The Center
for Middletown Studies held a conference devoted to the theme of
"Print Culture Histories Beyond the Metropolis." Scholars from around
the English-speaking world gathered on March 15 and 16, 2013, in Muncie, Indiana, to explore the ways that printed material has been produced, consumed,
circulated, and encountered in smaller cities, provincial districts, rural
settings, colonial outposts, and comparable contexts. The chronological
focus for the conference was the modern world (primarily since the eighteenth
century) and it included papers examining print culture in Europe, Asia,
Central America, North America, and Australia. The conference was supported by a
Collaborative Research Grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities. A
conference program is available here and
streaming video here. A volume of essays based on papers first
presented at the conference will follow soon.