Past Conferences

Annual Conferences

From the beginning, the annual International Conference on Narrative has served as an important focus of ISSN activities. Each conference has been a collaboration between ISSN and one or more host institutions. Participation has been open to everyone, with ISSN members registering for each conference at a preferred rate, and non-members registering at a rate that includes membership in the ISSN for the coming year. The business meeting held at each conference has served as a major forum for discussion of policies and practices within the society, dissemination of news related to elections and committees, and introduction and ratification of changes.

Below is a list of past conferences, with coordinators and major speakers. The first conference was held at The Ohio State University in 1986, and in subsequent years, the meeting has been held at sites across the United States, Canada, and Europe. At each conference, approximately 350 speakers address issues of narrative from a variety of positions and perspectives.

In recent years, the ISSN has been thrilled to be able to begin hosting hybrid conferences that blend in-person and virtual presentations and activities, furthering the international reach and accessibility of the society.

Past Conferences

Ottawa, Canada, April 6-9, 2006

• Sponsored by Carleton University

• Coordinator: Priscilla L. Walton

• Major Speakers: Janice Radway, Rinaldo Walcott, Antoine Grumbach

Louisville, Kentucky, April 7-10, 2005

• Sponsored by the University of Louisville

• Directors: Beth A. Boehm and Debra Journet

• Assistant Directors: Sonya Borton and Stephanie K. Fleischer

• Major Speakers: Terry Castle, Wai Chee Dimock, Kathryn Montgomery, Barbara Stafford

Burlington, Vermont, April 22-25, 2004 

• Sponsored by the University of Vermont and Middlebury College

• Coordinator: Robyn R. Warhol

• Major Speakers: Jane Gallop and Peggy Phelan

Berkeley, California, March 27-29, 2003

• Sponsored by University of California, Berkeley and University of California, Davis

• Coordinators: Dorothy J. Hale, Catherine Robson, and Seymour Chatman

• Major Speakers: Jonathan Culler, Mary Poovey, and Elaine Scarry

East Lansing, Michigan, April 11-14, 2002 

• Sponsored by Michigan State University 

• Coordinator: Judith Stoddart and Sheila Tehan

• Major Speakers: Joan Copjec, William H. Gass, Rosalind Krauss, and Garrett Stewart

Houston, Texas, March 8-10, 2001

• Sponsored by Rice University

• Coordinator: Helena Michie

• Major Speakers: Barbara Johnson, Franco Moretti, Jose David Saldivar, and Richard Shusterman

Atlanta, Georgia, April 6-9, 2000

• Sponsored by Emory University and The Georgia Institute of Technology

• Coordinators: Deepika Bahri and Carol Colatrella

• Major Speakers: Johannes Fabian, Sander Gilman, Katherine Hayles, Deborah McDowell, and David Morris

Hanover, New Hampshire, April 29 - May 2, 1999

• Sponsored by Dartmouth College. Co-sponsored by the University of Vermont

• Coordinator: Donald Pease

• Major Speakers: Elizabeth Bronfen, Cathy Caruth, David Roediger, Antonio Benitez-Rojo, and Robyn Wiegman

Evanston, Illinois, April 2-5, 1998

• Sponsored by Northwestern University

• Coordinators: Michal Ginsburg and Jules Law

• Major Speakers: Mikkel Borch-Jacobsen, Carol Clover, Assia Djebar, Michael Rogin, and Valerie Smith

• Attendance: 400

Gainesville, Florida, April 3-6, 1997

• Sponsored by the University of Florida Department of English

• Coordinators: Elizabeth Langland and Phillip E. Wegner

• Major Speakers: Nancy Armstrong, Rey Chow, and Lee Edelman

• Attendance: 400

Columbus, Ohio, April 25-28, 1996

• Sponsored by the Ohio State University Department of English

• Coordinators: Rick Livingston and James Phelan

• Associate Coordinator: Elizabeth Preston

• Major Speakers: Wayne Booth, Ross Chambers, Barbara Christian, Susan McClary, Nancy K. Miller, Brook Thomas 

• Attendance: 400

Park City, Utah, April 20-23, 1995

• Sponsored by the University of Utah Department of English, Department of Languages, Humanities Center, and College of Law

