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Minutes of the 2003 Rousseau Association Business Meeting

St. Hugh’s College, Oxford, June 28, 2003

The meeting, held at the end of the Association’s Thirteenth Biennial Colloquium, was attended by John T. Scott, President of the Rousseau Association; Byron Wells, Vice President; Laurence Cooper, Secretary-Treasurer; Ourida Mostefai, Director of Publications; and approximately fifteen non-officers.

The minutes of the 2001 Business Meeting were approved.

Laurence Cooper gave the Secretary-Treasurer’s report. Regarding membership: The Association lists 87 members who have paid dues in the last year, and another 38 who have paid dues two years ago but not in the last year. Regarding finances: As of April 30, i.e. immediately prior to our receipt of colloquium fees and to our mailing the 2003 dues solicitation, the Association’s assets totaled $4,471.15. None of this money will be needed to cover costs from the Oxford colloquium.

Chris Bertram proposed that the Association collect members’ dues electronically, perhaps through Paypal. Discussion ensued. Laurence Cooper agreed to investigate the possibilities and to move toward implementing this reform.

John Scott reported on the pending publication of the papers presented at the 2001 Montreal colloquium in a volume edited by Claude Dauphin. Hoping to gain a larger readership than past volumes, the Association has arranged to have the Montreal papers published as a volume in the Studies in Voltaire and the Eighteenth Century series (SVEC). Only minor editorial work remains to be done, though no publication date has yet been set. Discussions are underway regarding the best way to make the forthcoming volume available to Association members. The Association plans to purchase volumes at a reduced rate and distribute them to members. (Members will need to have paid dues the preceding two years (i.e. 2003-2004) in order to receive copies as part of their membership dues.) The cost of the volume will depend on the number of hours of editorial and production work. Regarding the prospect of publishing future volumes as part of the SVEC series, it was noted that there are both advantages and disadvantages to this course. The chief advantages are the wider dissemination of members’ work, gains in quality of scholarship, and greater ease of distribution. Among the possible disadvantages are that SVEC’s outside readers will be able to reject papers and that SVEC’s editors may wish to request contributions to the volumes by contributors who have not participated in the Association’s colloquia. The sense of the officers and members present was that the benefits outweigh the potential disadvantages.

Discussion was held regarding the publication of the volume of papers from the Oxford colloquium:

• As was the case with the Montreal volume, participation in the colloquium will not guarantee publication of one’s paper in the resulting volume. For this reason the organizers of the colloquium accepted only very good paper proposals, ones they thought would be likely to be accepted for publication.
• Those whose papers will be published will receive specific instructions regarding format, etc.
• Regarding the length of the volume and of the papers: longer papers will now be permitted, indeed, encouraged or required.
• Officers and members expressed general satisfaction with these new arrangements. Technical questions were asked and answered.
• Christopher Kelly led the membership in thanking John Scott and Ourida Mostefai for their years of hard and successful work on these new publication arrangements.

Officers were elected for two-year terms: John Scott, President; Byron Wells, Vice President; Laurence Cooper, Secretary-Treasurer; John O’Neal, Program Chair; and Ourida Mostefai, Director of Publications.

Regarding other publications:

• The Bulletin which the Association formerly published became very expensive to produce and required much work. There is some interest in starting an electronic journal.
• A new URL for the Association’s website would be desirable. (Currently the site is hosted by Wabash College.) This would require a new domain name and a new host server. Members were asked for assistance in this area. Ourida Mostefai volunteered to update the website. Zev Trachtenberg volunteered to attain a new domain name and account/server.
• The officers will investigate a joint electronic project with the Voltaire Foundation.

Arrangements were made for the 2005 colloquium: John O’Neal volunteered to coordinate the colloquium, to be held at Hamilton College in Clinton, New York. The subject of the colloquium will be the Rêveries du promeneur solitaire/Reveries of the Solitary Walker. Details will be posted on the website. Alexandra Cook volunteered to organize some botanical activities and asked for assistance from others.

Discussion was begun regarding the 2007 colloquium. Michael O’Dea agreed to coordinate the meeting (with others) in Lyon, France. A possible topic is “Rousseau et les philosophes.”

Minutes of the 2004 Rousseau Association Business Meeting

ASECS meetings, Boston, MA, March 26, 2004

The meeting, held during the 2004 ASECS meetings in Boston, was attended by John T. Scott, President of the Rousseau Association; Byron Wells, Vice President; Ourida Mostefai, Director of Publications; and six other members.

The minutes of the 2003 Business Meeting were approved.

Laurence Cooper submitted the Secretary-Treasurer’s report. As of March 24, 2004, the Association’s assets totaled $7,976.38. None of this money will be needed to cover costs from the Oxford colloquium. Membership dues for 2004 continued to come in, so that the account should be somewhat over $8,000 in the near future. A large portion of these funds are ear-marked for purchasing volumes from the Voltaire Foundation for members who are currently paid-up in their dues. Membership numbers were approximately the same as the previous year.

