Martin Padget, Phil Davies, Scott Lucas, Marina Moskowitz, and Chris Bigsby.) The meeting provoked a series of interesting discussions which SN would like the Executive Committee to examine in some detail at the next meeting. These include long term ideas, including ways to facilitate postgraduates going to other conferences. There were also discussions about American understandings of American Studies as different from academic understandings in other countries. SN reported that the ASA conference appears to be more and more focused on academic work related to identities, while other organizations remain multi- as well as interdisciplinary, and thus somewhat more “traditional”. However, a number of possible collaborative ventures were aired, including co-operative ventures in annual (and smaller) conferences, perhaps exploring the issues raised above, including how “America” and “American Studies” are differently constructed in various countries and regions. Another possibility is a reciprocal scheme in which some postgraduate students are funded to attend and present work at international conferences (e.g. between BAAS and ASA). Following the conference SN wrote to SFF regarding these proposals, and she has responded by suggesting an informal (rather than institutional) approach to postgraduate participation in international conferences. These issues will be addressed in more detail at the next meeting.

e) SN and CS attended the UKCASA annual general meeting on 14 January 2005. SN reported that it had been a good meeting. Before the annual general meeting, Ed Hughes, the RAE manager, spoke to the group and offered a positive view of interdisciplinary area studies. What became clear is that area studies submissions may be lower in 2008 than in previous RAEs, and some departments or programmes are perceived to be in danger. Thus it remains crucial that there should be a concerted effort to support more cross-referencing in 2008. SN noted that it is particularly important to think about the position and funding of area studies programmes in relation to the funding of postgraduates; BAAS needs to help develop strategies that will work to raise awareness of the vibrancy of American Studies despite the expected lower submission rate to the RAE subpanel 47. SN also reported that the AGM had approved a letter to be sent to Sir Howard Newby (HEFCE) about the need to protect area studies and language studies programmes. A similar letter will also be sent to SHEFC and HEFCW. CS noted that it was a very supportive and non-confrontational meeting.

f) SN reported that on 23 September 2004, the Select Committee on Science and Technology published its “Eleventh Report of Session 2003-04, Research Assessment Exercise: a Re-assessment”. On 23 November 2004, the Committee received a memorandum from the Government which contained a response to the Report. Both the Report and the Response began by reiterating a commitment to “improving the treatment of interdisciplinary research”.

g) The Chair reported that he had been interviewed by British Forces Broadcasting Service (26 October, on the US presidential election and foreign policy); and by the Spanish newspaper La Razon (27 October, on the significance of the presidential election for Europe).

h) SN noted that Phil Davies had attended the Languages, Linguistics and Area Studies (LLAS) group’s conference on the “Disciplinary Identity of Area Studies” (29 November 2004). PD reported that LLAS and subject centres are becoming increasingly institutionalized as part of the Higher Education Academy, and despite his and Dick Ellis’ best efforts, area studies in general and American Studies in particular are not as well represented as they could or should be. This needs BAAS’s attention. The LLAS is still far more focused on language programmes rather than area studies. SN would like the Committee to consider ways to proceed at the next meeting. Some suggestions include conferences, a new issue of Atlas, CILT in Scotland, and a Journal of Area Studies.

i) SN reported that heads of departments for various subjects (including History) have received a letter from Professor Geoffrey Crossick of the AHRB regarding the creation of an “AHRB Journal Reference List”. SN circulated copies of the letter. At present this is a pilot scheme for just a few subjects, but it will have a significant impact on the AHRB and RAE ranking of publications in journals by members of the American Studies subject community. There are no US-based journals on the list, and it takes academics in these and related fields towards a simple “metrics” approach to the assessment of the quality of journal articles. Although the RAE disregarded this, and said that it wouldn’t be used, the AHRB will judge the funding of research projects based on where they are published. Many history organizations are resisting this, and it was felt strongly that BAAS should send a letter to oppose it. A long discussion ensued which explored a variety of options. IS noted how metrics are being used in science departments and that this has generated controversy in those fields; in addition, metrics are not easily applicable to arts, humanities and social sciences. It was also felt that BAAS needs to be careful about simply adding journal names to this list, as in a sense this validates the idea of the list in the first place, something which the majority of members opposed. PT wanted any letter sent to note the misspellings of journal titles and suggested that one way forward would be to submit a list of journals for which BAAS Executive Committee members have offered peer review. SN suggested that it may be better if BAAS started as an initial point that there should be no table, since this erodes and undermines peer review. HM noted that by definition, new journals would not be included, and that academics had a professional responsibility to help new journals succeed, but that a list of “acceptable journals” would undermine this collegiate effort. Committee members noted that the list included relatively few interdisciplinary journals, and that this went against the AHRB’s stated aims of encouraging interdisciplinary work. In addition, the list privileged English History at the expense of American History research. CS felt that the list was part of the change from AHRB to AHRC and suggested that we should write as many letters as possible, and show clear academic reasons why it will not work. Any responses need to be to SN in the next week. Where appropriate, members should encourage heads of departments to write.

j) SN reported that Simon Middleton (UEA) had written to him saying that UEA are considering the future of their four-year degree with the introduction of top-up fees, and he asked what was happening elsewhere, and if BAAS has a position on this. Committee members noted that in their own institutions, this had not necessarily been a problem. At Nottingham, for example, it is harder to recruit to the three year programme rather than four year programme and is in any case extending its exchange programme further. Hull only had a four year programme and has not experienced a problem recruiting. PT suggested that part of the problem is that US students do not want to come over for one year, which results in a problem of balance. GC noted that this isn’t a problem at Kent, and IS noted that numbers at Manchester were steady. Manchester has a one-semester programme with some students having the opportunity go to for a year on a three year programme; UCLAN does the same. JV noted that for the 4 year programme, the year in the US only requires half fees. SN thanked the Committee Members for their views and will write back to SM about this.

k) SN reported that Phil Davies would like to produce a leaflet describing the strengths and virtues of American Studies for publicity for programmes, centres, etc. Eccles Centre can do this because it doesn’t run an American Studies programme itself, so it wouldn’t be seen to be biased towards any one programme. PD has managed to secure funding, but would like to call on BAAS Executive Committee Members to help draft the leaflet. The Committee suggested that Martin Padget would be an excellent choice and that SN should approach him. GC noted that he would be happy to help MP on this project.

l) SN reported on various initiatives proposed by James Dunkerley of the ISA. Prof. Dunkerley would like to arrange a meeting of heads of departments/centres/programmes. BAAS supports this. PT would like to ensure that academics from Oxford and Cambridge are included. Prof. Dunkerley also suggested creating an annual dissertation prize for the best dissertation in US and Latin American Studies which ISA would then publish. This lead to a full debate about the merits of such a proposal. Some concerns were raised about who would judge this sort of prize, and whether there was enough cross-over expertise to judge the prizes effectively. One suggestion was that in alternate years, the prize would go to a Latin American dissertation or an American Studies dissertation, with dissertations completed in the intervening two years eligible for the prize. It was noted that other academic organizations have these types of prizes, and that the judges do not necessarily need to be on the Committee itself. Though logistical arrangements might be difficult, the Committee felt that the principle behind a dissertation prize was a good one. There are some issues yet to be resolved, such as whether other area studies (Caribbean/Canadian) would be included, and whether the proposal comes from the ISA or the Latin American Studies Association. SN will raise these issues with JD and pursue the matter further.

m) SN reported that the proposed AHRB funded “Americas-wide Research Training and Resources” programme for beginning postgraduates, to be administered by the Institute for the Study of the Americas (London) and the School of American and Canadian Studies at Nottingham, has now been reformulated to include bibliographic information from the British Library.

n) SN thanked the members of the Executive Committee for approving the creation of an annual BAAS Book prize, which is now being advertised. He noted that the first prize will be awarded at the Cambridge conference.

o) The Chair met with Professor Tony Badger and Ann Holton in Cambridge (22 November), and discussed arrangements for and funding of the BAAS conference.

p) It was reported that Professor D M Turley has been promoted to Dean of Humanities at the University of Canterbury Kent.

5. Secretary’s Business

a) The Secretary reported that this past quarter had been particularly busy. In general, her role as Secretary mainly revolves around information flow, and most of her time is taken up receiving information or responding to email queries. She noted in particular that most of the correspondence she now receives comes in electronic format (for example, the Charity Commission News), which is distributed to the Committee as she receives it. However, at the meeting, she circulated a draft of the letter to Sir Howard Newby from UKCASA; information on an “Ethics and the Governance of Research in the Social Sciences” conference; and information on the “First Annual Debate of the Academy of Social Sciences”.

b) HM reported on other actions taken as Secretary. She has updated BAAS records with national surveys/records especially in relation to the STAs and other awards; distributed information about STAs and other funding/prize opportunities; helped direct people with research queries to the appropriate sources; distributed calls for papers, conferences, etc. through the listserve; sent out copies of the BAAS leaflet to those who have requested them; continued to add to the externals list; forwarded information to the Treasurer regarding membership queries, especially from lapsed members; forwarded information from EAAS to the Treasurer and the EAAS representative; liaised with Northwest BAAS representatives; and reviewed the applications for the US Studies On Line editorship, along with Carol Smith.

c) HM noted that she had received many fewer queries for the newspaper database this quarter and thanked GT again for his efforts in ensuring that information about the newspaper database is clear to the BAAS website users.

d) HM reported that she had contributed to the North American section of the “Diversity Manual” published by the Directory of Social Change, a charity that supports voluntary sector workers.

e) HM noted that she was interviewed by Fernando Duarte from the Brazilian newspaper O Globo about the US elections.

f) HM reported on BAAS archive discussions.

g) HM stated her intention to stand for re-election at the upcoming conference.

h) HM will send an email to members of the Committee asking them to let her know if they need Wednesday night accommodation prior to the conference and next Executive Committee meeting.

