The Waco hub, hosted at Baylor University’s beautiful Armstrong Browning Library (Sept. 19-21, 2024), welcomes proposals for papers and panels related to the conference theme of “event,” broadly interpreted. In addition, we invite proposals for shorter papers to be included in a roundtable chaired by Prof. Linda K. Hughes and Dr. Denae Dyck on “Reading Victorian Periodical Poetry Now.” Topics for the roundtable include, but are not limited to, serialization, poetry and/as news, reception history, the recovery of marginalized voices, focused approaches to specific periodicals/magazines, digital approaches to Victorian print culture, and pedagogy.
Sponsors
The Waco hub of EVENT 2024 is grateful for the following sponsors and providers of in-kind support: Texas Christian University, Texas State University, and Baylor University’s College of Arts and Sciences and Armstrong Browning Library.
Hub Leader
Joshua King, Professor of English, Director of Environmental Humanities Minor, Baylor University
Events
Panels, events, special meals, and rare archival workshops will be held in the Armstrong Browning Library (ABL). The ABL is an unparalleled collection of manuscripts and rare items connected to Robert Browning and Elizabeth Barrett Browning, with holdings extending far beyond the Brownings. Over 50,000 manuscripts, books, letters, periodicals, tracts, pamphlets and other cultural artifacts are related to authors from Tennyson to Thoreau, and lend unique insight into nineteenth-century literature, music, visual culture, politics, religion, and science. Recognized as one of the most beautiful university libraries in the world, the ABL is itself a finely crafted, stained-glass, architectural “event” arising from and facilitating over a century of diverse responses to Victorian Britain in central Texas.
Confirmed Speakers
Linda K. Hughes (Texas Christian U), Lynn Voskuil (U of Houston), Sebastian Lecourt (U of Houston), Carol Hanbery MacKay (U of Texas Austin), Wendy S. Williams (Texas Christian U), Helena Michie (Rice U), Sharon Aronofsky Weltman (Texas Christian U), Denae Dyck (Texas State U)
Visiting Waco
Outside of special activities at the ABL and Baylor, attendees can explore Waco, site of the principal village of the Waco people before its nineteenth-century “founding” by European Americans. There are many opportunities to encounter the city’s multilayered, evolving stories and lifeways—from fossils of a Columbian mammoth herd at Waco Mammoth National Monument, to memorials of the pain and resilience of communities impacted by a violent racial history, to a thriving arts and culture scene, to unique urban ecologies at the Lake Waco Wetlands, the forests of Cameron Park along the Brazos River, and innovations in urban, community-based agriculture. And, yes, there is always the peculiar twenty-first century phenomenon of Magnolia Market at the Silos. A broad selection of locally produced food and crafts can be found at farmers markets downtown every Saturday morning and Wednesday evening, and just outside of town the Homestead Craft Village features high-quality local craftmanship and food.
Registration
Please register using the portal on the Event2024.org site before arriving at the ABL.
Schedule & Dining
Conference activities will take place from 9am to 5pm Thursday and Friday and from 9am to 12pm Saturday. Lunches and one dinner banquet will be provided. For the rest of the conference, please feel free to become acquainted with Waco’s many dining options, which reflect the region’s diverse cultures. Offerings range from locally sourced, farm-to-table menus to Texas-style barbecue to Mexican to Cajun to Czech to Italian to Indian to Pakistani to Chinese to Thai to Cambodian cuisines.
Getting There
Baylor University is situated just across I-35 from downtown Waco, approximately halfway between Dallas/Fort Worth and Austin. The Armstrong Browning Library is located at 710 Speight Ave, Waco, TX 76706, on the southwestern corner of Baylor’s campus. For help finding the ABL, please consult this campus map provided by the university.
Lodging
Hotels near Baylor include the following:
Hotel Indigo Waco – Baylor
211 Clay Ave, Waco, TX 76706
Hilton Waco
113 S University Parks Dr, Waco, TX 76701
Courtyard by Marriott Waco
101 Washington Ave, Waco, TX 76701
Spring Hill Suites by Marriott Waco
115 S Jack Kultgen Expy, Waco, TX 76706
Waco Aloft Downtown
900 S 11th St, Waco, TX 76706
La Quinta Inn and Suites by Wyndham Waco Downtown – Baylor
911 S 10th St, Waco, TX 76706
Pivovar Hotel
320 S 8th St, Waco, TX 76701
1700 South 2nd
1700 S 2nd St, Waco, TX 76706
Super 8 by Wyndham Waco University Area
1320 Jack Kultgen Fwy, Waco, TX 76706
Studio 6 Waco, TX – Downtown – Baylor
1430 Jack Kultgen Fwy, Waco, TX 76706
Contact
For inquiries, email organizers@event2024.org.
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