Minutes of the NEASECS Business Meeting

23 October 2010
Hyatt Regency Hotel
Buffalo, NY

1. Welcome:  President Alden Gordon opened the meeting at 12:20 p.m. and welcomed everyone.
2. Thanks:  Pres. Gordon thanked Lisa Berglund and all those who helped organize the conference:  Erik Seeman at UB, who chaired the program committee; Ruth Mack at UB and Richard Bailey at Canisius College, who were active members of the program committee; committee members Andrew Nicholls and Mark Fulk (Buffalo State), Liana Vardi (UB) and Amy Wolf (Canisius); and Aimee Levesque (Lisa’s assistant). 
3. Minutes:  The Minutes from the 2009 Business Meeting were approved.
4. Nominations:  John C. O’Neal presented the report of the Nominating Committee.  The Nominating Committee for 2009-10 was John C. O’Neal (Chair), Anna Battigelli, Andrew Curran, and Dennis Mahoney. 
5. Nominees:  John C. O’Neal made a motion to accept the following slate of officers and new and continuing executive board members.  (Candidates whose names appear in boldface print are to be elected; all others succeed to their offices.) 

   Officers
   President:  Frans de Bruyn (English, University of Ottawa)
   First Vice President:  Arnd Bohm, (German, Carleton University)
   Second Vice President:  Catherine Gallouët (Hobart and William Smith)
   Past President:  Alden Gordon (Art History, Trinity College)
   Secretary-Treasurer:  Nancy Johnson (English, SUNY New Paltz)
   Newsletter Editor:  John H. O’Neill (English, Hamilton College)

   Executive Board Members for 3-year terms (with the exception of Amy Wyngaard):
   Amy Wyngaard (French, Syracuse University; for a 2-year term to replace Catherine Gallouët, who is assuming an officer’s role on the board)
   David Pugh (German, Queen’s University)
   Kevin O’Neill (History, Boston College)
   Cassandra Albinson (Art History, Yale University)
   
   The slate of was approved; the vote was unanimous. 

   Pres. Gordon introduced the officers and board members who were present at the meeting.
 
6. 2011 Conference: 
   President Gordon announced that in 2011, NEASECS will join CSECS for a conference at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, 27-29 October.  Gena Zuroski Jenkins gave a brief presentation on the conference.  The theme of this interdisciplinary, bilingual conference is "The Immaterial Eighteenth-Century."  Papers and session proposals on any topic related to the material and the immaterial in the period will be welcomed.  Panels dedicated to new theoretical models are particularly encouraged.  Papers and session proposals should be emailed directly to Peter Walmsley (the conference organizer) at walmsley@mcmaster.ca.  The Hamilton Sheraton will be the main venue, and the Art Gallery and Research Collections and Planetarium at McMaster are planning special exhibits.  Plenary speakers will be Laura Brown, Daniel Dumouchel, and Martine Brownley. 

2012 Conference: 
President Gordon announced that Andrew Curran at Wesleyan University will host the 2012 conference on 11-13 October.  The plenary speakers will be Lynn Hunt, Margaret Jacobs and Laurent Dubois. 

7. Newsletter Report:  John O’Neill, editor of the newsletter, announced that Melissa Bloom Bissonette is the new Webmaster of the NEASECS website.  He and Melissa are updating, and making some changes to, the website.  John thanked Melissa for her work.  President Gordon noted that NEASECS members will receive an email message about the 2011 conference at McMaster.  President Gordon also thanked John for his work on the newsletter and website.
8. Treasurer’s Report:  Nancy Johnson presented the Treasurer’s Report.  The balance, as of 1 September 2010, is $31,381.63.  The report was approved. 
9. Edna Steeves Prize:  John O’Neill announced that the Edna Steeves prize was awarded to Amy Mallory-Kani (SUNY Albany) for her essay “Writing the Virtual: Vital Forces, Vibrations, and the Electricity of Affect in Sterne's A Sentimental Journey.”
10. John H. O'Neill Bursaries:  John O’Neill presented bursary checks to Devjani Roy, University of Kentucky; Giovanni Venegoni, Alma Mater Studiorum (Bologna) and École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales (Paris); and Cheryl Adams Rychkov, Lynchburg College.     

The meeting adjourned at 12:40 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Nancy E. Johnson
Secretary-Treasurer