6. Treasurer’s Business

a) The Treasurer reported that he had also had a busy quarter, particularly with renewals.

b) NS reported that current membership figures stand at 569 members, including 187 postgraduates. There has been a very good response to the membership renewals this year, with only a few complaints by members about being “forced” to take JAS.). Of the total figure above, 331 are completely paid up. While this is good, it does still mean that there are still quite a number of people who need to amend their standing orders to take into account the new fees.

c) Balances on 14.1.05 are as follows: Current account: £2230; Conference: £17,226; Lib. Res.: £766; Ed. Development: £5174; STA: £23,033; Deposit: £31,097*, making a total of £79,526. In addition, the RBS Jersey has £14,712.74, and US dollar account has $2692. The Deposit account includes £830.55 just received from old Halifax account.

d) NS reported that because of the very heavy work on subscription renewals since the last meeting, he has not yet convened a meeting of the Working Party (ref 6c from the minutes of BAAS 240). This Working Party is tasked to examine the possibility of earmarking funds/reserves.

e) NS noted that Barclays have been very slow in getting back on whether direct debits or credit card payments could be used for subscriptions. It was not possible to set anything in place for card payments before this year’s membership renewals. This is an ongoing piece of business.

f) NS reported that he was still working on Gift Aid.

g) In relation to the Old Halifax Building Society account, NS reported that after a further three letters to Halifax, a cheque arrived from them on Monday (10 Jan) in the amount of £830.55, thereby closing the account. NS proposed earmarking this money for Short-Term Awards. The Committee approved this measure. Subsequently, in discussions, it was agreed that this money should be earmarked for the new BAAS Book Prize instead. See 8g.

h) NS reported that he is standing down as Treasurer in April, a year early, because of new commitments at Glasgow, as Director of the Hook Centre. The Officers have discussed likely candidates from the Committee, and encourage all members to think about whether they would like to take on this role. HM as Secretary noted that this would create a one-year vacancy, and that any successful candidate would be eligible to take up 2 further terms as Treasurer if elected. It was noted that this was a good time to take on the role, as renewals were already well underway. NS reported that the majority of his work was spent on renewals and the annual accounts, and estimated that he spent approximately half a day a week throughout the year on this role.

i) JV noted that royalties for Edinburgh University Press were still coming to her. It was agreed that they should be sent to the Treasurer in the future, but that they could also be sent to the Secretary for continuity. JV is to check who the contact at EUP is and send the information to HM for processing.

7. Development Subcommittee (IS reporting)

a) IS reported that he has written to Sarah Jane Mayhew at the US Embassy to report that BAAS has spent the money that the Embassy has awarded it on the projects that it was funding this past year.

b) IS noted that publicity for the Ambassador’s Awards has been sent out in a variety of formats.

c) IS has written to Bruce Field at South Carolina regarding the Teachers’ Initiative. The Plan is to invite Bruce and other US colleagues to attend the Cambridge conference and participate in the Teachers’ meeting and associated activities.

d) CE as postgraduate representative reported on the very successful postgraduate conference in November. Thanks were offered to Birmingham for hosting the conference at such short notice. Preparations are already underway for next year, and the University of Sheffield is likely to host the conference in 2006. Discussions have been initiated for commitments after that period.

e) In relation to the Teachers’ Initiative, IS reported that both IR and KC were not able to attend the meeting in Oxford, and it had not been possible to arrange other meetings during this quarter. However, progress has been made on several fronts, including appointing a webster to construct the webpages and research aids/materials for schools. This person will liaise with GT over the next few weeks. The Development Subcommittee would like to heighten the visibility of the teachers’ meeting at Cambridge and hoped it would be possible for panels to be arranged for the Saturday that would be of particular interest for teachers. In addition, there was hope that a reception for 6^th forms near Cambridge could be included in the programme. Tony Badger has a lot of experience organizing teacher conferences, so it was hoped that these requests could be accommodated; IS is to contact him on Monday. GC reported that he recognized the value of his attendance at these meetings, as Conference Secretary for 2006, and said that he would like to have an early discussion with the Development Subcommittee in relation to the Kent conference. The Committee as a whole felt strongly that this was a positive way forward.

f) IS reported that the publicity for the Ambassador’s Awards may have inadvertently had a negative impact on submissions for the BAAS Essay Prize, and there was a sustained discussion about the future of the BAAS Essay Prize. The Development Subcommittee brought forward a proposal for the amalgamation of the two prizes for 2006; if the Ambassador’s Awards were discontinued in the future, BAAS could re-establish the BAAS Essay Prize. This led to a debate about limiting the number of submissions per programme (currently 3 per department). SN suggested that we put a note in ASIB about the low levels of entries to the competition, and our ruminations on whether to abandon the Prize or roll it into the Ambassador’s Award; this way we could gauge the Community’s response and make a decision in the Autumn about whether to continue advertising the prize. It was decided that this was an important issue that needed to be revisited at the Cambridge meeting, when Committee Members had had a chance to consider all aspects of the question.

g) IS also raised the issue of the STA timetable. This year, there were over 40 applications, which meant that it had not been possible to make decisions on them before Christmas. It is clear that BAAS does not make retrospective awards, but this meant that some applications for January/February would become ineligible. In order to avoid this in the future, IS proposed that BAAS should alter the closing date from 30 November to 15 December, and alter the dates of eligible travel from the current February-January cycle to a more realistic April-March cycle, which would allow more recipients to attend the BAAS Conference Dinner and accept their awards in person. The Committee agreed this proposal. HM noted the importance of updating information about this and other awards on the web.

8. Publications Subcommittee (CS reporting)

a) CS reported that BRRAM is vibrant with new initiatives and repackaging opportunities, as well as a new editor, Dr. Vasey, who has interesting ideas for ways forward for the series. In particular, he would like to revisit the contract between BAAS and BRRAM. The Publications Subcommittee would like to recommend that we offer BRRAM free advertisement in ASIB and send them a complimentary copy. The Committee approved this measure. CS reported that KM, who offered a full report, will get in touch with Dr. Vasey about renegotiations, and that we will discuss any proposed changes to the contract at the next meeting.

b) CS reported that EUP continues to be happy with the BAAS paperbacks series. There has been a slight delay in the market research that Nicola Carr is planning to undertake, but it should be available sometime this year. EUP has had to implement a programme of reducing stock numbers for some overstocked titles (anywhere from 100-700 copies), but EUP wishes to reassure the Committee that this is normal practice for publishers, and does not reflect negatively on the series. A proposal for a book on African American Visual Arts has received the support of the editors and will go forward to the next press meeting later in the month. Will Kaufman’s book on the Civil War has just been received and will go through final editing this year, as will Niall Palmer’s The Twenties in America. CS is to write a call for more titles for the next issue of ASIB.

c) CS reported that discussions about replacement editorial board members for JAS are still on going but it is hoped that there will be names to come before the next meeting. Members are invited to propose names to SN, CS and JK as soon as possible, so that, if appropriate, their CVs can be requested. CS offered the Committee’s thanks to Tony Badger, Emily Miller Buddick, and Douglas Tallack, whose terms on the Board ended in December 2004.

d) CS reported that the website is working well, and that initial problems with the 50^th Anniversary questionnaire have now been rectified. The Subcommittee raised a question about whether the mailbase was open to non-BAAS members, and CE and SN replied that it was. Because of this, GT proposed that the website include an option to receive mailbase information; GT to liaise with CE to work out details.

e) CS reported that the next issue of ASIB has been slightly delayed in order to incorporate information about the upcoming conference. GT reported that it will include the first ever editorial letter he has received.

f) CS reported that there had been three strong applicants for the position of editor for US Studies On Line and that the Subcommittee proposed Elizabeth Rosen (UCL) as a replacement for Catherine Morley. This was approved. CS thanked Catherine for her work as editor, and noted that she will bring out one more issue of the journal before the conference. CS is to write to all applicants with the decision.

CS reported that the book prize panel, headed by Phil Davies, has now been constituted and unlike other prize committees, it is not anonymous. The other members included Professor Susan Castillo and Professor Scott Lucas. PD will give a speech at the Cambridge dinner about the prize. It is hoped that a version of this speech can be published in ASIB. The final deadline for the posting of books to CS is 15/1/05. Currently there were 13 books put forward, but two were ineligible because of publication dates. CS offered thanks to those members who had initially been approached about judging the prize, but who had to withdraw because of conflicts of interest. CS asked the Committee to keep under review the tight deadline for next year. It was agreed that the money from the old Halifax Account would be used to support this new prize.

9. Conference Subcommittee (JV reporting)

a) TW as Chair was unable to attend, but SN was able to attend the meeting in his place, and JV acted as recording officer. JV reported that it was a fruitful meeting, focusing on questions to ask of Cambridge representatives, who were unable to attend the meeting. JV noted that the conference budget is provisional. One question was how many seats were available at the banquet, which will determine how many guests BAAS invites. There is a long list of possible guests, but any further ideas should be emailed to SN as soon as possible. JV noted that there is a cost for speeches that go beyond 20 minutes; it was agreed that BAAS will pay for those costs, as it is important that the prize-giving ceremony is not cut short for financial reasons, since this is considered an important element of the conference, especially this year. JV distributed sample forms for the conference and noted that the non-BAAS registration fee would be amended upwards to ensure that the gap between BAAS and non-BAAS fees was greater than the cost of membership of BAAS. JV also noted that arrangements to pay by credit card needed to be added. The provisional programme for the conference should be available on Monday, which will need to be finalized quickly in order to ensure its publication in ASIB. TW, SMc and JV to liaise about conference programme.

b) JV reported that the conference dinner would not have a top table, but that VIPs would be mixed in with members of the Executive Committee at smaller tables throughout the room, with small groups of sets reserved for banquet guests and their “hosts”.

c) JV reported that the Committee discussed the Kent conference dates and other related matters. The responsibilities of the Conference Secretary and deadlines will be forwarded to GC by TW as soon as possible.

d) HM queried the deadline for full payment on the conference registration form, given that the form had yet to be made public. SN and TW to follow this up.

e) JV offered thanks on behalf of the Committee to Tony Badger, Ann Holton and Sarah Meer for organizing the conference, and for helping with the EAAS arrangements.

10. Libraries and Resources Subcommittee (IR reporting by email)

a) IR was unable to attend the meeting, but he offered a written report. Since the last Executive Committee meeting, the Library and Resources Subcommittee has secured financial support to develop and re-launch the BLARS newsletter. However, progress has been slow, and this will be a major item on the Subcommittee’s agenda at the February meeting.

b) IR noted that the resignation of the Secretary, Richard Bennett (for health reasons) had increased some problems, but IR was hopeful that the post will be formally filled after the next meeting.

11. EAAS (JV reporting)

a) JV noted that there wasn’t much to report this quarter. She asked NS if the EAAS fees had been paid, and he replied that membership lists have been sent to EAAS and it was in hand.

b) JV reported that she had sent information on EAAS to GT for ASIB.

c) SN noted that there was still time to send in proposals for the EAAS conference in Cyprus in April 2006.

