University of Hawai’i, Honolulu, U.S.A.
The eighteenth biennial meeting of the Society took place from 31 July to 4 August at the University of Hawai’i, on the theme of “Global Perspectives.” Featured were two keynote lectures, one lunchtime lecture, sixty-seven papers in general and parallel sessions, four project reports, and two pre-conference workshop reports. 109 persons registered for the conference.
Keynote lectures were given by Kathleen Davis (‘Archipelagos of Historiography’) and Michael W. Scott (‘Eliciting Anglo-Saxon Histories via Pacific Pasts, and Vice-versa: Comparison as Anamorphic Analogy’). A lunchtime lecture was given by Uluwehi Hopkins (‘Hawaiian Seafaring Culture’). Papers were given by Jeanie Abbott, Anya Adair, Francesca Allfrey, Rachel S. Anderson, Debby Banham, Courtney Barajas, Martha Bayless, Lindy Brady, Francesca Brooks, David Callander, Bethany Christiansen, Robert Cutrer, Jonathan Davis-Secord, Jeremy DeAngelo, Daniel Donoghue, Mateusz Fafinski, Jacqueline Fay, Denis Ferhatović, Hilary Fox, Damian Fleming, John Gallagher, Robert Gallagher, Benjamin Garceau, Antonina Harbus, Jane Hawkes, John Hines, Jacob Hobson, Mary Kate Hurley, Cat Jarman, Alice Jorgensen, Tomás Mario Kalmar, Catherine Karkov, Emily Kesling, Simon Keynes, Stacy S. Klein, Thomas Klein, Courtnay Konshuh, Johanna Kramer, Sihong Lin, Roy Liuzza, Tristan Major, Haruko Momma, Carol Neuman de Vegvar, John Niles, Kaylin O’Dell, Marijane Osborn, Karen Overbey, Mo Pareles, Shela Raman, Sabine Ines Rauch, Sharon Rhodes, Abigail G. Robertson, Sharon Rowley, Winfried Rudolf, Benjamin Saltzman, Joshua Byron Smith, Clifford Sofield, Peter Stokes, Carla María Thomas, Emily Thornbury, Francesca Tinti, Jane Toswell, Elaine Treharne, Erik Wade, Benjamin Weber, Eric Weiskott and Jonathan Wilcox. Project reports were given by Claire Breay and Bernard Meehan; Stewart Brookes; Susan Irvine, Winfried Rudolf, Paul Langeslag and Esther Lemmerz; and Gaby Waxenberger.
The conference was preceded by two early career workshops. One was a Digital Humanities workshop for sponsored by Stanford’s CESTA group and conducted by Martin Foys, Elaine Treharne, and Ben Albritton. Ten graduate students and early career scholars participated in this workshop. The other was the Jerry H. Bentley Graduate Workshop, ‘The Global Anglo-Saxonist’, led by Karen Jolly and her colleague Fabio López-Lázaro with twelve graduate students.
The conference began with a welcome reception at College Hill, Honolulu. Two full days of sessions ended with a discussion of #PublicMedievalism which focused on mentoring under-represented groups and addressed concerns about actively combatting ageism, sexism, ableism, and racism. From this meeting, a cohort of ISAS members published online a list of suggested action items for the Society. It may be accessed here.
On Tuesday participants were invited into Halau o Haumea at Kamakakuokalani Center for Hawaiian Studies. The mid-conference excursion was a tour of Honolulu historic sites. Two further full days of sessions concluded with a General Membership Meeting presided over by Karen Jolly. Here the winners of the biennial ISAS publication prizes were announced. The conference concluded with a dinner at Bishop Museum, Honolulu.
Post-conference excursions available to delegates included a pilgrimage to Kalaupapa on Molokai, a trip around Oahu, and a trip to the Big Island.
The Advisory Board and the officers of ISAS met during the week to consider the Society’s business in sessions presided over by Executive Director Martin Foys. Tim Graham was welcomed as incoming President, succeeding Karen Jolly at the end of the calendar year. Christina Lee was welcomed as incoming First Vice-President. The procedure for elections of new members of the Advisory Board was announced [subsequently Helen Foxhall-Forbes, Christine Rauer, Irina Dumitrescu and Rebecca Stephenson were elected]. Honorary memberships were awarded to Rolf Bremmer, Patrizia Lendinara and Hans Sauer. Karen Jolly was thanked for organizing a very successful conference. The Universities of Nottingham and Leicester were chosen as the host for the 2021 conference.