DSNA25 in Buffalo, New York
29 – 31 May 2025
Conference Details
Call for Papers
The 25th Biennial Dictionary Society of North America Conference will be held at the Buffalo State University, Thursday 29 May to Saturday 31 May 2025. We’ll be celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Society!
The conference will include moderated panels on lexicographical topics, plenary presentations, receptions, and a banquet featuring the address of DSNA President Kory Stamper, author of Word by Word: The Secret Life of Dictionaries.
Presentations on any aspect of dictionaries, lexicography, and lexicology, historical or contemporary, are welcome. Those focused on lexicography and the law, artificial intelligence and lexicography, and Indigenous lexicography in the US and Canada are particularly encouraged.
All presenters of conference papers must be members of the DSNA, but you need not be a member to submit an abstract. To join or renew membership, visit https://dictionarysociety.com/join/.
The program will begin the Thursday, May 29, and will run through Saturday afternoon, May 31, 2025.
Please submit abstracts for individual papers, panels, roundtables, and half- or full-day workshops via Google Forms, Monday 25 November 2024 to Wednesday 15 January 2025.
- Papers/presentations: we invite abstracts of approximately 250 words for presentations of 15 minutes.
- Panels: We invite panel or workshop proposals in addition to papers. Proposals should include a panel abstract, list of presenters, and presentation abstracts. Proposals for roundtable discussions and extended half- or full-day workshops are also welcome. Please indicate this in the online form.
Information about the sponsor: The Dictionary Society of North America promotes the development, practice, and study of lexicography, and the use, compilation, curation, marketing, maintenance, and scholarly examination of dictionaries and related reference works. It provides forums for discussion and dissemination of information on all these topics, including a peer-reviewed journal, a newsletter, a blog, and biennial meetings. The DSNA was formed in 1975 to bring together people interested in dictionary making, study, collection, and use. Our members include people working on dictionaries, academics who engage in research and writing about dictionaries, dictionary collectors, librarians, booksellers, translators, linguists, publishers, writers, collectors, journalists, and people with an avocational interest in dictionaries. The only requirement for membership is an expression of interest in language, in words, dictionaries and lexicography, or any combination of these.
Registration
Registration for DSNA25 will open mid January 2025. Stay tuned!
- Early Bird Registration: $150
- Regular Registration: $200
- Student Registration: $50
- Non-Member Registration: $270
- Friday Banquet Tickets (not included in registration): $65
All amounts are USD.
Lodging
Primary lodging for DSNA will be on campus at Buffalo State.
- One night: $160
- Two nights: $220
- Three nights $280
- Four nights: $340
All amounts are USD.
The dormitory suites at Buffalo State consist of four single bedrooms and a shared living space and bathroom. You will be able to indicate a preference for a suite assignment as follows:
- I wish to be in a female-only suite.
- I wish to be in a male-only suite.
- I do not have a preference about the gender of the other people in my suite.
You also may request to share a suite with particular conference attendees. If empty bedrooms remain in your suite, the rooms will be assigned in accordance with your gender request.
The dormitory is about five blocks from the center of campus where the meeting will take place. A golf cart will be available for those needing transportation to and from the dorm. Parking on campus is free for conference attendees.
A list of nearby hotels and guest houses will be made available in January.
About Buffalo State and the Buffalo-Niagara Region
Buffalo State University is ten minutes away from the Peace Bridge (which connects the U.S. to Ontario, Canada) and 20 minutes from Niagara Falls. Directly across the street is the Buffalo AKG Art Museum, a newly expanded venue dedicated to 20th century and contemporary art. The AKG is on Time Magazine’s 2024 list of the World’s Greatest Places; it is the sixth oldest public museum in the United States. Located on the Buff State campus is the Burchfield Penney Art Center, which showcases art from Western New York, particularly the works of Charles Burchfield.
Next door is the Psychiatric Hospital, an architectural masterpiece designed by H. H. Richardson and now the home of an upscale hotel (as well as being, still, a mental health facility). Buffalo is a celebrated for architectural tourism: it is one of the few cities to feature buildings designed by Richardson, Louis Sullivan, and Frank Lloyd Wright, as well as luminaries like Louise Bethune, E. B. Green, and Robert Coles. The Buffalo River is dramatically lined with grain elevators, some of which have been repurposed as art spaces, breweries, and so on.
We are partnering with the Buffalo & Erie County Public Library on an exhibit of lexicographical materials from their astounding rare book collection. This exhibit will coincide with the conference but will open to the public before that, spreading the word about words.