12. Fiftieth Anniversary Planning (JV reporting)
a) JV reported that the Subcommittee had discussed having blurbs for the conference programme. SW is going to ask an Embassy official to write an introduction. This needs to be finalized by TB and SN.

b) JV reported that souvenirs for the 50^th anniversary celebrations had not been finalized, so it was proposed that this be organized for the Kent conference in 2006 instead.
c) JV reported that responses to the 50^th Anniversary Questionnaire had been low with only 24 responses received to date. Problems with the website might be partially to blame. JV is to liaise with CE to send the questionnaire out again on the mailbase.

13. Any Other Business
a) PT noted that at the last meeting, we had discussed encouraging people to donate to BAAS in their wills. He had been unable to attend to that task for a variety of reasons, but will move forward on that project now.
14. Date of next meeting
14 April 2005 at Robinson College, Cambridge. SW has volunteered the US Embassy for the following meeting in the summer.

Dr Heidi Macpherson, Secretary
Phone (office): (01772) 893039 or 893040
Fax: (01772) 892924
email: hrsmacpherson@uclan.ac.uk

BAAS Executive Committee Meeting: September 25, 2004

Minutes of the 240th meeting of the Executive Committee, held at Manchester Metropolitan University on September 25, 2004.

1. Present

S Newman (Chair), C Smith (Vice Chair), H Macpherson (Secretary), N Selby (Treasurer) K Cooper, J Davies, C Elliott, J Kleinberg, S MacLachlan, I Ralston, I Scott, P Thompson, J Virden, T Woods

Apologies

C Morley, M Padget, G Thompson

2. Minutes of the Previous Meeting.

Minor typographical errors were noted and corrected.

3. Matters Arising

There were no matters arising.

4. Chair’s Business

a) The Chair began by circulating materials he had received since the last meeting, including the AHRB strategy for research; NCUP Themed meeting on the Changing Role of the Professor; requests for new members of the Academy of Social Sciences.

b) SN noted that one of the founding members of the Association, Professor J R Pole (Rhodes Professor [Emeritus], Oxford) remains very active in the international scene and has just had a book translated into Mandarin; The Pursuit of Equality in American History (1993) will be published in Beijing early in 2005. Professor Pole is working on other projects as well: a revised version of the lecture on American Irony that he gave as a plenary at the Oxford BAAS conference in 2002 will appear in this summer’s edition of the literary magazine Raritan, and his edition of The Federalist (containing annotations on all the historical, literary and other references in the text) will be published by Hackett (Cambridge, Mass.) in November 2004. The activity of founding members is to be commended.

c) SN noted the following promotions and appointments: Roberta Pearson, Professor of Film at Nottingham; Mark Jancovich, Professor of Film at UEA; Dick Ellis, Professor of American Studies at Birmingham.

d) As Chair of BAAS, SN has participated in a number of media events. He was interviewed on the Richard Bacon programme on BBC Radio Five (29 August, on anti-Americanism and American Studies); by The Scotsman (3 September, on ‘The Alamo’); by British Services Broadcasting Service (3 September, on US presidential election and foreign policy); and by Radio Lancashire (15 September, on the electoral college and the presidential election).

e) SN reported that, following a story in the Financial Times by Rebecca Knight (26 August), Polly Toynbee published an op-ed piece in the Guardian linking the perceived decline of American Studies programmes to American Foreign Policy. In email correspondence with Judie Newman and Phil Davies, she admitted that American Studies was just a peg to hang the piece on, and was quite supportive, and BAAS officers agreed that a robust response was necessary. SN’s letter (plus various others) was published in The Guardian on 28 August. SN proposed that BAAS invite Polly Toynbee to the conference in Cambridge. The Committee supported this proposal.

f) SN reported that he has been appointed to the AHRB Peer Review College for American Studies, effective September 2004 for a three-year term. Other members of the subject community appointed to the 500-member Peer Review College include Ian Bell, Richard Godden, Howell Harris, Susan Manning and Judie Newman. BAAS is well represented on the panels that oversee the Peer review College: Janet Beer is a member of Research Panel 3 (Literature), Pete Nicholls is a member of Postgraduate panel 3 (Literature), Richard King is a member of Research Panel 4 (History), and Jay Kleinberg is a member of Postgraduate Panel 4 (History).

g) SN reported that on 12 July 2004, he met with James Dunkerley, to discuss the Institute for the Study of the Americas, and to coordinate Latin Americanist/Canadianist/Caribbeanist/US Studies nominations to the RAE Panel.

h) On 3 August 2004, SN submitted a response to the ESRC Consultation on Future Priorities, setting out and defending American Studies. He also announced that Marina Moskowitz (Glasgow) has received a two year fellowship from the ESRC.

i) SN is planning to attend the ASA in Atlanta in November as head of a national organization. He asked the Committee to consider what it wants from ties with the ASA, and to forward any ideas to him by the end of October. JD wanted to ensure that we set up long-term links, particularly since Shelley Fisher Fishkin, the current ASA president, with whom BAAS has close ties, will be stepping down next year. TW would like to stress the usefulness of American exchanges for US students. JD would like to stress the organizational links between national American Studies associations, noting that BAAS should be the first point of contact in Britain. SN reported that SFF is trying to set up links in Eastern Europe and Asia with specific institutions (Georgetown with Beijing, for example).

j) SN noted that nominations for membership to the various RAE panels for RAE 2008 were due by 15 September. In a meeting with the officers, a number of nominations were put forward which conformed with the various official and unofficial rules of nomination, such as ensuring a third of the panel members have prior experience and ensuring that nominees would still be working colleagues in 2008. SN is clear that what BAAS needs to consider next is the position of American Studies, since the vast majority of our members will not be submitted under the American Studies subpanel. We need to ensure that funding bodies don’t assume that the size of the submission is the same is the size of the cohort. We also need to try to make sure that cross-referencing to the American Studies panel is undertaken, wherever appropriate. CS noted that it is good to isolate specific elements in the written submission—and suggested that BAAS come up with a form of words as a method of supporting colleagues in other disciplines who are writing their subject’s RAE submissions. Other suggestions included a briefing at the Cambridge conference, which would fulfil a number of functions, not least showing BAAS’s proactive approach. In addition, BAAS might produce a small pack to show how subject knowledge is cross-disciplinary. This would be helpful for colleagues in department/subject groups who are debating whether or not to submit under the American Studies subpanel. It is clear that BAAS must take a leading role in disseminating information, both to help colleagues strengthen their submissions and to enhance funding opportunities.

k) SN reported that JD’s term as a representative on the Subject Centre Advisory board has finished, and Ian Scott has agreed to replace JD.

l) SN announced that the named £1000 Short-Term Travel Awards previously discussed had been agreed, and that information about the awards should go on the web and via email on the mailbase. BAAS is keen to encourage people to propose larger projects. Priority is given to applications from postgraduates and from new members of staff, but BAAS will encourage all UK-based members to apply.

m) SN noted a number of upcoming conferences, including the postgraduate conference at Birmingham (6^th November), the foreign policy conference (5^th November) and the SASA conference at the University of Dundee (2^nd November).

5. Secretary’s Business

a) The Secretary noted that increasingly, correspondence is coming via email, and distributed to relevant colleagues the same way. During this quarter, the Secretary did not receive any items for distribution that hadn’t already been circulated.

b) HM reported on actions taken as Secretary, including updating records with national surveys; signing the official Accounts; distributing calls for papers, conferences, and information; adding to the Externals’ List (which is growing slowly); forwarding information to the Treasurer regarding membership queries, particularly from lapsed members; liaising with Northwest BAAS; and directing people with research queries to appropriate sources.

c) HM reported that she had worked with the other officers on the RAE panel nominations.

d) HM attended the JAS editorial board meeting in London and met with James Dunkerley to discuss the new Institute for the Study of the Americas. This was a fruitful meeting, and HM noted that ISA is keen to take a leading role in defending and promoting American Studies. To that end, their publishing arrangements, previously based around Latin American Studies, will be opened up to American Studies colleagues. HM has agreed to help ISA promote its new initiatives.

e) HM was interviewed by The Daily Telegraph regarding American Studies and anti-Americanism, but it does not appear that The Daily Telegraph published an article on the issue.

f) HM reported that Catherine Morley has received her PhD and has just been appointed Assistant Director of Academic Programmes at the Rothermere, and has offered the Rothermere as a site for the next meeting.

6. Treasurer’s Business

a) NS circulated a report on membership and balances. Membership figures stand at 554 members, 175 of which are postgraduates. This is the highest they have ever been, and includes a number of previously-lapsed members. NS reminded the Executive to make sure colleagues who change affiliations let NS know so that their membership records can be kept up to date.

b) Balances on 21/09/04 are as follows: Current account: £2582, Conference £9626, Lib. Res. £766, Ed. Development: £169, STA £19,850, Deposit £19,975, making a total of £52,968. In addition, the RBS Jersey has £14,712.74, and US dollar account has $2406.

c) NS noted that the year end accounts have been received from the accountants, countersigned by NS, HM and PJD and returned to the accountants. The relevant information from these accounts has been submitted to the Charities Commission as part of BAAS’s annual submission. The Accountants want the Executive to consider a risk assessment of areas of vulnerability, and to review the level of reserves that we currently have. Given the 50^th anniversary, it may be worth considering how to disperse funds to promote the event. Suggestions from the Executive included scholarship funds, subsidizing conference costs, funding awards/bursaries for studying towards an American Studies PhD, and a special issue of JAS to commemorate the 50^th anniversary. This issue could incorporate the key note speech and papers presented at the conference (all, of course, subject to the standard peer review process). Another option would be co-publication as a paperback book. These matters were discussed in detail. JD noted that the letter from the accountants suggests a long-term change rather than a short-term reaction, and suggested a Working Party on funding special projects. TW agreed with JD, stressing, for example, how expensive PhD bursaries are; the Committee would need to consider carefully any big or long-term investment. TW would prefer to devise something that would raise the profile of American Studies with schools or with applicants going to study at British universities, such as a prize for the Best American Studies undergraduate. IS noted that the Development Subcommittee needs to think about how to fund the Schoolteachers’ Initiative. NS noted that BAAS would need to think about the levels of continuing funding, so we can earmark specific amounts of funding year on year and take a long-term view. Our risk assessment could be precisely focused on conferences, since conferences might make a loss (which is why the off shore account was originally set up). It was generally felt that projects should be decided on their merits. CE would like to see further support for postgraduates. SN noted we are committed to making the conference affordable for postgraduates and our other members. It was agreed that a Working Party would be set up to look at these issues, and that it would include the Treasurer, Ian Scott, and Jay Kleinberg.

d) NS reported that since the last meeting, he had made successful bids to the Embassy for the named Short-Term Travel Awards, to celebrate the 50^th anniversary (5x£1000, totalling £5,000); the Ambassador’s Awards (£1000 for the postgraduate essay award, to include travel and accommodation subsidy; £500 for the undergraduate essay award, as a cash prize, and publicity costs of £1000, totalling £2,500), and for conference support (postgraduate/teacher bursaries, 50x£100, totalling £5,000; Committee expenses, £2,000; publicity, £600, totalling £7,600 overall). Thanks are extended to the Embassy for their generosity.

e) NS is pursuing the possibility of subscription by Visa/Maestro/Switch, and is awaiting further information from the bank.

f) There was an additional attempt to defraud the accounts via direct debits, but this was thwarted.

g) NS reported that there has been no further correspondence from EJAC regarding their publishing proposal.

h) NS noted that GiftAid is still in process; he was awaiting year-end accounts.

i) NS reported that, following Polly Toynbee’s Guardian article last month, which in turn followed the FT piece about declining interest in American Studies programmes amongst students, he took part in a live discussion with Toynbee on BBC World Service, and was interviewed by The Daily Telegraph’s Liz Lightfoot.

j) NS reported that a mailshot will go out soon regarding new subscription rates.

k) When asked about the old building society account, NS noted that passbook details are still being chased.

7. Development Subcommittee (IS reporting)

a) IR reported that the Schoolteachers’ Initiative is ongoing; he met with KC and other teachers on 15 September. Key members of the team setting this up include IR, IS, CE, and KC. They are in a position now to consider website funding and personnel, and will ask colleagues to be involved, contributing to and distributing information about the project over the next few months. It is hoped that by the date of the next BAAS Executive meeting, key personnel will be in place, and that a session or sessions at Cambridge will be taken forward. There is a need to consider continuing funding over and above the Embassy funding. Hard copies of publications may be a possibility. IS is to contact GT about the project.

b) IR reported that the Development Subcommittee had 5 requests for funding to consider. The Scottish Association for Study of America (SASA) requested funding for their yearly conference at Dundee on Nov. 2. They asked for £200 as in 2003 to help postgraduate travel costs, keynote speakers and panel chair costs. Development Subcommittee would like to endorse it, though they did note that the flyer had BAAS in small letters and a condition of the funding would be to make the BAAS logo more prominent. BAAS Northwest requested funding for a joint meeting with the Caribbean Research Seminar in the North to be scheduled for May. They request £150 for refreshments and travel expenses. IS submitted an additional request for a total of £150 for funding all of the 2004-05 BAAS Northwest series of seminars in conjunction with local universities. BAAS Northwest hopes to reach a diverse audience of teachers, academics, and non-BAAS members. CS thought the proposal was a good one but wanted the Development Subcommittee to ensure that all regional associations are treated fairly. The Library and Resources Committee has decided to revamp newsletter; “Resourcing American Studies” is the new title, which will cost about £1000 to produce. The Committee has an Embassy grant of £800 and requests £200 from BAAS to ensure that this production can go forward. The BAAS Postgraduate conference in Birmingham submitted a funding request of £100 so that the current registration of £12 for postgraduates could be reduced to £9 to encourage more participation. The Executive Committee supported each of these five funding recommendations.

c) IR noted that the postgraduate conference in November was originally due to be held at Reading, but that Birmingham has taken over the planning of the conference at very short notice; BAAS thanks Birmingham for its assistance. Publicity has been an issue and the programme of events is not yet clear. There was concern over the information on the website, which was incorrect, and further concern that the proposed title might dissuade literary studies students from attending. Changes are due to be made to flyers and web information.

8. Publications Subcommittee (CS reporting)

a) CS reported that the BRRAM editor, Ken Morgan, could not attend the Subcommittee meeting, but he will send an email report which will be distributed later.

b) CS noted that the EUP series continues to do well. Mark Newman’s The Civil Rights Movement has been published by both EUP and Praeger in the USA, and a proposal on Black masculinities has gone to readers. The editors would like more proposals, and will ensure that another call for proposals will go in the spring newsletter.

c) CS reported that the JAS editorial board meeting was held on 24/9/04. CUP is happy with new relationship with BAAS. There will be a new on-line reviews section—and colleagues with ideas for areas to review should contact JK for more information. The reviewer database has grown. A special issue on 19^th century literature is in the pipeline, and it was agreed that the proposal for a conference special issue should be outlined and taken forward if feasible. CS reported that submissions of articles had risen, with rates of acceptance for UK scholars remaining higher than for US scholars or scholars from the rest of the world. As previously noted, Shelley Fisher Fishkin has agreed to give the JAS/CUP lecture at Cambridge. From now until next meeting, the Publications Subcommittee is looking to nominate and approve 4-5 new members of editorial board. JK is to contact Joe Mottershead and CS soon regarding the exact figures, taking into account retirements from the board. It is particularly important to consider esteemed colleagues in popular culture/cultural studies/ politics/ international politics and to follow the procedures agreed this summer between CUP and BAAS in relation to the nomination of editorial board members. Confidential suggestions for appropriate board members should be forwarded to CS and JK in the first instance, who will liaise with each other about potential candidates and bring CVs to the next meeting for detailed consideration. JK would also like the Committee to begin planning for her succession so that it works smoothly (her term ends on 31 December 2006).

d) CS noted that the BAAS website has been redesigned and upgraded to conform to the latest disability regulations.

e) CS reported that the next newsletter is due out soon, which will have the 50^th anniversary questionnaire (there will also be an online version). The spring deadline is 7 January 2005; this is before the next meeting, so colleagues will need to ensure that they send any material to GT before then.

f) CS reported on discussions about the US Studies On Line editor. CM’s term on the BAAS Committee finishes in spring and as noted, she now has her doctorate. Thus it makes sense to look for a successor. CM will edit the next 2 issues, and CS will put out a call for a new editor, working closely with CM and GT on the appropriate details, including a job description. Applications, by letter and CV, will have a deadline of 1 December.

9. Conference Subcommittee (TW reporting)

a) TW reported that the main business of the morning meeting was the Cambridge conference, particularly in relation to accommodation and prices. The biggest single issue is that Cambridge still only has Robinson booked up, which leaves the conference short of about 80 places, working on the assumption that 350 people may attend. Suitable alternatives include Sidney, Sussex or Clare to host up to 80 members. Costs are estimated at £335 for BAAS members, £230 for postgraduates. It is recognized that Cambridge is an expensive place, but these figures are high, particularly for postgraduates. There is a possibility of an additional £10,000 which would cut costs to £310 and £205 respectively. The issue of evening entertainment is as yet unresolved. Cambridge will approach Joe Mottershead (he is a disc jockey and in a band) given this close links with BAAS. TW is to continue to liaise with SM on these matters.

b) TW noted that publicity is well underway. Cambridge colleagues have requested assistance with paper and panel selection.

c) TW reported that the American exchange universities (Virginia and New Hampshire) have been approached about panels, through Peter Boyle. Postgraduate students’ proposals from these universities, should they meet threshold quality, will be accepted for the conference in recognition of our institutional links. Space has been reserved for another panel, on the history of BAAS, to be chaired by Michael Heale. To date 49 papers have been proposed. Kwame Anthony Appiah has confirmed his acceptance of a keynote lecture, as has SFF. The Eccles lecturer has yet to be confirmed. Other special sessions (for teachers, postgraduates, Early Americanists, and US exchange programmes) will need to be advertised and timetabled. Two other potential special sessions, one on grant applications and one for American Studies heads, are possibilities; SN and TW are to liaise with SM to look at inviting representatives from the AHRB and/or ESRC. There was also some discussion of the attendance of the EAAS committee.

d) TW noted that a 50^th anniversary event tied to the conference might include a performance by the Reduced Shakespeare Company. The 50^th Anniversary Survey will soon be launched on the web. There was some discussion of launching a 50^th anniversary scholarship. TW is to contact Sue Wedlake to discuss further any Fulbright involvement at the conference or in relation to the 50^th anniversary.

e) TW recommended that the Committee accept the conference bids from the University of Leicester for 2007 and the University of Edinburgh for 2008. The Executive supported these bids, and TW is to contact the bidders with the results.

f) TW reported that according to the current state of accounts, allowing for various minor adjustments, it appears that the MMU Conference account is about £2000 in credit.

10. Libraries and Resources Subcommittee (IR reporting)

a) IR reported that the Subcommittee met on 15/9/04 to discuss the failure of the summer conference and the restructuring of the newsletter. The conference had problems in relation to the programme, timing, and location, and the Subcommittee will take note of these issues in relation to any future plans.

b) It has been agreed to change from a twice-yearly to an annual newsletter, with a different format to reach a broader audience.

c) IR reported that in relation to the 50^th anniversary, the Subcommittee plans to write an article on 50 years of resourcing American Studies. IR is liaising with Iain Wallace, John Pinfold and Peter Snow on the writing and production of the article, which will be included the Cambridge Conference pack.

11. EAAS (JV reporting)

a) JV reported that she has sent updated membership information to EAAS.

b) JV noted that the new Chair of EAAS is keen to improve the number and quality of EAAS initiatives, particularly those related to younger colleagues and postgraduates.

c) JV reported that the Ministry of Education of Belarus has closed the European Humanities University.

d) JV noted that the EAAS newsletter is available on the EAAS website. It was agreed that a link should be set up to the newsletter on the BAAS website, given the fact that hard copies of the newsletter have apparently been discontinued, despite resistance to this move from BAAS.

12. Fiftieth Anniversary Planning (JV reporting)

a) JV reported that due to personal circumstances over the summer, she had not been in a position to take forward the proposals from the last meeting. However, she reported on a number of ideas, including ensuring that the celebrations extend beyond the Cambridge conference. Some ideas included a major speaker in London; a 50^th anniversary fellowship/travel award to be awarded at Kent; or a series of events and speakers subsidized by BAAS over the next 12 months.

b) JV reported that she will act as a coordinator for the 50^th Anniversary Surveys.

c) PT suggested that BAAS sets up a legacy fund, publicized in relation to the 50^th anniversary, and ring fenced for scholarships. This idea met with approval, and PT is to draft a notice for inclusion in the next issue of ASIB, in consultation with SN.

d) It was agreed that BAAS will sent out a “call for ideas” in relation to the 50^th anniversary, on the mailbase and Web. JV to coordinate.

13. Any Other Business

a) There were no items of any other business.

14. Date of next meeting

15 January at the Rothermere, Oxford, starting at 11am with Subcommittee meetings.

Dr Heidi Macpherson, Secretary.

