Gregory Brown
513 Agnes Arnold Hall
Department of Philosophy
University of Houston
Houston, TX 77204-3004

Leibniz Society of North America Newsletter (2006-2007)

APA Sessions

  • EASTERN APA: Marriott Wardman Park Hotel, Washington, DC (27-30 December 2006)
    • Friday, 29 December
    • Group Session X-6, 7:00 - 10:30 PM, Virginia Suite B (Lobby Level)
      • Chair: Martha Bolton (Rutgers University)
      • Speaker: Ursula Goldenbaum (Emory University)
      • Topic: "Does Leibniz ask for Reason Light? Reflections on the Occasion of a New Interpretation of Leibniz"

LSNA Essay Contest

  • The winner of the 2006 Leibniz Society Essay Competition is L. M. Jorgensen, for his essay, "The Principle of Continuity and Leibniz's Theory of Consciousness." The winning essay will be presented at the First Annual Leibniz Society Conference (Rice University, Houston, TX, 25-27 January 2008).
  • Twenty-fifth annual competition (2007): In an effort to encourage the study of the philosophy of Leibniz in North America and to give recognition to deserving scholars, the Leibniz Society of North America (LSNA) is continuing its annual Essay Competition. Submitted essays should be on some aspect of the philosophy of Leibniz. They should be from twelve to twenty-five pages in length (double-spaced), and should be submitted by June 1, 2007, as determined by postmark. The winning essay (or essays) will be presented before the Society at the 2007-08 Annual Conference of the LSNA, with the Society retaining final discretion as to the specific site. In addition, the author of a winning essay will have the option of publishing it in the Leibniz Review. To facilitate anonymous judging, the author's name should be given only on a separate title page or cover sheet and should not appear in the body or footnotes of the paper; neither should identifiable information such as full references to publications by the author. Judges reserve the right not to name a winner in the event that none of the submissions is deemed to be of sufficient quality or suitability for the award. Suitability for oral presentation may play a role in the judging. Full scholarly apparatus is preferred but not required; sufficiently developed works-in-progress will, therefore, have a chance in the competition and may be submitted. Previous one-time winners are encouraged to re-enter, but a given person can win the competition at most twice. Essays in French or German may be submitted as well as those in English, but all applicants should keep in mind the condition of presentation and should not submit an essay unless they will be able to read their paper at the Annual LSNA Conference.  There is no reimbursement for travel possible.  Please send submissions to the Coordinator of the LSNA Essay Competition: Professor Mark Kulstad, Department of Philosophy, MS-14, Rice University, Houston, TX 77251-1892, U.S.A. // (713) 348-2724 // kulstad@ruf.rice.edu

Minutes of the LSNA Executive Committee Meeting (29 December 2006, Washington, D.C.)

Committee Members present: Martha Bolton (President), Mark Kulstad, Michael Murray

  1. The Committee discussed the need for the President to appoint an Executive Committee member to complete the term of service of Martha Bolton (who was elected to the position of President). The decision was made to appoint Daniel Garber.
  2. The President nominated Michael Murray to chair the 2007 Nominating Committee. The Committee is charged to assemble a slate to fill two Executive Committee positions, as well as the positions of Vice President and Secretary-Treasurer.Murray accepted the nomination.
  3. The Committee reaffirmed the decision of last year to convene the next Executive Committee meeting at the Leibniz Seminar meeting to be held at Rice University in January of 2008. A Leibniz Society session will still be held at the Eastern Division meeting. The Executive Committee will reconsider the question of whether or not to continue Eastern APA sessions at the first Executive Committee meeting after the January 2008 meeting.
  4. The Committee discussed the decision that Essay Competition winners will now present winning essays at the annual Leibniz Seminar rather than at the Central Division meeting. A proposal was made to give winners the opportunity either to present at the annual seminar or to have the paper published in the Leibniz Review but not both. Allowing the choice would give winners the option of choosing a guaranteed published venue for their work without also requiring that they use precious travel funds to attend a specialized conference. Alternatively, winners may rather opt to present at the conference to network with Leibniz scholars but prefer to send the winning essay to other journals. There was some concern expressed that dropping the mandatory presentation requirement would lead to a significant increase in submissions from outside of the North American region. In the end, the Committee reaffirmed the current structure, but would like to seek comment from non-attending Executive Committee members on the issue.
  5. The Committee entertained a motion from a member of the Society that the Executive Committee pass a resolution formally expressing disappointment to the Leibniz Gesellschaft over the lack of gender diversity in the composition of the closing plenary panel discussion at the 2006 Leibniz Kongress. The Committee members present directed the President to raise this issue with the full Executive Committee membership for further discussion before a formal resolution is proposed and voted upon.

Respectfully submitted,

Michael Murray
Secretary-Treasurer

Minutes of the LSNA Executive Committee Meeting (29 December 2006, Washington, D. C.)

  1. The meeting was convened at 8:52 pm by President Martha Bolton.
  2. The President announced that Daniel Garber will fill a one year vacancy on the Executive Committee.
  3. A two-part conference on Leibniz and Spinoza was announced. The first conference will be held in Lyon, March 15-17, 2007; the second will be held at Princeton University in the fall of 2007.
  4. The Annual Leibniz Seminar was also announced. It will be held at Rice University in January of 2008.
  5. The President offered a tribute to outgoing President Mark Kulstad for his outstanding service to the Society during his term.
  6. The meeting adjourned at 9:00.

Respectfully submitted,

Michael Murray
Secretary-Treasurer