“Specialization, Semiosis, Semiotics”
1. The Semiotic Society of America
abstracts, including ones for organized sessions, for presentation at its 33rd Annual Meeting to be held beginning
Thursday 16 October through Sunday 19 October 2008 at the Renaissance Hotel in Houston, Texas, in
conjunction with the University of St Thomas.
2. Hotel reservations at $99 USD per night can be made by calling 1+800–627-7468: specify the SSA meeting
and dates to get our special rate (the last under-$100 rooms in the 21st century). A direct link for electronic
reservation is http://marriott.com/houbr?groupCode=semsema&app=resvlink: simply enter your arrival date to
begin the reservation process. The direct phone line to the hotel is 713-629-1200 (if all else fails). The cut-off date
is 1 October 2008 for the SSA room rate, or sale of the reserved block, whichever comes first — so early
reservation is advised.
3. The non-restrictive theme of the meeting is “Specialization, Semiosis, Semiotics”, intended to underscore the
fact that semiotics provides the only perspective that is inherently transdisciplinary, resulting from the universal
dependence of experience and knowledge upon semiosis — that is, the action of signs. Papers on any aspect of
the doctrine of signs, theoretical or applied, are welcome. Explicit tie-in to the theme is not required.
4. Proposals should be made in the form of abstracts of approximately 150 words for evaluation by the Program
Committee. Email address & full information concerning institutional affiliation, as applicable, should accompany
the abstract submissions. Abstracts, together with index key-words and AV requirements (only if necessary: try
to avoid) for individual papers and/or sessions should be submitted directly to both Professor Thomas F. Broden
graphics, and are to be in the body of the email. Professor Broden will circulate the submissions to the Program
Committee members, and communicate acceptance/rejection decisions. His office phone is 765-494-3857 or
765-494-3828.
5. The Meeting Program has space for 104 papers in total. Submissions will be considered on a “first-come, firstserved
basis until the cut-off date for hotel registration, 1 October 2008, or until the program space is filled,
whichever comes first. However, proposals received by 1 June 1 2008 will be given preference on the final
program; early submission of proposals, both for individual papers and for sessions — the earlier the better
— is recommended, and is the only sure way to be relatively guaranteed of space on the program. Session
abstracts are to be submitted along with the individual abstracts for papers within sessions. Each speaker will have
30 minutes. Recommended use of the time is 20 minutes for presentation and 10 minutes for discussion.
6. To be eligible for publication in the Semiotics 2008 Proceedings Volume, presented papers must be submitted
to Professor Deely in final form conformed to the SSA Style Sheet in WordPerfect, Word, or RTF format no
later than twelve days after the close of the meeting: In the final paper, use program defaults so far as possible —
no special fonts, margins, or formats — 31 October is the SSA Proceedings submission deadline.
7. Please note that in accord with Article 4, Section 4, of the SSA Constitution, “Only Individual, Student, and
Honorary members in good standing may offer papers to the Program Committee for oral presentation at meetings
of the Society”. Membership can be updated or established by contacting Ms Pam Swope at 1+800–444–2419,
or on-line at http://www.pdcnet.org/member-ssa.html. Membership in good standing should be taken care of at
or before the time of abstract submission. Only invited speakers are exempted from this constitutional requirement.
8. The registration fee is set at $150 USD for regular members, $75 USD for students. Luncheon and Banquet
fees for the Friday and Saturday Plenary Papers will an additional $70 USD, which will cover all four meals (the
Society is subventing 50% of the actual meal cost). Registration for the 2008 Annual Meeting, as well as
membership, is through http://www.pdcnet.org/2008-ssa-conference.html .
Note re Student Submissions: students submissions will be eligible for the Kevelson Award for “best student paper presented at the
SSA Annual Meeting”