A proposal by John C. O’Neal for holding the XIVth biennial colloquium in 2005 at Hamilton College was discussed and approved.

Minutes of the 2005 Rousseau Association Business Meeting

Rousseau Association Colloquium, Hamilton College, June 12, 2005

The meeting, held during the 2005 biennial colloquium of the Rousseau Association at Hamilton College was attended by all of the officers of the Association and approximately twenty-five other members.

The minutes of the 2004 Business Meeting were approved.

Laurence Cooper submitted the Secretary-Treasurer’s report. As of June 7, 2005, the Association’s assets totaled $5,129. Membership numbers were approximately the same as the previous year.

Ourida Mostefai presented the Publications Director report. She was pleased to report the publication in August 2004 of Musique et langage chez Rousseau by the Voltaire Foundation in their SVEC series (SVEC 2004:8). This volume was edited by Claude Dauphin and based on the 2001 Rousseau Association colloquium in Montréal. She also announced that the volume based on the 2004 Rousseau Association colloquium in Oxford was reviewed by SVEC, with the editors requesting revisions before final consideration for publication, and reported that the editors of the volume, Ourida Mostefai and John T. Scott, are currently working with the contributors to make those revisions.

John T. Scott presented the President’s report. He announced that the Rousseau Association had been officially reincorporated in the United States, for the reasons explained at the previous colloquium and in a previous Bulletin.

Finally, a proposal by Michael O’Dea of the LIRE XVIIIème research group at the Université de Lyon II to hold the 2007 colloquium in Lyon was discussed and approved. The proposed subject of the colloquium is “Rousseau et les philosophes.”

After these report, the election of officers took place. The results were as follows:

President: Byron Wells (Wake Forest University) Vice President: Christopher Bertram (University of Bristol) Secretary-Treasurer: Sally Campbell (Concord College) Publications Director: John T. Scott (University of California, Davis) Electronic Publications Director: Zev Trachtenberg (University of Oklahoma)

Following the election, the newly minted Electronic Publications Director, Zev Trachtenberg, dramatically unveiled the new Rousseau Association website and pleaded piteously for membership assistance in maintaining and updating our electronic portal to the world.

Minutes of the 2006 Rousseau Association Business Meeting

The minutes of the 2005 Business Meeting were approved.

Sally Campbell submitted the Secretary-Treasurer’s report. As of the end of 2006, the Association’s assets totaled $10,852.69. Somewhat less than half of these funds were generated by the 2005 colloquium, through registration fees and through generous funding from Hamilton College for the purposes of publishing the resulting volume. A large portion of these assets will be used in the next year or so to fund purchases of the edited volumes based on Association
colloquia for members. Membership numbers were approximately the same as the previous year.

John Scott presented the Publications Director report. He was pleased to report the acceptance of an edited volume based on the 2005 colloquium, edited by John C. O’Neal, and scheduled for publication in early 2008. He also announced that the volume based on the 2004 Rousseau Association colloquium in Oxford, and edited by Ourida Mostefai and John Scott, was under review.

Byron Wells presented the President’s report.

Minutes of the 2007 Rousseau Association Business Meeting

Rousseau Association general assembly: June 30, 2007
Lyon, France
Reported by John T. Scott, Publications Director

1. Reports

Secretary-Treasurer’s Report: Sally Campbell—See Addendum

Publications Director Report: John T. Scott

The Publications Director reported on progress on the publication of volumes based on the two previous Rousseau Association colloquiua.

The volume edited by John O’Neal based on the 2005 colloquium will be published by SVEC in early 2008. John O’Neal gave details for contributors regarding final formatting. John Scott reported that we anticipated a similar arrangement with the Voltaire Foundation on purchasing volumes at a discounted rate to be sent to Association members as part of their membership.

The volume edited by Ourida Mostefai and John T. Scott based on the 2003 colloquium is still under consideration for publication. Further news will be reported as soon as it is available.

2. Discussion of 2009 colloquium

Members discussed plans for the 2009 colloquium. Byron Wells reported that he was willing to direct the colloquium and had spoken with colleagues at UCLA about hosting the colloquium there. The topic of “Rousseau’s Legacy” was approved by the members.

3. Discussion of 2011 colloquium

Members engaged in a preliminary discussion of the 2011 colloquium, with a tentative proposal by Christopher Bertram to hold the colloquium in Bristol on a topic relating to political writings such as those on Poland and Corsica.

4. Elections

Elections for officers for 2007-09 were held with the following results:

President: Christopher Bertram
Vice President: Michael O’Dea
Secretary-Treasurer: Sally Campbell
Publications Director: John T. Scott
Web Publications Director: Zev Trachtenberg

Addendum: Secretary-Treasurer’s Report

Sally Campbell could not be present at the meeting and submitted her report separately by email.

The Association account contains $11,952.75.
Membership is stable, with around 90 current dues paid members for 2007.

