THE 2004 ECONOMIC HISTORY ASSOCIATION MEETINGS

The sixty-fourth annual meeting of the Economic History Association will be held in San Jose, California, 10–12 September 2004, at the Fairmont San Jose. Joel Mokyr, 2003/04 E.H.A. President, announced the theme “Technological Change and Economic Growth in History.”

The program committee—B. Zorina Khan (Chair), Kerry Odell, Joyce Burnette, and Joachim Voth—invites paper proposals on all topics in economic history. The committee welcomes proposals for individual papers, as well as for entire sessions. Submissions for entire sessions should include separate proposals for each paper to be presented.

Many of the sessions will be focused on the theme “Technological Change and Economic Growth in History.” The program committee encourages submissions that provide a historical or interdisciplinary perspective on key issues in technological change, social and economic innovation, productivity, and economic growth. These include (but are not limited to) studies of the rate and direction of inventive activity; research and development; convergence and divergence in regional and international economic growth; sources of productivity gains; law and technology; historical foundations of the new economy; and government incentives and disincentives for capital investment.

Interested scholars are requested to send four copies of a 3–5 page abstract and 150-word abstract (suitable for publication in this Journal) to B. Zorina Khan, Department of Economics, 9700 College Station, Bowdoin College, Brunswick, ME 04011 (bkhan@bowdoin.edu). If a draft of the paper is available, please send it in addition to the abstracts. Due date: 30 January 2004. Papers may also be submitted online at http://www.eh.net/EHA/Meetings/prop_04.html.

The dissertation session, convened by John Nye and Farley Grubb, will honor the top six dissertations in economic history completed during the 2003/04 academic year. Due date: 28 May 2004. Dissertations on U.S. or Canadian history are eligible for the Allan Nevins Prize: a printed copy should be sent to Farley Grubb, Harvard University, Department of Economics, Littauer M5-North Yard, 1805 Cambridge St., Cambridge, MA 02138. Dissertations on other areas are eligible for the Alexander Gerschenkron Prize: a printed copy should be send to John Nye, Department of Economics, Campus Box 1208, Washington University, One Brookings Drive, St. Louis, MO 63130. Dissertations will not be returned unless they are accompanied by a return envelope with appropriate postage.

The local arrangements committee, headed by Alexander Field of Santa Clara University and Avner Greif of Stanford University, looks forward to welcoming you to sunny and warm San Jose.

Graduate students are encouraged to attend. Travel and hotel subsidies, registration and meal discounts, and the possibility of scintillating conversation are all offered as enticements.

To apply for participation in the poster session, send four copies of a proposal including your name, affiliation, phone numbers, poster title, and 100-word abstract for the paper that you want to display to Zorina Khan, Department of Economics, Bowdoin College, Brunswick, ME 04011. The application deadline is 1 July 2004. Poster board, 20″ by 30″, will be provided. Your poster should advertise at a glance what question you are asking, why that is an interesting question, and what answer you propose, so large fonts (minimum 20-point) and graphics are recommended. Poster exhibitors should be prepared to discuss their work at times designated in the schedule and should bring 25 or more copies of their paper, which interested folks can take with them. Be sure to include your name, affiliation, e-mail address, and a date on your title page. If you have business cards, bring those too.

For further information, check http://www.lfc.edu/~tuttle/eha or contact Meetings Coordinator Carolyn Tuttle at tuttleh@lfc.edu.

AWARDS AT THE 2003 ECONOMIC HISTORY ASSOCIATION MEETINGS

The following prizes were awarded at the Sixty-Third Annual Meeting of the Economic History Association, held in Nashville, Tennessee, 19–21 September 2003.

The Arthur H. Cole Prize for the outstanding article published in this Journal in the September 2002 through June 2003 issues, to Alan L. Olmstead and Paul W. Rhode for the article “Hog-Round Marketing, Seed Quality, and Government Policy: Institutional Change in U.S. Cotton Production, 1920–1960,” which appeared in the June 2003 issue. The Cole Prize recipient is selected each year by this Journal's editorial board.

The Alexander Gerschenkron Prize for the outstanding dissertation in non-U.S. or Canadian economic history during 2002/03 to Petra Moser of Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School for “Determinants of Innovation: Evidence from Nineteenth-Century World Fairs,” completed under the direction of Christina Romer at University of California, Berkeley.

The Columbia University Prize in American Economic History in honor of Allen Nevins for the outstanding dissertation in U.S. or Canadian economic history during 2002/03, to Claire Priest of Northwestern University School of Law for “Currency Policies and the Nature of Litigation in Colonial New England,” completed under the direction of Robert W. Gordon at Yale Law School.

The Jonathan R. T. Hughes Prize for excellence in teaching economic history, to Charles Feinstein of All Souls College, Oxford University. The winner is selected by the E.H.A. Committee on Education and Teaching.

The Gyorgy Ranki Prize for the outstanding book in the economic history of Europe (including the British Isles and Russia) published in 2001 or 2002, to Michael McCormick for Origins of the European Economy: Communications and Commerce AD 300–900 published by Cambridge University Press in 2002.

RECIPIENTS OF ARTHUR H. COLE GRANTS

The Committee on Research in Economic History of the Economic History Association awards the Arthur H. Cole grants-in-aid to support research in economic history, regardless of time period or geographic area. The 2003 recipients are:

Fred Smith of Davidson College for Land Values in New York City.

Daniel Schiffman of Bar Ilan University for Effects of RFC Assistance on Railroad Bond Prices.

Santhi Heejeebu of the University of Iowa for Microeconomic Origins of British India.

Ryan Johnson of Brigham Young University for Crime in American Cities.

NOMINATIONS FOR THE JONATHAN HUGHES TEACHING PRIZE

The Committee on Education of the Economic History Association invites nominations for the eleventh annual Jonathan Hughes Prize for Excellence in Teaching Economic History. Letters of nomination should state what qualities of excellence the candidate's teaching of economic history has embodied. The strength of the nominating letter will be the primary basis for selecting the pool of finalists for the prize. After arriving at a short list of finalists, the committee will gather further supporting information. Anyone is eligible to write a letter of nomination. Letters of nomination should be received by 1 February 2004 and should be sent to Simone Wegge, Department of Political Science, Economics, and Philosophy, College of Staten Island - CUNY, Box 2N-224, 2800 Victory Blvd., Staten Island, NY 10314. E-mail: Wegge@postbox.csi.cuny.edu.