Phone (office): (01772) 893039 or 893040

Fax: (01772) 892924

email: hrsmacpherson@uclan.ac.uk

Action List (please refer to minutes)

British Association for American Studies

Committee Agenda 241.

The two hundred and forty-first meeting of the Executive Committee of the British Association for American Studies will be held on 15 January 2005 at the Rothermere, Oxford. Subcommittees will meet at 11am prior to the afternoon Executive meeting.

1. Apologies.

2. Minutes of the Previous Meeting.

3. Matters Arising and Review of Action List.

4. Chair’s Business.

5. Secretary’s Business.

6. Treasurer’s Business.

7. Development Subcommittee.

Report from Chair.

8. Publications Subcommittee.

Report from Chair.

9. Conference Subcommittee.

Report from Chair.

10. Libraries and Resources Subcommittee.

Report from Chair.

11. EAAS.

12. Fiftieth Anniversary planning.

13. Any Other Business.

14. Date of next meeting.

Dr Heidi Macpherson, Secretary

Phone: 01772-893039 or 893040

Fax: 01772-892924

Email: hrsmacpherson@uclan.ac.uk

BAAS Executive Committee Meeting: June 28, 2004

Minutes of the 239th meeting of the Executive Committee, held at Clare College, Cambridge on June 28, 2004.

1. Present

S Newman (Chair), H Macpherson (Secretary), K Cooper, C Elliott, S MacLachlan, M Padget, I Ralston, I Scott, G Thompson, J Virden

Apologies
J Davies, C Morley, J Kleinberg, N Selby, C Smith, P Thompson, T Woods

In Attendance
George Conyne, S Meer, S Wedlake

2. Minutes of the Previous Meetings

These were accepted as a true record.

3. Matters Arising

There were no matters arising.

4. Chair’s Business

A) The Chair began by welcoming the new Executive Committee to the meeting and noting that Carol Smith has been elected Vice Chair through an email vote of the Executive.

B) SN reported the following appointments: Trevor Burnard was appointed Chair of American History at Sussex; Rob Singh was made Professor of US Politics at Birkbeck, and Iwan Morgan was appointed Professor of U.S. Studies at the Institute for the Study of the Americas (effective Oct. 1). Congratulations are extended to each of them.

C) SN reported that he had attended a number of events in his capacity as Chair. Along with JV, he attended a meeting in London with Dan Sbreeny, Dennis Wolf and Sue Wedlake to discuss Embassy support for the BAAS 50th anniversary. He has been invited by the Board of the ASA to join the John Hope Franklin Publication Prize Committee (the ASA prize committee for the best published book in American Studies). He attended lectures by Professor Allan Lichtman of Columbia on presidential elections in Glasgow (sponsored by Scottish North American Business Council and the US Consulate) and in London (sponsored by the US Embassy). The latter event was also attended by Ann Wroe (The Economist), and Martin Rickerd (Team leader of the North American Team in the Foreign Office), who may be interested in BAAS 50th anniversary events and the conference. SN was interviewed by Rebecca Knight of the Financial Times for an article on anti-American sentiment and American mass culture in Europe.

D) SN noted that Prof. Davies is in the process of informing media contacts that he is no longer Chair of BAAS, but PD has been handling media interest in the death of former President Ronald Reagan, and continuing to raise awareness of BAAS in the larger community.

E) SN circulated a copy of PD’s article “The British Association for American Studies at Fifty” in the Contemporary Review.

F) As Chair, SN has corresponded with the following people and organizations: he has written to the IASA in relation to their invitation to join at the cost of 10% of membership fees and is in continuing dialogue with them about other ways forward; he wrote a condolence letter to Ambassador Farish on the death of President Reagan, and he has (with the help of PD) created a new and current mailing list for American Studies heads, and sent them an introductory letter. He has received some replies and corrections for his list.

G) SN reported on a number of endangered American Studies programmes. He has sent more letters protesting the closure of American Studies at Brunel, and circulated information to the Executive Committee and encouraged members to write letters. The US Embassy considered whether they could respond, but decided on balance that it would be inappropriate at this juncture. SN also noted the closure of American Studies at Middlesex and Reading.

H) SN received an email message from Mick Gidley, who believes that in future RAEs, fewer and fewer units of assessment will be submitted under American Studies, and more and more BAAS members will be submitted under History, English, Politics or other areas; thus, BAAS will need to ensure American Studies representation on these other panels. SN reminded the Committee that BAAS has a crucial role in disseminating information about American Studies and ensuring that the full range and extent of American Studies research and teaching is understood and acknowledged, despite the potential shrinkage of American Studies RAE submissions. He also acknowledged that most BAAS members work outside American Studies Departments, and asked the Committee to consider ways of advertising our research successes and strengths. SN noted, for example, the number of American Studies awards we offer, and the necessity of ensuring that non-American Studies Departments are fully aware of the prestige of these awards. In addition, the annual conference is growing every year, which indicates the health of the American Studies field. IS noted that American Studies may be changing as a result of changes in the state of higher education in Britain and argued that what we are currently witnessing has more to do with administrative streamlining than with the health of discipline.

I) In relation to RAE 2008, the Chair submitted the official BAAS response on the Panel Structure and Configuration document, along with a similar one from UKCASA, and from a number of American Studies Executive Committee members and programme heads. He received copies of others from various universities and academic organizations (e.g., Council of Deans of Arts and Humanities), all endorsing the BAAS response. Diana Jones, Research Policy Officer at HEFCE, wrote on 8 June: “Robust arguments were presented by an organized lobby of concerned parties to amend the name of UoA 48 for American Studies and Anglophone Area Studies in line with current research practice. We propose to make the recommended change.”

J) SN met with Shelley Fisher Fishkin, President of the ASA, who is committed to the internationalization of American Studies. She has invited editors, programme heads and association heads to the 2004 ASA conference in Atlanta in November. SFF is interested in encouraging transatlantic research projects, and has some funds to establish formal links between US universities and others around the world.

K) SN reported that Jude Davies has been nominated for the library and resource committee, and has agreed to stand. The Committee approved his nomination.

5. Secretary’s Business

A) The Secretary circulated correspondence received, including the BLARS minutes; information from the Academy of Social Sciences AGM and other minutes; and the Charities Commission E-newsletter (previously circulated by email).
B) HM reported on actions taken as Secretary, noting that her main role continues to revolve around information flow, but that the post-conference period had been quieter than the rest of the year. She has updated BAAS records with national surveys; distributed calls for papers and conferences, and other information through the listserve; sent updated information to GT as webster regarding the Executive Committee; updated BAAS records with the Charity Commission and passed the information to the Treasurer to finalize in relation to the accounts; continued to add to the externals’ list; and facilitated discussions about the revival of the Northwest branch of BAAS. She has also been in contact with the BBC regarding programmes with an American Studies slant.
C) HM noted that membership queries were on the rise, particularly from lapsed members, which again shows the health of the American Studies community. These queries were forwarded to the Treasurer for action.

6. Treasurer’s Business

A) NS was unable to attend the meeting, but sent a report which was circulated to the Committee. Membership figures stand at 550 members, 179 of which are postgraduates.

B) Balances on 24/06/04 are as follows: Current account: £750, Conference £9626, Lib. Res. £1091, Ed. Development: £169, STA £20,621, Deposit £19,140, making a total of £51,397. In addition, the RBS Jersey has £14,665.85, and US dollar account has $2406.

C) NS has paid the UKCASA subscription referenced in 4g of the minutes from the 238th meeting of the Executive Committee.

D) NS has received the final materials from the Midlands BAAS account from Elizabeth Clapp and has forwarded them to the accountants.

E) NS is liaising with Joe Mottershead of CUP on the JAS/membership offer and will be sending him a list of fully paid up members on Tuesday 29th June for the first free issue of JAS. CUP is sorting out refunds for those members already subscribing at £30/year.

F) NS pursued the option of direct debit collection of subscriptions, but it is not feasible at this time. However, it may be possible to offer web-based payment by debit or credit card. NS noted that there are charges or fees involved, but will pursue this further and report at the next meeting.

G) NS spoke to Masoud Yazdani immediately following the last Executive Committee meeting and will contact him again about the offer of EJAC to BAAS members at £10/year. There may be an opportunity to advertise this in the next issue of ASIB.

H) NS is still awaiting further information about the Halifax (old Leeds) Building Society account and his report had attached to it a letter sent to them.

I) NS is still pursuing Gift Aid options with the Inland Revenue.

7. Development Subcommittee (IS reporting)

A) IS reported that he wrote a letter to Sarah Jane Mayhew at the US Embassy reporting on the Ambassador’s Awards for 2004, and offering our gratitude for their support, generous funding and help in distributing the awards. IS reported that BAAS spent £2800 last year on the awards themselves and publicity, and aims to undertake similar publicity this year, including a poster campaign. The subcommittee discussed how to boost the number of submissions, and IS wants to put together some documents encouraging colleagues in programmes around the country to think about existing courses and the work that is to be produced this year (first semester work). IS noted the mid-December closing date, and reported that the subcommittee has considered an additional school award as a way to link into the schools’ initiative. He would welcome other ideas for marketing and asked about the feasibility of a prize committee. Because of the standing orders regarding who should be judges for these prizes, it was not considered necessary to pursue this further. IS reported that the subcommittee considered how best to celebrate the 50th anniversary and is considering ways of boosting the number or amount of existing awards. Arrangements are underway to write to the Embassy for funding and to recruit separate judges and panellists for the STAs and for the Ambassador’s Awards. SW reminded IS that the Embassy’s bid deadline is the beginning of August. There was some discussion about proposing £1000 STAs in honour of the 50th anniversary. It was agreed that the literature (web and paper based) regarding the STAs should be updated to take into account the move from £400 to £500 as agreed at a previous meeting.

B) IS noted for information that the School Teachers’ initiative is proceeding well. There is a meeting scheduled in a couple of weeks: IR, IS and KC plus 3 other reps will meet to put together proposals in relation to the web-based initiative for 6th form teachers on American subjects. There are plans for another meeting later in the year, with some hopes to include this initiative in the Cambridge conference. There are also ongoing discussions with American teachers about liaising with British teachers, and eventually establishing teaching exchanges.

C) CE reported back on positive feedback from postgraduates on the MMU conference and on postgraduate development around the country. It was noted that BAAS Northwest is scheduled to meet on Wednesday, and there is likely to be information for postgraduates included.