Minutes of the 2008 Rousseau Association Business Meeting

Rousseau Association Business Meeting
March 28, 2008, 6:00 p.m.
Portland Hilton and Executive Tower
Portland, Oregon

I. Call to Order – President Chris Bertram

II. Discussion of proposal for “Rousseau pour tous” – Geneva, 2012

A. Suggested topics

1.Rousseau and Celebrity
2. Rousseau and Botany
3. Rousseau and Garden History

B. It was agreed that these would be circulated among the membership

III. Discussion of current dues structure

A. Current dues are $30 for regular membership and $15 for reduced membership
B. Dues were last increased in 2001
C. The cost of SVEC volumes has increased significantly since then
D. Patrick Coleman moved and Ourida Mostefai seconded that dues be increased to $40 for regular membership and to $20 for reduced membership.
E. The motion passed.

IV. Pensée Libre

A. Discussion of what to do with back copies
B. It was decided to send an email to the membership asking if their libraries would like to receive a complete set of the series
C. The question of digitizing the series was raised and is to be referred to Zev Trachtenberg

V. Web site

A. Michael O’Dea has offered to have the web site moved to Lyon
B. It was agreed to accept Michael’s offer and to pursue making the site bi-lingual
C. Zev will be asked to contact Michael about the move

VI. Future Items

A. The next biennial meeting of the Association will be held at UCLA in 2009, on the theme of Rousseau and his Legacies/ Rousseau et ses fortunes
B. The 2011 biennial meeting of the Association will be held in Bristol
C. There was a discussion about the possibility of co-sponsoring an event with another institution in 2012

VII. Publication report

A. The 2003 volume is to appear later this year with Rodopi
B. The 2005 volume has just appeared in SVEC
C. Michael O’Dea is working editing the 2007 volume

VIII. Adjournment

VIII. Addendum

No Treasurer’s report was provided at the meeting, but Sally Campbell has subsequently reported that the current membership is around 75. Our current bank balance (after payment to the Voltaire Foundation for the most recent SVEC volume) is $9,460.81.

Minutes of the Rousseau Association Business Meeting
June 27, 2009
Los Angeles, California

The President, Christopher Bertram, called the meeting to order.

Reports:

Secretary-Treasurer Report: by Sally Campbell, delivered by John T. Scott

As of June 1, 2009, the Rousseau Association account contains $13,328.80.
This amount does not reflect current receipts and expenditures. The receipts include approximately $1500 in dues, conference fees, etc. The expenditures include a bill for $2700 from Rodopi for the volumes to be sent to members and a bill for $4709 to UCLA for housing fees. We therefore expect a balance of about $7000 after these items are resolved.

Publications Director Report: by John T. Scott

The Rousseau Association had two volumes recently published under its auspices. First, The Nature of Rousseau’s ‘Reveries’, edited by John O’Neal, appeared in Fall 2008 and was published by SVEC. Second, Rousseau and l’Infâme, edited by Ourida Mostefai and John T. Scott appeared in April 2009 and was published by Rodopi. Copies of both volumes have been sent to members whose dues are currently paid up.

The volume originating from the colloquium “Rousseau and the philosophes,” and edited by Michael O’Dea, is currently under submission at SVEC. He anticipates hearing from them in September or October.

Electronic Publications Director Report: by Zev Trachtenberg

The Rousseau Association website has been transferred from Barry University to the Université de Lyon III, under the direction of Michael O’Dea there. Michael’s goal is to develop the content of the website further, beginning by making it as fully bilingual as possible, and then adding content.

Future Colloquia:

2010: Philip Knee proposed to have the Rousseau Association panel(s) at the ASECS meeting on “Rousseau and Romanticism.” The proposal was approved.

2011: the membership approved Christopher Bertram’s proposal, first tentatively approved in 2007, to have the next colloquium at Bristol University on the subject of “Rousseau’s Republics/Les Républiques de Rousseau.” The colloquium would be likely held in late June.

2012: the membership supported James Swenson’s proposal to hold a colloquium on Rousseau’s tri-centenerary at Rutgers University. The colloquium would be centered around a smaller number of invited papers with respondents. The colloquium would be likely held in March.

2013: Byron Wells tentatively proposed to have the 2013 colloquium at Wake Forest University. The topic is not yet decided, but support was voiced for devoting it to Emile.

Elections:

After a motion was approved for a slate of candidates, the membership unanimously approved the following election:

President: Michael O’Dea
Vice President: Zev Trachtenberg
Secretary-Treasurer: Jason Niedleman
Publications Director: James Swenson
Colloquium Director: Christopher Bertram

Other Business:

Jinx Roosevelt reported on assembling all of the Bulletins edited by Howard Cell for a long period during the first decade or more of the Association’s existence, and will have them scanned and made available to post on the website. Ourida Mostefai reminded everyone that today was the thirtieth anniversary of the existence of the Association.