Open Executive Council Positions for January 2017:
To apply for one or both of these positions, please complete and return the ANS 2017 Application Form and email it to Dr. I. M Nick (mavi.yaz@web.de). Applications are due September 1st, 2016.
Ever thought about getting more involved with the American Name Society but did not know how? Here is your opportunity! The American Name Society is currently looking for a few good people who are interested in joining the Executive Council. Starting January 2017, new officers will be needed to fill the positions listed below.
To apply for one or more of these positions, please fill out the application form on this page.
The person elected to this position will be responsible for keeping official record of all funds and securities of the Society; giving and keeping receipts for moneys due and payable to the Society; depositing all moneys in the name of the Society; responding to inquiries from annual conference attendees regarding registration payments; and informing the ANS President, the members of the ANS Executive Council, and the general membership about the financial status of the Society via an end-of-the year fiscal report. The ANS Treasurer will work closely with the ANS President, Vice President, and Membership Officer as well as Taylor & Francis, the current publisher of the ANS Journal NAMES. The person elected to this position is expected to have demonstrable accounting experience and competence in using standard spreadsheets programs (e.g., Excel). Applicants for this position must be long-term ANS members in good-standing.
The person elected to this position will serve as a voting member of the Executive Council (EC) and is expected to participate actively in the legislative decision-making involved in resolutions and motions placed before the EC. In addition to these duties, members-at-large serve on various auxiliary sub-committees to, for example, help with the nomination of new officers, coordination of the annual conference, and organization of allied conferences. Officers in this position can renew their term of service twice.
The person elected to this position is principally responsible for organizing the ANS session at the annual conference of the Modern Language Association. This activity involves issuing a call for papers, assembling a team of abstract reviewers, selecting three authors whose work will be presented at the MLA conference, and coordinating the presentation of the three winning abstracts with the MLA administration. In addition to these duties, as a voting member of the ANS Executive Council (EC), the Allied Conference Coordinator participates in the legislative decision-making of the Society. Although the term of service for this position is for two years, the holder of this office may be re-elected pending approval by the EC. Given the fact that this position requires close communication with the MLA, candidates who have a demonstrated expertise in literary onomastics will receive preference. Holders of this position are also eligible for election as an ANS Vice President.
The person elected to this position is principally responsible for managing the ANS Facebook Special Interest Groups (SIGs). There are four ANS SIGs: 1) Personal Names, 2) Literary Names, 3) Trade Names, and 4) Place Names. For each of one of those SIGs, the coordinator is responsible for stimulating and monitoring discussions between users; regularly posting material of thematic interest; answering queries from the general public; and coordinating an informal gathering in-person during the annual ANS meetings. The people chosen for these positions are expected to have excellent writing skills; be a frequent and enthusiastic Facebook user; and have a demonstrable interest in the thematic area of the relevant SIG. The coordinators of the ANS Facebook SIGs will work closely with one another, the ANS President and Vice President, and the ANS Information Officer.
The American Name Society is pleased to share the ANS 2016 Spring Newsletter.
Please consider becoming a member to receive more news updates.
ANS Panel at the Modern Language Association ConferenceJanuary 5-8th, 2017 in Philadelphia, PA
The American Name Society invites proposals for a panel under the theme of “Names and Multilingualism.” Multilingual and multicultural communities have been developed since the ancient world. The linguistic and cultural contacts within these communities have attracted the interest of a broad range of disciplines, where in some cases different strands have emerged. Personal as well as place names (i.e. anthroponymy and toponymy, respectively) mirror the interactions and the subsequent changes in those communities, thus modern scholarship often emphasizes their significance.
We encourage submissions pertaining to this topic from diverse perspectives, drawing evidence from literature, material culture, oral tradition, etc. of any period or area. Papers may deal with any aspect of naming, e.g., personal names, place names, corporate or trade names, name theory, etc. Submissions for interdisciplinary approaches are most welcome.
Proposal submission process:
More information about ANS and MLA conferences in available on the Conferences page of this website.
The American Name Society is very sad to report the death of one of our cherished members, Professor Dwan Shipley. Dwan passed away on the 12th of February 2016 after battling a long-term illness. An expert in anthroponymy, toponymy, and the preservation of indigenous languages of the Pacific Northwest, Dwan was a faculty member of the Linguistics Department at Western Washington University (WWU). In a recent interview featured in the Western Front, retired WWU Linguistics Director, Rudolf Weiss, stated that Dwan’s combined passion for people and languages is the reason why so many WWU students picked linguistics as their major field of study. According to Dr. Shaw Gynan, a fellow Linguistics Professor at WWU, Dwan’s devotion to academic excellence was a source of perpetual inspiration for both students and colleagues alike. “One of the things I loved most about Professor Shipley was his office,” Gynan revealed in an email interview with the Western Front. “It was a scholar’s den, filled to the rafters with references.”
