Call for Papers
International Society for the Study of Time (ISST)
Eighteenth Triennial Conference
June 26-July 1, 2022 / Yamaguchi, Japan

Time and Measure

Proposals (300 words) due by August 15, 2021

The ISST, renowned for its interdisciplinary scope, invites scientists, scholars, artists and practitioners to explore questions concerning Time and Measure at its 18th Triennial Conference to be held in collaboration with the Japanese Society for Time Studies (JSTS) and the Research Institute of Time Studies (RITS) at Yamaguchi University in South-Western Japan.

Our format of plenary presentations delivered over four days creates a sustained discussion among participants. We thus expect participants to register for the entirety of the conference. We shall take a day off mid-conference and provide participants a choice of time-related excursions in the Yamaguchi area, the site of crucial events at various turning points in Japanese history .
Because of worldwide uncertainty brought about by the pandemic, we shall be considering whether and how we may allow for online conference participation.

Further information will follow.
For its 2022 Triennial, the ISST wishes to instigate discussion of all the kinds of temporal measure—both quantitative and qualitative—which are the work of our different professional disciplines and some of which may also prove to be cross-disciplinary. When asked about time and its measure, most people would think of clocks: an even progression of numbers. This view
goes back to Aristotle’s definition of time (in Physics IV) as “the count [arithmos] of changing in respect of before and after.” As recent events have made us aware, however, times of crisis may require other measures. Political crises or a crisis like the pandemic seem to impose their own
measure of time. Crisis thus throws into relief the fact that not all times are equal—something that musicians, strategists and physicians have always known; these professionals and others have had to develop their own systems of taking time’s measure–some dependent on clocks, some not.

Suggested Topics
In what (different/new) ways do physicists, biologists, chemists, geologists, archeologists,
engineers and other scientists take the measure of things in time?

How truth-bearing and/or enduring are various measurements

What about ‘probabilistic’ measurements of quantumstates?

Can time and space be measured in the same sense?

Do quantitative differences become qualitative?

Are lightyears comparable to nanoseconds?

Is time (exclusively) defined by its measure?

How do social scientists generate a metric of temporality?

Are statistical measures more or less basic than positive ones?

How does temporal measure relate to ethical decisions?

Are there reliable measures for ethical choices in the instant moment and/or over a human lifetime?

In what ways do we measure the function of ‘tempi’ in music, poetry, theatre performance, dance and film?

How are measures of time involved in the visual arts?

How does temporal mensuration enter or shape narrative discourses in literature?

We measure chronologies pretty well. But by what means do we measure the kind of time that is a kairos?

How do crises (e.g., political crisis, catastrophic climate change, the pandemic) impact the measurement of time?

Other Suggested Topics:
–time, measure, money and generosity
–history as the measure or mismeasure of time
–the measurement of public vs individual time
–tense/aspect, mood, person and voice in languages
–measurement as determining our understanding of the measured
–the limits of measuring time
–cosmic clocks

Guidelines/Timeline for Proposals: Proposals will be for 20-minute presentations in diverse
formats: scholarly paper, debate, performance, overview of creative work, installation,
workshop. Proposals for interdisciplinary panels are especially welcome. (Each paper for a panel
must be approved by the selection committee.) All work will be presented in English and should
strike a balance between expertise in an area of specialization and accessibility to a general
intellectual audience. Proposals, no more than 300 words in length, are submitted electronically.
The author’s or authors’ name(s) should not appear in the proposal as the ISST does blind
reviewing in selecting papers for its conferences. The deadline for submission is August 15,
2021, with acceptances communicated by December 15, 2021. The Society also seeks session
chairs, whose names will be included on the printed conference program.

JSTS is now accepting paper proposals for its 14th Annual [ONLINE] conference to be held in June 18 & 19, 2022.

All JSTS members are eligible to join.  If you would like to present at this year’s conference, please join JSTS today.

Those wishing to present, please follow the steps below.

Step 1:
Send an “entry email” to  mail(at mark)timestudies.net  with 【発表希望】 (which you can copy and paste) in the subject heading.  In the body of the email include your NAME, AFFILIATION, and PAPER TITLE (a temporary title is OK!)  The deadline for this “entry email” is FEBRUARY 28th.

Step 2:
Send your abstract by email (Microsoft Word or PDF) by MARCH 10th.

Step 3:
JSTS will evaluate your abstract and respond to you by the end of March.

Step 4:
If your paper is accepted then you will have to REGISTER for the conference in order to receive the conference link and log-on instructions.  This will be in MARCH.

 

Next steps:

During April the conference schedule & timetable will be sent out.

In JUNE, those who REGISTERED for the conference (Step 4) will receive the conference ID & passwords.

June 18 & 19 (Saturday & Sunday) CONFERENCE DAYS

We always welcome NEW members and look forward to receiving your proposals!

 

日本語はこちら

First Spring:  Spring Winds Thaw the Ice

The calendar has come back around and a new spring is here.

One of the signs of spring are the warm breezes blowing from the east. And it’s the time when the ice covering ponds and lakes begins to thaw little by little.

I heard a little butterbur had started to sprout up in my friend’s yard, so I went right over and took a photo.

JSTS member Tomoyo Takai, who has worked as an editor for the high end watch magazine Chronos, reported on the seminar.

(in Japanese only)  第1回日本時間学会 山口芸大支部研究会報告

Here is a comment by Takai-san:

“The Yamaguchi College of Arts branch of JSTS was able to hold its 1st ever seminar on Time. We covered topics such as music, videography, and science, and their relationship with Time. We had quite an enjoyable time.

We were all very grateful to the professors who came together to make this seminar happen.

We hope that as JSTS grows, we can grow too and have more and more chances to exchange our ideas and theories on Time.”

 

JSTS gladly supports seminars and other events that our branches/ affiliates would like to hold.
Members, please feel free to ask anytime about how we can support your event!

–JSTS HQ[:]