The American Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies (ASECS)

The American Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies, established in 1969, is the foremost learned society in the United States for the study of all aspects of the period from the later seventeenth through the early nineteenth century. Our members are literary scholars and writers, historians, theorists of gender, race, sexuality, disability, nation and empire; philosophers and political theorists; art historians and artists; musicologists and musicians; theater historians and practitioners; biographers and bibliographers; and specialists in other humanistic, artistic, and social scientific fields with a range of broad and more particular interests. We are committed to fostering an inclusive and welcoming environment in which all members participate fully in the exchange of knowledge and ideas.

The American Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies, established in 1969, is the foremost learned society in the United States for the study of all aspects of the period from the later seventeenth through the early nineteenth century.

​Membership

​ASECS membership offers individual memberships in income-based categories; memberships begin July 1 and continue through June 30 of the following year. Lifetime memberships are also available. Information on institutional memberships is available upon request.

Annual Meeting

One of the Society's most visible and exciting activities is its Annual Meeting, held in the spring in the United States or Canada. A typical meeting attracts more than 800 delegates representing a range of academic disciplines. Meeting activities include paper panels, roundtables, poster sessions, professional development workshops, plenary lectures, social activities, tours, a book exhibit, and musical and theatrical presentations.

Travel to the Annual Meeting by graduate students and contingent faculty is supported in part by the Traveling Jam Pot Awards and the Non-Tenure Track Faculty Fund.

Publications

The Society sponsors two publications that make available today's best interdisciplinary work: the quarterly journal Eighteenth-Century Studies and the annual volume Studies in Eighteenth-Century Culture. The Society also publishes an online newsletter and the winning entries in the annual Innovative Course Design competition.

Library Fellowships

In partnership with eighteen leading research institutions, ASECS sponsors a fellowship program dedicated to promoting and sustaining research in the long eighteenth century. In addition, the Society annually confers up to nine travel-to-collection awards.

Prizes

Annually, the James L. Clifford Prize is given to the author of the best article and the Louis Gottschalk Prize to the author of the best book in eighteenth-century studies. Biannually, the Annibel Jenkins Biography Prize is awarded to the author of the best book-length biography of a late seventeenth-century or eighteenth-century subject. Other awards are given for published articles or for conference presentations in women and gender studies, race and empire studies, queer studies, and comparative studies. The Graduate Student Caucus annually presents a Mentorship Award.

Contributing to the future of Eighteenth-Century Scholarship

​The primary mission of the American Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies is to advance the study and teaching of the eighteenth-century and encourage scholarly work that crosses the boundaries between different academic disciplines. To achieve this, a number of endowed funds have been established from which awards are made to recognize achievements in scholarship and teaching and to assist members who need to travel to special collections or wish to spend a residency at a major research library. These programs are not funded through the regular operating budget of the Society but are made possible exclusively by the generosity of our members. All contributions are tax-deductible. Please consider making a gift that will allow ASECS to maintain and expand the opportunities and benefits offered to its membership.