It was exactly that rare combination of intelligence and kindness that made Dwan such a cherished colleague and friend within the ANS family. As former ANS President Donna Lillian shared, “He was a scholar and a gentleman […] He welcomed new and returning members alike with his kind and supportive presence, and I was proud to count him among my ANS friends.” Similar sentiments were echoed by the current ANS Vice President, Dorothy Dodge Robbins, who wrote, “I always looked forward to seeing Dwan at our gatherings. He was a great onomastician and a genuinely decent human being.”
Indeed, at a time when academia can feel very cold and uninviting, Dwan’s gentle spirit and sincere warmth were a welcomed and powerful reminder of what true integrity and strength are. As the current ANS President, Iman Nick, said upon receiving the news of Dwan’s death, “I felt sick to my stomach when WWU told me what had happened. He was always so incredibly generous with his time and his knowledge. He was the kind of person who made everyone around him feel completely at ease. His soft smile and his gentle laughter will be terribly missed.” Saundra Wright, ANS member-at-large, expressed a similar sense of loss and appreciation. “Dwan,” she related, was not only “an incredible scholar, but also such a genuine and thoughtful person […].”
In celebration of Dwan’s life, the WWU Linguistics Program has established a special scholarship fund in his name. Please type “Dwan Shipley Memorial Scholarship” into the gift designation box. Alternatively, check donations can be sent to the following postal address: WWU Foundation, 516 High Street, Bellingham, WA 98225-9034. Please be sure to include the name “Dwan Shipley Memorial Scholarship” in the memo line of the check. A special memorial service was held on Wednesday, the 24th of February 2016 at the Dakota Creek Christian Center in Blaine, Washington. Dwan is survived by his wife, Nita.
We at the ANS wish to express our heartfelt condolences to the Shipley family as well as the students and staff of the Linguistics Department of Western Washington University.
The American Name Society posts onomastic news almost every day!
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Onomastic news includes conference information, calls for papers, information about names, and names in the news.
ANS Panel at the Modern Language Association ConferenceJanuary 5-8th, 2017 in Philadelphia, PA
The American Name Society invites proposals for a panel under the theme of “Names and Multilingualism.” Multilingual and multicultural communities have been developed since the ancient world. The linguistic and cultural contacts within these communities have attracted the interest of a broad range of disciplines, where in some cases different strands have emerged. Personal as well as place names (i.e. anthroponymy and toponymy, respectively) mirror the interactions and the subsequent changes in those communities, thus modern scholarship often emphasizes their significance.
We encourage submissions pertaining to this topic from diverse perspectives, drawing evidence from literature, material culture, oral tradition, etc. of any period or area. Papers may deal with any aspect of naming, e.g., personal names, place names, corporate or trade names, name theory, etc. Submissions for interdisciplinary approaches are most welcome.
Proposal submission process:
More information about ANS and MLA conferences in available on the Conferences page of this website.
The ANS is inviting abstract submissions for the 2017 annual conference to be held in conjunction with the Linguistic Society of America. Abstracts in any area of onomastic research are welcome.
The deadline for receipt of abstracts is June 30, 2016.
To submit a proposal, complete the 2017 Author Information Sheet. Please email this completed form to Dr. I. M. Nick [mavi.yaz@web.de]. For organizational purposes, please be sure to include the phrase “ANS 2017” in the subject line of your email.
Presenters who may need additional time to secure international payments and travel visas to the United States are urged to submit their proposal as soon as possible.
All proposals will be subjected to blind review.
Official notification of proposal acceptances will be sent on or before September 30, 2016.
All authors whose papers have been accepted must be current members of the ANS and need to register with both the ANS and the Linguistic Society of America.
Please feel free to contact Dr. I. M. Nick should you have any questions or concerns.
We look forward to receiving your submission!
If you see an interesting news story about names, the ANS wants to know so that we can publicize it.
Submit your new item through the ANS New Submission Form. The link to the form is located in the upper right-hand corner of the news page:
The ANS 2016 Conference Program is now available.
The program includes:
