What is identity? How is it related to memory? How do individuals, groups, nations create a sense of identity? Is identity in the present always dependent on some version of the past? These questions, familiar today, fascinated the eighteenth century mind. In philosophy, in history, in literature, in music and painting, the past figured in the development and discussion of present identities. The classical past of Greece and Rome, the biblical past, various vernacular and national pasts were drawn on in the quest for collective identities. The nascent social sciences explored ideas of society through the rapidly changing discipline of history. Autobiography emerged as a new genre as it permeated older ones. From Locke to Hegel, from Gray and Rousseau to Smith and Robertson, from Bach to J.-L. David, memory drew on the past to forge identity in the present. In our present, as the Scottish Parliament meets for the first time since 1707, and the Supreme Court of Canada affirms rights granted to the Mi'kmaq under treaties signed in 1760, we are conscious of the role of the eighteenth century in shaping senses of identity in the twentieth. The purpose of this interdisciplinary conference, held on the cusp of a new century and a new millennium, is to explore the relationships of memory and identity, past and present, as they were understood in the eighteenth century, and as they connect the eighteenth century to the modern world. The organizers of the conference invite proposals for panels on topics relevant to this theme, and proposals for 20-minute papers. Proposals for panels must be received by February 15, 2000, and proposals for papers by April 1, 2000.

 Send proposals for panels and papers, with a brief C.V., and e-mail address if possible, to:

 John D. Baird
18C/2000
Victoria College
University of Toronto
Toronto (Ontario)
Canada M5S 1K7
Fax: (416) 585-4584
E-mail: john.baird@utoronto.ca

 All participants in the conference must be members of one or the other of the sponsoring societies. For information, contact:

 Frans de Bruyn
Secretary-Treasurer, CSECS/SCEDHS
University of Ottawa
P.O. Box 450, Station A
Ottawa (Ontario)
Canada K1N 6N5
E-mail: fdebruyn@uottawa.ca

 R.B. Sher
Executive Secretary
ECSSS
New Jersey Institute of Technology
Newark, NJ 07102
U.S.A.
E-mail: rbsher@worldnet.att.net

 In accordance with the tradition of both societies, papers on topics not obviously related to the theme will also be accommodated in the program.

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