Call for Papers: Journal of Literary Onomastics Special Issue

filed under Call for Papers

Call for Submissions: Journal of Literary Onomastics 5 (2016)
(a special issue on place and place-names in the early Insular world)

The deeply rooted importance of landscape, place, and place-names is a shared characteristic throughout the Insular cultures of the early Middle Ages, ranging from the material to the literary. From examinations of the early Irish dindshenchas tradition to recent archaeological investigations into the role of landscape in socio-political structures, the study of place has begun to receive more critical attention.

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Dennis Hastert’s Name Removed by Alma Mater

15458549691_0f30779fcd_mWheaton College, the alma mater of the former Speaker of the US House of Representatives, J. Dennis Hastert, recently announced that it will be removing the politician’s name from its public policy center. The announcement came in reaction to Hastert’s federal indictment in connection to his having paid over 3 million dollars to conceal his sexual misconduct during the time that he served as a highschool teacher and wrestling coach. Click here for more information, as reported by The New York Times.

Wheaton College is certainly not the first to undergo onomastic purging after news of a namesake’s criminal misconduct surfaced. Just last year, in Albuquerque, New Mexico, the district board voted to remove the name of State Senator Manny M. Aragon from the library at Lowell Elementary School after the politician was sent to federal prison for conspiracy to defraud the over 4 million dollars from the state of New Mexico.

Domain Name “Dot Sucks” Controversy

15906241262_786ee57c44_mNew controversy has erupted over the domain name “dot sucks”, which encourages the creation of many protest addresses.

Just a few of the most sought after names to be conjoined with the “.sucks” domain name are Apple, Google, Microsoft, CocaCola, and McDonalds. To protect their brand, many such companies have already bought up domains featuring their brand/company and .sucks.

These domain names cost almost $3,000, compared with less than $100 for typical domain names. The company Vox Populi owns “.sucks”.

For more see on this development, see this Wall Street Journal article.

Banning “Redskins” as a Mascot Name

4822540384_173d27437c_mThe California Assembly has passed a bill banning the use of the name “Redskins” for highschool mascots.  If the bill becomes a law, all California schools would be required to expunge what many Native American activists agree is an offensive and injurious moniker by the year 2017. In June 2014, the U.S. Patent Office officially canceled the trademark name with the argument that it is “disparaging to Native Americans”.

Place names session at the International Conference of Historical Geographers (ICHG), London, July 6 2015

8672040494_9181fd9a50_mThe 16th International Conference of Historical Geographers (ICHG) will include a session on place names, historical toponymic mapping, and the contemporary reconstructions of place names in Europe and Palestine. This session will be held on the 6th of July 2015. The ICHG will take place in London, at the Royal Geographical Society, from the 5th to the 10th of July 2015. Click here for more information.