D) IS noted that the subcommittee had considered two funding applications and recommended that the Committee approve them. The first was from Phil Davies for the Eccles’ Centre 6th form conference on 12th October on elections. PD requested a £50 honorarium for each of the 4 domestic speakers, for a total of £200. The Committee approved this application. The second application was from Ian Ralston, for an elections conference on 13th October, sponsored by the American Studies Centre. IR asked for £200 for speakers’ expenses. This was also approved.

E) GT asked about the Ambassador’s Awards and urged the subcommittee to issue a more general call for submissions rather than restricting it to a specific topic, as had been agreed for 2004. SN reported that both the BAAS Postgraduate Essay Prize and the postgraduate Ambassador’s Award were prestigious. More funds were attached to the Ambassador’s Award, but the Essay Prize was offered automatic consideration for JAS.

8. Publications Subcommittee (HM reporting on behalf of CS)

A) HM reported that KM had sent an email report on BRRAM. KM is planning to meet Roderic Vassie; the new contact at Microform Academic Publishers (replacing Paul Knights), shortly and will report this at the next meeting.

B) HM noted that EUP remain happy with the BAAS series, and there is a good range currently in production, under contract, or under consideration. Currently in production is Mark Newman’s book on the Civil Rights Movement (to be published in July). Books under contract include Religion in America from 1865 to the Present; Immigration to America; The Twenties in America; Native American Literature and The Civil War in American Culture. There are proposals due on the city, Black masculinities, the short story, Native American history, Colonial America, popular music, the Black Atlantic, and the American Revolution. New areas to cover include 1st World War; Post 1960s; TV, and the sub-genres of literature (poetry, drama, etc.). Nicky Carr is undertaking some market research over the summer to look at what new areas need to be explored.

C) The Committee approved a nomination to the JAS editorial board. In addition, it was noted that new protocols have been finalized in relation to JAS/CUP and BAAS, which will be filed with the Secretary’s minutes.

D) The next deadline for ASIB is 1st August for the September issue. It will include information on the conference, as well as reviews of the Edward Hopper exhibition. The web page is being redesigned over the summer to take account of disability legislation.

E) The subcommittee offered thanks to Prof. Janet Beer for all her work on the Committee.

9. Conference Subcommittee (JV reporting on behalf of TW)

A) JV reported on the progress on the BAAS 2005 conference. JV and SW had met earlier in the month with Tony Badger, Ann Holton, Sarah Meer and Cara Sheehan at Robinson College, for a very helpful examination of the conference facilities. JV reported that all rooms are en suite.

B) JV noted that in the subcommittee, SM had outlined a proposal in relation to panel sessions and the programme, and proposed having fewer panels than at Manchester and fewer papers. This led to a full debate, and it was agreed that expansion should be considered as appropriate. There was sustained discussion about whether to advertise a day rate, and it was agreed that this could be arranged at a standard rate with the Conference Secretary, but that it would not be officially advertised.

C) JV reported that poster sessions, the book display and coffee/tea would be placed in the same place or in areas close to each other. A number of keynote speakers were discussed.

D) JV reported that the banquet would take place on the Friday night, and that there are some open sessions/hours on the timetable at present to allow for flexibility; the conference will finish after lunch on Sunday. There are continuing discussions about pursuing links with Fullbright.

E) JV noted that the maximum accommodation is 270 with no overflow planned for as yet; others would have to arrange their own accommodation. There are 10 rooms with double occupancy. SN raised the issue of numbers being significantly higher because of the site (Cambridge) and the 50th anniversary, and asked S Meer to negotiate with other colleges, noting that we could hire a postgraduate in another college to help out SW has contacts with Wolfson College (10 minutes walk) which she will explore.

F) SM is to liaise with SMc on costings and banking. Overall costs per BAAS delegate on a fully residential basis is £335. The Committee gratefully acknowledges the Mellon Subsidy, and Professor Badger’s and SM’s hard work in raising funds to support the 50th anniversary conference. JV noted that there are still a number of issues to pursue, including additional funding, Embassy funding and postgraduates, sponsorship, and entertainment. The postgraduate rate is still under discussion.

G) JV reported that progress on the 50th anniversary events are ongoing. There had been a proposal to have a history of the discipline as a plenary, but it was agreed that this would work better as a proposed panel.

H) JV noted that a programme committee had been proposed to help read paper and panel proposals and ensure a balance of topics, coherence, and postgraduate involvement; SM agreed that this was a way forward, and welcomed the offer of assistance from the Executive Committee: TW and SMc will take a lead here.

I) JV noted that regretfully, other items on the agenda were not able to be fully discussed because the subcommittee wanted to discuss as fully as possible the plans for the 2005 conference. Thus proposals for the 2007 and 2008 conferences will be explored in the autumn meeting.

J) SMc reported that final figures from Manchester will be available at the autumn meeting. She did note her concern about costs for the Cambridge conference, particularly if additional funding is not forthcoming. SN noted that support is crucial, and reiterated the fact that costs for BAAS members could go no higher than what has already been proposed.

K) GT raised issues about the racial make up of the conference, noting that he had been asked by BAAS members to address the issue. A considered discussion followed about why American Studies as a forum is not making significant inroads in the area of ethnicity, despite its centrality to the discipline. SMc raised the issue of schools, multiculturalism and widening participation. It was agreed that this issue should form the basis of an article or roundtable discussion in ASIB.

10. Libraries and Resources Subcommittee (IR reporting by email)

A) IR was unable to attend the meeting, but sent a report via email which HM read to the Committee. This report noted that the 15th June Cultural Artefacts and American Studies conference had had to be cancelled because of the poor level of bookings. There are plans, however, to publish some of the proposed conference papers in the BLARS newsletter. IR noted that the grant for funding from the US Embassy would be returned to them, though they offered thanks to the Embassy and BAAS colleagues for their support.

B) The Subcommittee has agreed to publish the BLARS newsletter annually. The new editor will be Matthew Shaw. A number of Committee members indicated that they wished to receive the newsletter, and the Secretary agreed to contact IR to ensure that all members of the Committee would receive the newsletter in the future. GT would also like an electronic version to publish on the web, as has been the custom in the past.

C) IR’s report noted that the subcommittee has had some additions to it. Matthew Shaw (British Library) has replaced Duncan Heyes on the subcommittee and has taken over the role of Editor (of the BLARS Newsletter.) In addition, Judith Shiel of John Rylands Library (Manchester) and Julia Dagg (Sheffield) have expressed an interest in joining the subcommittee. Richard Bennett (BLARS Secretary) and IR have contacted both and invited them to attend the next meeting in September. IR to confirm membership to the BAAS secretary.

D) IR’s report noted that the subcommittee is planning to propose a poster session on ’50 years of Collecting American Studies’ for the Cambridge conference. The original plan to produce a full exhibition was considered prohibitively expensive and too difficult to organize.

11. EAAS (JV reporting)

A) JV reported on ongoing EAAS newsletter discussions, including conflicting information over deadlines for the submission of information. She has sent details of the newly elected members to the EAAS and hopes that they will be published in time. In consultation with the officers of BAAS, JV has indicated to EAAS that BAAS’s preference is for hard copies of the newsletter, and she expects to receive 550 copies of newsletter to be distributed. One suggestion was that it should go with the next issue of ASIB, if the publication dates coincide. This next newsletter is particularly important since it calls for people to put in proposals for parallel lectures and workshop titles to be approved for the EAAS conference.

B) JV noted that she is awaiting information on the number of EAAS representatives who will be attending the BAAS 2005 conference.

C) SN reported that Dennis Wolf has agreed to consider a bid for support for EAAS Committee Members to come to the BAAS 50th anniversary conference.

12. Fiftieth Anniversary Planning (JV reporting)

A) JV reported that SN and JV had visited the Embassy, and had had a helpful and supportive meeting in relation to the 50th anniversary celebrations. They had discussed the launch of the BAAS questionnaire, including getting guests to fill it out. The Embassy has agreed to contact individuals (i.e. celebrities) in our name in relation to these celebrations, and noted that the media might be interested in this. The Embassy might also host a launch event. Other ideas included sponsoring cultural events at the BAAS conference (poetry readings, performances, musicians, etc.). JV and GC noted that these celebrations do not all have to happen during the four days of the Cambridge conference; they can extend throughout the year and include the Kent conference. There was some discussion about getting special blurbs for programme, which JV is going to discuss with SM. It is possible to link these celebrations with other important events, such as the 60th anniversary of WWII or the Fullbright centenary.

B) JV noted that there have been a number of proposals for souvenirs. The latest idea is to commission a commemorative garment, such as a t-shirt or a tie, which could either be given away or sold at the conference to commemorate the anniversary. There are a number of logistical issues to be solved, including proper costings and distribution. SW offered to be in contact with Burro, a fashion designer; this information was presented to the development subcommittee. They could offer us t-shirts wholesale, at £6-£15/shirt. Other ideas include a souvenir mug, or work on a new BAAS logo. The Executive is asked to look at the website www.burro.co.uk and discuss this further at the next meeting.

13. Any Other Business

A) This consisted of reserved items only.

14. Date of next meeting

Saturday 25 September at MMU.

Dr Heidi Macpherson, Secretary.
Phone (office): (01772) 893039 or 893040
Fax: (01772) 892924
email: hrsmacpherson@uclan.ac.uk

BAAS Executive Committee Meeting: April 17, 2004

Minutes of the 238th meeting of the Executive Committee, held at Manchester Metropolitan University on April 17, 2004.

1. Present

P Davies (Chair), J Beer (Vice Chair), H Macpherson (Secretary), N Selby (Treasurer), S Castillo, J Davies, C Morley, S Newman, I Ralston, I Scott, G Thompson, J Virden, J. Kleinberg, C Smith.

Apologies

K Cooper, P Thompson, T Woods

In Attendance

S Wedlake

2. Minutes of the Previous Meetings

These were accepted as a true record.

3. Matters Arising

There were no matters arising.

4. Chair’s Business

A) The Chair circulated a report on eleven recent activities and engagements that he has fulfilled where he has been able to publicize BAAS. Not all of these invitations were received as Chair of BAAS, and all but one were funded without recourse to BAAS funds. These events included the following: a memorial service for Professor Richard Neustadt; a guest lecture at the regional Historical Association; a meeting of the Committee of Academicians, Academy of Social Sciences; Pembroke College memorial event for Mary Eccles; lunch with Dan Sreebny; presentation to the Area Studies conference hosted by the LTSC in Languages, Linguistics and Area Studies; presentation to a conference on the 30th anniversary of Watergate in Florida; presentation to the Orlando Museum of History, Florida. Detailed mention was reserved for the following: PD attended the formal inauguration of UK Council of Area Studies Associations (UKCASA) where he was elected Chair, with support of BAAS. PD also reported on the successful “Elections on the Horizon” conference, which he convened at the British Library, and which attracted over 100 people from the UK, the US, Germany, Austria and Sweden. A book is planned as a result. In addition, PD convened a workshop and chaired a parallel lecture at the EAAS conference in Prague.

