The Space Between Society is thrilled to open registration for the 2024 Space Between Conference: “Innovation and Reinvention in the Space Between.” Please read below for information on our conference, including open registration.
Location:
This year’s Space Between Conference, “Innovation and Re-Invention in the Space Between,” will be held June 13-16 at Wright State University in Dayton/Beavercreek, OH (3640 Colonel Glenn Hwy).
While schedules are not finalized, we anticipate opening workshops on Thursday and panels Friday and Saturday. There will be a business lunch for all members as well as reception and keynote event(s), details forthcoming.
We are thankful to our hosts at Wright State University and generous support of the University of Dayton College of Arts and Sciences.
Registration:
Space Between Conference fees, which also include an annual membership of $25, are $150 for Full-Time Faculty, and $100 for Graduate Students, Part-Time Faculty, Emeritus Faculty, or Independent Scholars. Conference registration includes one business lunch. The deadline to register for the conference is May 1, 2024; payment link can be found here:
CONFERENCE REGISTRATION AND PAYMENT
Travel Grants:
Limited travel grants ($300 each) will be available for graduate students, contingent faculty, and independent scholars.
If you are interested in a stipend, download an application and return the completed form to spacebetween2024@gmail.com. Travel stipend applications are due May 1, 2024.
Keynote and Featured Events
Keynote: “Modern Dance in America’s Midwest — Reinvention and Innovation”
Samuel Dorf, Professor of Musicology, University of Dayton
When the Great War shuttered stages across Europe, Serge Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes took his famed dance company to America. While most scholars focus on the New York run of Diaghilev’s two American tours, this talk centers on the impact the Ballets Russes had in the Midwest: America’s “space between.” I investigate the tours’ impact in three Midwestern cities: Chicago, Cincinnati, and Dayton. First, I examine the dance scene Diaghilev arrived to find in the Midwest, and then look at the engagements from 1916 through 1918 highlighting the distinctly midwestern sensibilities of the press coverage. The talk concludes by examining some of the longstanding impacts of the Ballets Russes’ visits on the innovative dance legacies of these famed midwestern cities.
Samuel N. Dorf currently serves as Acting Executive Director of the University Honors Program and Professor of Music at the University of Dayton (UD). Next year he will begin an appoint as the Alumni Endowed Chair in the Humanities at UD. As a scholar he often writes on the continual performance and reinvention of music and dance from the ancient world and the complex relationship between scholars and their objects of study. His monograph, Performing Antiquity: Ancient Greek Music and Dance from Paris to Delphi, 1890-1935 (Oxford University Press, 2019) examines the performance and reinvention of ancient Greek music and dance in fin-de-siècle Paris, and queer music reception. His current research interests include the performance of ancient musics today, the history of musical historically-informed performance practice, music and dance relations and the intersections of music and culinary historiography.
Featured Workshop: BYOM (Bring Your Own Manuscript): A Manuscript Development Workshop
Jennifer Nesbitt (Editor of The Space Between Journal, Associate Professor of English, The Pennsylvania State University, York); Joshua Lam (Associate Editor of The Space Between Journal, Assistant Professor, Michigan State University)
Writers of all stages and disciplines are welcomed to a workshop on preparing article-length manuscripts for publication. This workshop is open to all who are working through the writing and publication process, but it is geared especially towards graduate students and early-career scholars. Led by the editors of The Space Between, this workshop is not only a primer on the experience and process of working with journals and editors but also an opportunity to discuss common problems with article manuscripts and practice solving them. The workshop is meant to be informative and generative: a combination of discussion, Q&A, structured writing time, and debriefing. Come prepared to write! Everyone is welcome.
Assigned reading (provided to participants):
“Show Your Iceberg” and/or “The Uneven U” from The Elements of Academic Style, Eric Hayot
Pre-regisration recommended: Workshop Pre-Registration
Guided Hike
with Dr. Hope Jennings
We will be coordinating an hour-long hike at the Campus Woods (described below) on June 13 from 5:30-6:30pm. If interested, complete this interest form.
Additional Information:
Getting here: We recommend travel to Dayton International Airport, which is an approximately 20-minute taxi, Uber, or Lyft ride from the airport. Typically, all those are easily available from the regional airport.
There are multiple airports within 1-1.5 hours of Dayton, including Cincinnati and Columbus. That said, there are not reliable shuttle services between cities, so we recommend a rental car if coming in from alternative airports.
Accommodations: The Space Between Society has a block of rooms booked at a special rate for attendees at the Tru Hotel (Beavercreek, OH). It is across from the university. People may book the space for the conference using the conference link below. The room block will be reserved until May 15. The reservation includes breakfast on site: Accommodations Request Site
Getting Around:
Getting around near campus: The estimated walk from the hotel to the conference venue is approximately 10 minutes. The area near campus also has a number of food options also within walking distance.
Getting around on campus: Wright State is ranked one of the best wheel-chair accessible universities in the United States, which is aided by the use of a series of interlinked underground tunnels at the university campus.
While we do not anticipate the need to move a great deal around campus during our conference, should inclement weather (rain) arise, we recommend using the tunnels to navigate (or to take a walk!).
The campus includes 225-acres of woods, part of the WSU Biology Preserve, which visitors can explore at their leisure.
Getting around Dayton: If you find yourself in Downtown Dayton (located 15 minutes/10 miles from our venue), there are opportunities to rent bikes and scooters, and a free Shuttle that services downtown. Though we have attempted to create an experience that doesn’t require travel outside the conference venue, we do recommend finding time to ride share to downtown Dayton (or bring your bike and go on your own).
Eating and Drinking:
Near the Venue: There are quite a number of restaurants and bars that one can get to within a 10-15-minute walk from the conference venue. These include Texas Roadhouse, Taste of Jerusalem, Hot Head Burritos, Starbucks, First Watch (breakfast, lunch), Wandering Griffin (brewery, restaurant), Tropical Smoothie Café. There are also on-campus options for food available for lunches on campus. Expect more extensive food and beverage guides as we get closer to the conference.
Downtown: The city has some self-guided tour maps available for those interested in exploring the region’s art, food, or beverages.
Regional Sites of Interest:
Dayton Art Institute: Located in Dayton (ride share from venue), Wednesday-Sundays, $15 admission
The National Museum of the Air Force: Located in Beavercreek (though still a rideshare from the venue). Free admission and parking.
We look forward to seeing you at the conference! Please reach out to our conference organization email, spacebetween2024@gmail.com if you have any questions!
The Space Between: Literature and Culture, 1914-1945 