• Coordinators: Karen Lawrence, Barry Weller, Robert Caserio

• Major Speakers: Christine Brooke-Rose, Catherine Gallagher, Walter Benn Michaels, Kendall Thomas

• Attendance: 400

Vancouver, British Columbia, April, 1994

• Sponsored by the Department of English, Simon Fraser University

• Coordinator: Paul Matthew St. Pierre

• Major Speakers: Linda Hutcheon, Basil S. Johnston, Gerald Prince, Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak, Susan Rubin Suleiman, Miriam Tlali

• Attendance: 400-420

Albany, New York, April 1-4, 1993

• Sponsored by Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. Co-sponsors: Siena College and Russell Sage College

• Affiliates: Skidmore College, Union College, The College of St. Rose, The State University of New York-Albany

• Coordinator: Alan Nadel

• Major speakers: Houston Baker, Jr., Don Bialostosky, Thomas LaQueur, Carolyn Merchant, Tania Modleski

• Attendance: 350-375

Nashville, Tennessee, April 10-12, 1992

• Sponsored by the Department of English and the Women's Studies Program, Vanderbilt University

• Coordinator: Jay Clayton

• Program Committee: Vereen Bell, Mark Schoenfield, Valerie Traub, Nancy Walker

• Major Speakers: Mieke Bal, Norman Bryson, Dominick LaCapra, Renato Rosaldo, Hortense Spillers

• Attendance: 300-325

Nice, France, June 12-14, 1991

• Sponsored by the Universite de Nice-Sophia Antipolis

• Coordinator: Jacqueline Berben-Masi

• Program Committee: Daniel Bilous, Nicole Bilous, Sarah Flanagan Gordon, Armand Hage

• Major speakers: Ann Banfield, Daniel Bilous, Nikolai N. Bolkhovitinov, J. M. Coetzee, Jeanne Colleran, Maurice Couturier, Anne Fuchs, Philippe Hamon, Abiola Irele, Brian Macaskill, Jean Ricardou, David Suchoff

• Attendance: 250-275

New Orleans, Louisiana, April 5-7, 1990

• Sponsored by the English Department, Tulane University

• Coordinator: Michael Boardman

• ProgramChair: Janice Carlisle

• Program Committee: Christine Froula, Molly Rothenberg, Daniel R. Schwarz, Teresa Toulouse

• Major speakers: Jonathan Arac, Nina Auerbach, Susan Jeffords, John Carlos Rowe (and a paper by Henry Louis Gates, Jr., who was unable to attend)

• Attendance: 275-300

Madison, Wisconsin, April 6-8, 1989

• Sponsored by the English Department, University of Wisconsin-Madison

• Coordinator: Susan Stanford Friedman

• Program Committee: Jay Clayton, A. N. Doane, Nellie McKay, Eric Rothstein

• Major speakers: Arthur Danto, D. A. Miller, Nancy K. Miller, Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick, Cornel West

• Attendance: 275-300

Columbus, Ohio, April 8-10, 1988

• Sponsored by Ohio State University, with support from Eastern Michigan University and the University of Michigan

• Coordinator: James Phelan

• Associate Coordinators: Barbara Perkins, George Perkins, Jamie Barlowe Kayes

• Major speakers: Peter Brooks, Ross Chambers, Dorrit Cohn, Shlomith Rimmon-Kenan

• Attendance: 275-300

Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti, Michigan, April 2-4, 1987

• Sponsored by Eastern Michigan University, The University of Michigan, and The Ohio State University

• Coordinator: Barbara Perkins. Associate Coordinators: Sheridan Baker, Ira Konigsberg, George Perkins, James Phelan

• Major speakers: John F. Burrows, Stanley Fish, Sandra Gilbert, Susan Gubar, A. J. Hassall, Ralph W. Rader, Daniel R. Schwarz

• Attendance: approximately 275

Columbus, Ohio, April 10-12, 1986

• Sponsored by The Ohio State University

• Coordinator: James Phelan

• Major speakers: Wayne Booth, Seymour Chatman, Teresa de Lauretis, Terry Eagleton, Shoshana Felman, J. Hillis Miller

• Attendance: approximately 225