B) PD also reported on several media contacts, including several publications in the THES (a piece on the US elections by Huw Richards, separate items on American Studies and Area Studies, and a Soapbox article on American Studies). PD also reported on an interview with Good Morning Wales on the Iowa caucuses; an interview on CNN on the State of the Union and the 2004 elections; an interview by the Press Association in relation to Janet Jackson’s performance at the SuperBowl; an interview by Leicester Mercury’s technical reporter on Americanisation and the use of the internet. In addition, PD was contacted by Princess Productions (tv) as an expert on US presidents and scandals, as well as by Stryker McGuire of Newsweek on the state of American Studies. Additional media opportunities came from the BBC on various fronts, mention in the Guardian “Don Your Way” review of De Montfort University, and publication of a Contemporary Review article on BAAS.

C) It was agreed that the Committee should invite THES reporters, particularly Huw Richards, though he works independently, to the 50th anniversary conference. JB suggested that the Committee should invite the new editor, John O’Leary, as well.

D) Following the last meeting, PD continued the discussion with CUP in relation to JAS subscription as requested. CUP replied on Tuesday, agreeing to BAAS’s proposal in full. The Treasurer will be able to make the following proposal to members at the AGM: from January 2005, full membership of BAAS to include delivery of JAS. Full membership (including JAS) £41. Student membership with JAS £28, Student membership without JAS £13. These rates will be maintained for three years, if members vote for this. JB wished it to be recorded that the Committee was very impressed with CUP and their generosity.

E) PD reported that the Eccles Centre is sponsoring a plenary lecture at the 2004 conference, and offered to sponsor one at the 2005 conference on the same terms. JB reminded the Committee that we had discussed having a Fulbright presence, and suggested a joint Eccles Centre/Fulbright plenary address. It was agreed that S Wedlake and PD would discuss this with Fulbright, but that if Fulbright were not interested in the proposal, the Eccles Centre would sponsor a lecture.

F) PD reported on the RAE consultation document (previously circulated via emaiL) on “Panel Configuration and Recruitment” which was published in March. Sub-panel 48 is “English Language Area Studies (incorporating American Studies)”; what appears to be meant is “Anglophone Area Studies.” A response is needed by mid-May (May 19tH). The Latin Americanists are unhappy with the current structure. PD has not heard from the Canadianist community. James Dunkerley is going to be at the conference, and it was suggested that contact be made with him on the issue. One suggestion was to lobby for a panel called “American Studies incorporating other Anglophone area studies” which would allow US Studies, Comparative Studies, Caribbean, Canadian, Latin American, etc. and would also give a home for the very few other Anglophone Area Studies. The new Chair and Executive are going to have to take a considered view and act on this consultation very quickly. The Post-AGM Executive should take the remit of this discussion onwards. SN suggested we needed to get an idea of how the Committee feels at present. JK was concerned that the RAE has been problematic for American Studies, with decreasing numbers of entrants; but the methodological approach is key, rather than the language base for Area Studies. SN suggested that panel L is effectively Area Studies. JB argued that the title was problematic, and a variety of suggestions were put forward, including Studies of the Americas, but the problem remained for such Area Studies as Australian Studies. Other suggestions focused on transnational issues, “American Studies and Anglophone Area Studies” (but this precluded Canadian Studies to a certain extent, amongst others) or on turning around the order of the phrase: “American Studies and English Language Area Studies.” If BAAS gets agreement from Latin American, Canadian, and Caribbean colleagues, a joint response would be best. BAAS is listed as an association to be consulted in relation to this, as well as UKCASA. After a considered discussion, the Executive agreed that the new Chair should formulate a response based on this discussion and discussion with peers in other related fields just after the conference.

G) PD noted that the new UK Council of Area Studies Associations has agreed a Constitution and has elected its officers. PD is Chair (with the support of BAAS colleagues). Tony Chafer is Treasurer, Dick Ellis is Secretary, and Mike Smith is Vice Chair. Founder member Associations will shortly received a letter asking them to join by making a donation to UKCASA of between £50 and £150. Many Area Studies Associations are very small groups. American Studies is one of the larger groups, and PD hopes that it will join, and that its founding donation will reflect its size and health. Treasurer will receive a letter and joining form in the next few weeks. The Committee supports a donation of £150. The Treasurer is now empowered to make that donation.

H) PD reported that the International American Studies Association has approached BAAS, inviting it to become a national member. IASA would like 10% of membership charges. This would be roughly £3 per full member, less for student members. Each member would then be able to go to the conference as members and therefore have the benefit of reduced conference fees. The other membership benefits are less clear at present. The previous conference was good, and the Ottawa conference looks as if it will also be a good conference. JV asked if there was a similar benefit to joining ASA. PD reported that Bob Burchell had arranged an agreement that we can, without cost, go to the ASA conference as members (and their members can come to BAAS conference as members). JB suggested that this be published in the newsletter and that the new Chair reinforces this connection with ASA at the earliest opportunity. In relation to IASA, it was felt that the benefit of joining on those terms is not clear enough yet, since they have yet to publish a journal, which makes the £1300 approximate fee too high. It was agreed that a letter would go out to them, noting that the expense was too high, but indicating willingness to discuss and encourage other kinds of links with IASA.

I) PD noted that BAAS had had a request from AHRB to nominate people for the peer review college, and that this had been done by announcement on mailbase, for individuals to self-nominate. A number of Americanists put themselves forward.

J) PD announced the following promotions or awards: Richard Carwardine has become the first non-American to win the Lincoln Prize-the most generous book prize in American History. The new Professor of American Foreign Relations at Nottingham is Matthew Jones. Liam Kennedy has been offered the new Chair in American Studies at University College Dublin. Peter Stoneley received a Chair at Reading. Simon Newman received the American Studies Network book prize. Congratulations were extended to them all.

K) PD offered thanks on behalf of the Committee to JB for again helping to organize the Executive meeting at Manchester, noting how invaluable the location has been in recent years. Thanks were also extended to Sarah MacLachlan and the MMU team for mounting an ambitious and top quality conference programme.

L) JK offered thanks to PD for all his work to BAAS as chair and as member in relation to the cause of American Studies. The Committee concurred.

5. Secretary’s Business

A) The Secretary circulated correspondence received, including notice of the Academy of Social Sciences AGM and an invitation to the CBS Center for the Study of the Americas in Copenhagen.

B) HM reported on actions taken as Secretary, noting that her main role revolved around information flow. She has updated our records with national surveys (Gale, etc.); distributed calls for papers, conferences, etc. through the listserve; continued to add to the externals list; forwarded minutes and Committee membership information to the Accountant for the end of year report; attempted to track down old BAAS publications for members and the general public; forwarded information to the Treasurer regarding membership queries; put a notice of the AGM in ASIB; facilitated initial discussions of the revival of Northwest BAAS; liaised with the BBC about speakers on American Studies issues for their programmes; and liaised with postgraduates about opportunities in BAAS and/or the American Studies community.

C) HM asked the Committee to be proactive in seeking nominations for the Committee at the Conference, as five vacancies had arisen on the Executive, as well as the Chair and Postgraduate member.

6. Treasurer’s Business

A) The Treasurer reported that current membership figures stand at 547 members, including 174 postgraduates.

B) Balances on 14/4/2004 are as follows: Current account: £1921, Conference £9626, Lib. Res. £1215, Ed. Development: £1918, STA £20463, Deposit £21224, making a total of £56367. In addition, the RBS Jersey has £14548, and US dollar account has $2406. There is a slight problem in that accounts for Jersey which NS is following up, and therefore the RBS figure is the September figure. The purpose of the RBS figure was discussed; it is there to pay potentially outstanding debt, if BAAS is ever wound up. The Committee has empowered the Treasurer to look into moving the account for better return and easier communication.

C) The Treasurer circulated draft copy of the Accountant’s Annual Report. NS noted that it is still pending clarification on the Halifax (old Leeds) Building Society Account, but BAAS have yet to hear back. BAAS hopes to recover £674. The Accountant was awaiting the end of year balances, but this has now been confirmed. NS is pursuing final paperwork for the Midland BAAS account, which was wound up. There was also one more fraudulent payment to O2 but this was now recovered. JV asked how much BAAS pays the accountant, and NS reported that the figure was £1233.

D) NS’s written report included information on the JAS subscription offer, but this was already covered under the Chair’s report. PD noted that changing the subscription fees was a big job for the Treasurer, and that the Executive will need to take a pro-active role here. NS queried what will happen to the members who already subscribed to JAS; they will need a refund, and NS is to discuss this with CUP. SN discussed the issue of Direct Debits again, and NS is to pursue this further.

E) Since the last meeting, NS has been in touch with Masoud Yazdani of EJAC about BAAS’s continuing involvement with EJAC after last year’s agreement to send the journal free to our membership. MY was keen to continue to offer the journal to our members and suggested a figure of £1 per copy plus the cost of postage, which would be about £3 a year. The Committee felt that although it was a generous offer, we cannot move to it at present given the potential change to membership fees in relation to JAS. In telephone discussions, a fall back position was announced, which was that Intellect could offer journal to BAAS members for £10 a year, provided that BAAS could mail that information out to members. The Committee felt that it support the £10 offer and a mailshot with ASIB. NS is to liaise with MY.

F) In relation to Gift Aid, NS is still awaiting forms R68 (2000) and R68 (New Gift AiD) from the Inland Revenue to allow us to start claiming Gift Aid. NS will telephone them next week.

7. Development Subcommittee (SN reportinG)

A) SN was pleased to report on a variety of prizes awarded in the last few months, and offered thanks to all of the judges, who volunteer their time and remain anonymous. The winner of the BAAS Postgraduate Essay Prize was announced as Paul Edwards from Nottingham for his essay, “Reimagining the Shopping Mall.” The Ambassador’s Awards went to the following students: undergraduate award went to Mark Brighouse (Merton College, OxforD) for “American Foreign Policy 1880-1914: The Relative Importance of Economic, Strategic and Psychological Factors”; the postgraduate award went to Brad Jones from the University of Glasgow for “American Revolution in a Trans-Atlantic Landscape: Loyalty and Identity in Glasgow during the Revolutionary Era.” All essays and prizes are judged anonymously. There was a discussion about the future of the Ambassador’s Awards, which the Executive hopes will continue. If so, it was agreed that in future, it might be helpful to have the subject of the prize more open. The publicity for the Awards has been very good for BAAS, and the Embassy was thanked for its role in relation to this.

