The Eighth Biennial Conference of the
National Coalition of Independent Scholars
Hosted by Princeton Research Forum
Princeton University Campus June 16-18, 2006
Friday, June 16, 2006
3:00-5:00
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. REGISTRATION AT SCULLY HALL
5:00 P .
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6:00 P .
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RECEPTION AT PROSPECT HOUSE
DINNER AT PROSPECT HOUSE
Welcome: Mary Beth Lewis, President of PRF
Janet Wasserman, President of NCIS
Keynote Address: Shana Penn, Author of Solidarity’s Secret: The Women Who Defeated
Communism in Poland
Bringing a Hidden History to Light: Tales and Consequences
There will be a book table at the conference where members may display and sell their books.
Saturday, June 17, 2006
8:30-9:00 A .
M . REGISTRATION AT FRIEND CENTER
9:00-10:30 CONCURRENT SESSIONS FRIEND CENTER
Session A: Changing Fields: Three Scholars Arrive at Biography Room 110
Moderator: Gloria Erlich, Princeton, NJ
Ellen Huppert, San Francisco, CA: “Editing Family Papers”
Laura Garcés, Washington, DC: “Retracing the Life of a Colombian Patriot in the
Period of Independence”
Joanne Lafler, Oakland, CA: “Writing California History and Biography”
Session B: Making Independent Scholarship Work Room 111
Moderator: Shana Penn, Richmond, CA
Kendra Leonard, Loveland, OH: “A Booth in Academy Fair”
Hugh Lindsay, Vancouver, BC: “Can Scholarship Protect Your Savings?”
Therese B. Dykeman, Fairfield, CT: “Voltairine de Cleyre: Scholar without
Borders”
10:45-12:15 PLENARY SESSION: PANEL DISCUSSION FRIEND CENTER
Independent and Interdependent: Together We Thrive Room 006
Chair: Ronald Gross, Author of The Independent Scholar’s Handbook
Panelists: Barbara Currier Bell (CIS); Gloria Erlich (PRF); Ellen Huppert (IHS)

12:15-1:30 P .
M . BOX LUNCH
Discussion of a Prospective New IS Journal
Led by Yosef Wosk, Vancouver, BC
1:45-3:15
P
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. CONCURRENT SESSIONS FRIEND CENTER
Session A: Crossing Oceans and Disciplines to Restore, Collect and Write about Art Room 110
Moderator: Ann Lee Morgan, Princeton, NJ
Georgia Wright, Berkeley, CA: “Medieval Sculpture and Nuclear Science”
Anne Lowenthal, New York, NY: “Thomas Jefferson Bryan and the New York
Historical Society: Crossing the Border between Private and Public Collections”
Piri Halasz, New York, NY: “Will It Float?”
Session B: Retaining Cultural Identity in a Multicultural World Room 111
Moderator: Susan Osborn, Princeton, NJ
Guy Buchholtzer, Vancouver, BC: “Culture and Memory”
Ellen Schnepel, Brooklyn, NY: “Really Writing Culture: Finding Another Voice in
Memoir and Ethnography”
Diane Krumrey, Princeton, NJ: “Displacing the Nation: Contemporary American
Immigrant Literature”
3:30-5:00 P .
M . PLENARY SESSION: The Internet and Research
Moderator: Karen Reeds, Princeton, NJ
FRIEND CENTER
Ellen Gilbert, Princeton, NJ: “Independent Scholarship + Internet = A Flourishing
Field”
Ward Wilson, Trenton, NJ: “Everything You Always Wanted to Know about
Research and the Internet and Were Afraid to Ask”
David Sonenschein, San Antonio, TX: “Search Engine Resources”
5:30
P
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. SPECIAL COLLECTIONS TOUR & RECEPTION FIRESTONE LIBRARY
Princeton University’s Department of Rare Books and Special Collections will guide conference attendees through its extensive collection
Wine and cheese reception following the tour

Sunday, June 18, 2006
8:30-10:00 CONCURRENT SESSIONS FRIEND CENTER
Session A: Cultural Practices: Food, Philosophy, and Social Welfare Room 110
Moderator: Stephanie R. Lewis, Princeton, NJ
Barbara Nostrand, “Food and Food Culture in Pre-modern Japan”
Ashwini Mokashi, Skillman, NJ: “The Concept of the Wise Person in the
Bhagavad-Gita and the Writings of Seneca: A Comparative Study”
Thomas Adams, Washington, DC: “Survey and Synthesis: Welfare in European
History”
Session B: Crossing Language Boundaries Room 111
Moderator: Georgia Sommers Wright, Berkeley, CA
Ruth Hein, New Haven, CT: “Breaking the Language Barrier”
Yvonne Groseil, New York, NY: “How Teaching English as a Second Language
Became a Profession”
Bette Oliver, Austin, TX: “How Research in France Affects my Work as a Poet,
Historian and Editor”
10:15-11:45 CONCURRENT SESSIONS FRIEND CENTER
Session A: Talking about Oral History Room 110
Moderator: Charles Shrader, Carlisle, PA
Kathryn Lerch, Indianapolis, IN: “Veterans’ Oral Histories: A Dynamic
Contributor to Military History”
Rodney Thomas, Spannaway, WA: “‘Stay Between the Lines’: The Use of
Indigenous Art and Story in Military History”
Richard Magat, Bronxville, NY: “Tricks of the Oral History Trade”
Session B: Social Justice and Revolution Room 111
Moderator: Laura Garcés, Washington, DC
Elizabeth Jacoway, Newport, AR: “Richard C. Butler and the Little Rock School
Board: The Quest to Maintain Educational ‘Quality’”
Julie Boddy, Takoma Park, MD: “Trans-Cultural Agency and Toxic Exposure to
Nuclear Materials : Testimony at the Public Comment Sessions of the Advisory
Committee on Human Radiation Experiments”
Katalin Kádár Lynn, St. Helena, CA: “First Aid for Hungary…1956”
12-1:15
P
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. BOX LUNCH & NCIS GENERAL MEETING FRIEND CENTER
Room 006
Participating NCIS Affiliates: The Canadian Academy of Independent Scholars, Vancouver, BC; Capital Area
Independent Scholars, Washington, DC; Center for Independent Study (CIS), New Haven, CT; Institute for Historical
Study (IHS), San Francisco, CA; Princeton Research Forum (PRF), Princeton, NJ
National Coalition of Independent Scholars
P.O. Box 5743, Berkeley, CA 94705-0743 www.ncis.org
ncis@mindspring.com