The Society for Utopian Studies (founded 1975) is a North American interdisciplinary association devoted to the study of utopianism in all its forms, with a particular emphasis on literary and experimental utopias.
The Society publishes Utopian Studies, an international triannual peer-reviewed journal, containing scholarly articles on a wide range of subjects related to utopias, utopianism, utopian literature, utopian theory, and intentional communities. The journal's founding editor was Lyman Tower Sargent.
It also publishes a regular newsletter, Utopus Discovered.
The Society has organized a series of annual conferences:
2016: St Petersburg, FL.2015: Pittsburgh, PA.2014: Montréal, Québec.2013: College of Charleston, South Carolina.2012: Toronto, Ontario.2011: Stage College, PA.2010: Milwaukee, Wisconsin.2009: Wrightsville Beach, North Carolina.2008: Portland, Maine.2007: Toronto, Ontario.2006: Colorado Springs, Colorado.2005: Memphis, Tennessee.2004: Toronto, Ontario.2003: San Diego, California.2002: Orlando, Florida.2001: Buffalo, NY.2000: Vancouver, B.C.1999: San Antonio, Texas.1997: Memphis, Tennessee.1996: Nashville, Tennessee.1995: Toronto, Ontario.1994: Toronto, Ontario.1993: University of Missouri-St Louis.1992: Baltimore, Maryland1991: Las Vegas, Nevada.1990: Lexington, KY.1989: Asilomar Conference Ctr., Pacific Grove, California.1988: Emerson College, Boston, Mass.1987: Pennsylvania State University, Delaware County.1986: Asilomar Conference Ctr., Pacific Grove, California.1985: Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY.1984: University of Missouri-St Louis.1983: Indiana University of Pennsylvania.1982: University of New Brunswick.1981: Virginia Polytechnic Institute, Blacksburg.1980: Pennsylvania State University.1979: University of Colorado-Denver.1978: Pennsylvania State University.1977: University of Michigan.1976: Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY.The 2017 conference is scheduled to be held in Memphis, Tennessee.
The Society sponsors a number of awards:
The Arthur O. Lewis Award for the best paper by a younger scholar.The Eugenio Battisti Award for the best article in the previous year’s Utopian Studies.The Kenneth M. Roemer Innovative Course Design Award for innovative course design in utopian studies.The Larry E. Hough Distinguished Service Award.The Lyman Tower Sargent Award for Distinguished Scholarship.Recipients:
2013: Vita Fortunati and Darko Suvin2012: Ruth Levitas2010: Ursula K. Le Guin and Peter Fitting2009: Fredric Jameson2008: Tom Moylan and Ken Roemer2002: Gregory Claeys1997: Lyman Tower Sargent