B) SN reported on further discussions in relation to the BAAS teaching assistantships and the 50th anniversary conference. The University of Virginia is happy about having a postgraduate panel at 50th Conference where BAAS pays fees but not travel. Peter Boyle has yet to take the offer to New Hampshire, because they wanted faculty space and/or a plenary, but this is not possible. SN is to discuss this further with PB and Tim Woods.

C) SN reported on the School teacher’s initiative. The Embassy is paying for teachers to come to the 2004 conference, and the State Dept. is paying to create a guide for American Studies teachers, and will fund several meetings with school teachers. Discussions are ongoing regarding the form of the Guide, but thoughts are around websites rather than publishing a book which may be soon out of date; it is important that this should be seen as a teaching resource website. SN extended thanks to Kath Cooper, Ian Ralston and Ian Scott for their work on the initiative.

D) HM asked about extending the co-optation of the current teacher member. IR suggested that with so many initiatives at present, it would be wise to keep KC on, if she agrees to be coopted. The Committee empowered the Secretary to approach KC about remaining on the Committee for a further year.

E) JK asked that BAAS make formal representations to the Vice Chancellor at Brunel regarding the American Studies closure. PD suggests that the new Chair should liaise with JK and other Americanists at Brunel, which had one of the oldest American Studies Departments in Britain. NS is an external at Brunel and he has written to Steven Schwartz and received a reply, which he circulated. The Executive’s consternation and disquiet at this closure was deeply felt, and the Executive requests that the incoming Chair continues correspondence with Brunel University. SW reported that if any future AS Departments are under threat, the Embassy can also write letters to Vice-Chancellors. SC suggested that it is important for us to support the discipline and our colleagues in many various ways, including in relation to the RAE. PD reported that there are roughly 45-50 places offering American Studies at undergraduate or postgraduate level, but that who offers the programmes is under some flux. CS suggested contacting Heads of AS departments and asking, confidentially, about the state of their programmes so that BAAS can be proactive rather than reactive, and it was agreed that the new Chair should do this when he is introducing him or herself to the Heads. It was noted that ASIB is also a good place to share these ideas, and there was a discussion about an annual directory of Americanists, both within and outside of American Studies departments.

8. Publications Subcommittee (JB reportinG)

A) JB circulated the CV of a potential new member of the Editorial Board of CUP; the Committee agreed with the nomination, and the Secretary will write formally to CUP on this matter. JK is very pleased with CUP’s proposal for linking BAAS and JAS more fully and reported that the August issue is a special issue on African-American civil rights and resistance, complete with a review essay on Martin Luther King. Two names were put forward in relation to the next JAS lecturer, and the Committee is in favour of these nominations.

B) GT reported that though there had been plans to change the Website provider, this had not proved possible. GT had established BAAS email addresses for Committee members who had asked for them, and the Committee noted how helpful they found the website to be. In particular, pamphlets were considered a very good resource-GT is to contact others to get electronic copies for the website, if possible. Most popular hits continue to be ASIB and the newspaper database, and there has been a noticeable increase in hits on website over the last few months: 213 unique visitors per day for last month.

C) GT discussed with Dick Ellis a website for publishing the table of contents for various American Studies journals. JV suggested EAAS as a logical site for this, rather than just BAAS. GT is to pursue this further.
D) The next ASIB deadline for copy is August 1st.

E) JB noted that this would be her last report since she was standing down from the Committee. The Committee offered thanks to JB, and NS thanked JB for her previous work as treasurer.

9. Conference Subcommittee

A) TW was not able to attend the meeting because of personal reasons, but hoped to attend the conference, and JV reported on an email she had received from TW. Sarah Meer has been announced as the contact at Cambridge, but there was concern that there hadn’t yet been a CFP (later it was discovered that a CFP had gone out in the conference pacK). It was agreed that TW should contact Tony Badger about arrangements. JV and SW are still planning to go to Cambridge to look over the plans. Mike Sewell is also going to be involved, and Ann Holton.

B) JD indicated that it is hard to get people to organize conferences. The institution does so much of the organization, but perhaps BAAS can have a bigger role, especially in relation to choosing papers, and become centrally involved in organizing conferences. This hasn’t arisen before because BAAS has always had a lot of confidence in the people doing the organization of conferences, but this is no reason not to be more proactive as a Subcommittee.

C) JB is to introduce Sarah Meer to JV and get Tony to liaise with her. It was agreed that the Conference subcommittee could be a programme committee, which would necessitate other meetings. Some discussion followed about BAAS web publication with ISBN/ISSN from conference papers; TW is to pursue possibilities with the subcommittee and with GT.

D) JV reported that Kent have made a good proposal for the 2006 conference; there are still some details TW wants to discuss, but Kent was recommended to the Committee. The Committee authorized TW to offer the conference to Kent, subject to sorting out minor details.

E) JB formally gave the MMU Vice Chancellor’s apologies for not being able to make the conference.

10. Libraries and Resources Subcommittee (IR reportinG)

A) IR reported that details of the “Cultural Artefacts and American Studies” conference have been finalized and IR has copies of the booking form. It will be held June 15th at the Rothermere Institute. GT will post details on website; information is already available on the American Studies and STAR websites. There will be sessions from colleagues on a Native American photograph project, the immigrant experience, slavery, and theme parks as artefacts. IR offered thanks to everyone who took part in organizing the conference and the Embassy who have offered a grant to cover a substantial element of speakers’ costs.

B) IR noted that discussions regarding the subcommittee’s contribution to the 50th anniversary celebration are pending.

C) IR reported that Duncan Heyes, editor of the BLARS newsletter, has moved to a different section in the British Library. A replacement is now in place, but IR thanked DH formally for all his hard work.

D) IR noted that the BLARS newsletter is currently published twice a year. In order to maximise material, IR has proposed that it is published once a year, and should be widened to increase content in ways that are relevant to all colleagues in AS community. This proposal will be discussed next month. IR appeals to colleagues to feed information on databases and other relevant information to him.

11. EAAS (JV reportinG)

A) JV circulated the EAAS report for the AGM. There are currently 4300 members of EAAS. Accounts are produced but audited internally. JV is to pursue this further.

B) JV reported on the European issue of American Studies journals. JV circulated a copy of the French Revue Francaise D’etudes Americaines “Stemming the Mississippi” which is available for only 9 euros for members. The next national journal to offer the European issue will come from Turkey, followed by Italy.

C) JV noted that the EAAS website is much improved. Currently the web address is www.eaas.info but there is a move to change it to www.eaas.eu and the EAAS logo has now been tendered.

D) JV reported that future member requests have come from Bulgaria, Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Israel.

E) JV noted that the 2006 conference will be hosted by Cyprus, or Athens/Thessalonika if there are any problems with the location, and the dates are April 7-10 for 2006. The theme is “Conformism, Non-Conformism and Anti-Conformism in the Culture of the United States.” The 2008 conference will be held either in Oslo or Moscow.

F) JV reported that the Prague conference had gone well-JV distributed the conference programme. There were 373 registrations (Bordeaux had 500) but only 36 were graduate students. PD suggested that all workshop chairs use money for postgraduates. JD indicated an imbalance between stream lectures and workshops (1 in 26 choice of workshops). Some bursaries were available for postgraduates and advertised on EAAS website, which CM made the BAAS postgraduate community aware of, but the newsletter problems made this difficult.

G) JV reported that the Statutes and status of EAAS are under review.

H) JV reported that the American University in Beirut had been awarded $5 million to establish an American Studies Center.

I) The EAAS elections took place: the new President is Marc Chenetier of France and the new Treasurer is Hans-Jurgen Grabbe of Germany.

J) JV reported that the EAAS Grants for postgraduate scholars received matching funds of $12,000 from Fulbright, DC.

K) JV reported that the ASN book prize was awarded to Simon Newman and that the EAAS conference proceedings from Graz, “Nature’s Nation”, were now out, at a discounted rate of 20 euros. In addition, the EAAS history and archives were being established by Walter Holbling.

L) The 2005 meeting is going to be at Cambridge, the day before the BAAS conference begins.

M) Finally, there was a full discussion of the ASE Newsletter. JV expressed concerns at the EAAS meeting, and it was made an agenda item at 2 meetings. BAAS paid 2595 euros last year, or around 6 euros/4 pounds a year per member, and one of the member benefits was considered the newsletter. Many suggested ways forward for the newsletter, given the fact that distribution was a problem. One way forward was to produce it on-line, but there are problems with members without email/web access. At the EAAS meeting, it was proposed that national members keep and photocopy newsletters as needed for those people. A further argument was that everything in the newsletter was on web anyway. This could save 10,000 euros which could be used for other purposes. JV suggested that BAAS cut its subscription, but this was not received well. EAAS representatives argued that subscription wasn’t really based on newsletters, but that it was just a convenient way of sorting out finances. JV reported that her argument was: what is BAAS getting for its money? The answer was: European issues of associate journals, biannual conference, information as a service, student grants, and conference proceedings at a reduced rate. In the end it was resolved that 1) Vice President Gülriz Büken will coordinate whole newsletter. 2) The next deadline is 30 May for next newsletter. 3) There will be a plan for an on-line version with print version for those without access. To this end, BAAS needs to let EAAS know how many copies we would need. JV’s next report to ASIB will be detailed so that BAAS members are fully aware of the current situation.

N) The Committee’s response was that it was important to inform members of the situation. Moreover, SN indicated that our auditor may be uncomfortable with the EAAS accounts not being properly audited, and JV agreed to present our response as an opportunity to help EAAS.

12. Fiftieth Anniversary Planning (JV reportinG)

A) JV reported that ideas for the questionnaire were evolving, and that it would be finalized soon, put on the website and on ASIB.

B) JV reported on the 50th anniversary CD compilation, and it was suggested that it could include favourite song/movie for all membership; a separate Executive CD has been produced.

13. Any Other Business

A) There was no other business.

14. Date of next meeting

28 June at 11am at Cambridge, subject to final confirmation

Dr Heidi Macpherson, Secretary.
Phone (officE): (01772) 893039 or 893020
Fax: (01772) 892924
email: hrsmacpherson@uclan.ac.uk

Action List (please refer to minutes. Does not include information referred to other subcommittees for actioninG)