Melbourne - 2024

Every year, usually at the end of July or early August, the Society convenes for its General Meeting (3.5 days). SNTS greatly values meeting as one Society for the entire duration of the conference. This includes coming together not only for the academic programme, but also for lunches, dinners, coffee breaks, and social events organised by a Local Organising Committee (LOC). A variety of academic publishers are also present at the General Meeting to display recent publications and to engage with the delegates.

In its current structure, the conference opens with a business meeting on the first day and ends with a second business meeting on the final day. Regular items on the academic programme of the Society include:

• A presidential address by the Society’s president at the beginning of the academic programme.

• 6 plenary papers, usually representing all three official languages of the Society (English, French, and German).

• Up to 18 seminars, which meet on each of the three full conference days. Upon registration, members chose one seminar that they will join for the duration of the meeting. The programme of each seminar is brought together by its conveners. The list of current seminars and their conveners is published on the SNTS website.

• Up to 15 simultaneous short papers. Members who are interested in presenting a short paper are requested to contact the Secretary of the Society with a title and an abstract before the deadline indicated for each year.

Other programme items, like meetings by various committees and female delegates, poster presentations (International Initiatives Programme), and prayers, are noted in the general programme.

Traditionally, excursions to local places are organised by the LOC on the day after the General Meeting. Participation is optional and typically offered when registering for the General Meeting.

Next to the academic programme, it is a long tradition of SNTS to offer a separate programme for accompanying persons (as distinct from “personal guests”) of academic delegates, often including sightseeing tours and other cultural events.

The Society welcomes invited guests at its General Meetings. For more information on the current guest regulations and on how to request guest invitations, please see the explanations provided elsewhere on this website, including the newsletter of October/November 2020, p. 2–3.