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INTERNATIONAL SHAW
SOCIETY |
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HOW
TO JOIN: |
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You can read the sections
below on “Here’s Why to Join” and “Benefits of Membership” first |
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or
you can click here
to go directly to a membership form printable on one page. |
The International Shaw Society,
"the ISS," was founded in 2004 for the purpose of keeping George
Bernard Shaw talking, his favorite thing, even though he's been dead since
1950. The acronym “ISS” emphasizes Shaw’s continuing presence, his “issness,” in the contemporary world, if only as a talkative
spirit with very relevant things to say, and said in a way that’s rare in its
relative sanity, humanity, and civilizing good humor. If you like humor of the hyperbolic and
ironic sort, “smiling comedy,” as he called it, Shaw is your man.
What keeps a dead author
alive? While alive, Shaw was of the opinion that it was "sedulous
self-advertisement" that kept him going and that the only bad publicity
was an obituary (unless you wrote it yourself). But Shaw's afterlife
on earth now depends on theater productions and discussion of his life and
works, and that’s where the ISS comes in.
Likely to meet anywhere in the world and global in its online reach, the
ISS now has members in thirteen countries, on five continents, and grows apace,
about half academics and half not. The ISS invites you to join in the fun and
enlightenment of seeing and reading Shaw's plays and discussing the author and
his works. Discussion was this vegetarian’s “meat.”
BENEFITS OF ISS MEMBERSHIP – 2015
Membership in the ISS brings many
benefits, but one of the chief benefits comes from providing to the ISS
tax-deductible funds that can be used to support the sponsoring of Shaw
conferences, symposia, sessions, and seminars and the giving of travel grants
to emerging scholars (includes “late-bloomers”) to attend such events. In this way your regard and enthusiasm for
Shaw can best be passed on. Please be as generous as you can in choosing your
level of membership (see membership form). And there would be no objection if you
remember the ISS in your will! For all
gifts, the Recording Shaw will write your name in the Book of Life.
List
of Benefits
v
With paid membership, the
option of a substantially discounted subscription to the bi-annual
journal SHAW, which also brings online access through
JSTOR. Generally, it is published in
June and December. See www.psupress.org/Journals/
jnls_shaw.html. Also the
option of a discounted subscription to The Shavian, produced by and including membership to the UK Shaw
Society.
v
Eligibility for and opportunity to contribute to whatever travel and
research grants the ISS offers to the young to encourage the study of Shaw and
his circle.
v
A discount of at least $25 on
the registration fee for specified ISS conferences & other selected ISS
events.
v
40% discount on the
University Press of Florida Shaw Series books.
See www.upf.com/seriesresult.asp?ser=gbshaw. A purchase code is given to
members.
v
Access to the ISS website at
www.shawsociety.org, a homepage that will keep everyone informed of relevant
activities and provide links to valuable research tools,
such as bibliographies, chronologies, and databases. Access to a members’ page (by
password only) where more private information is linked.
v
The latest news on Shaw
doings via email and newsletters—such as upcoming conferences, symposia, and
other meetings; theater and book notices; theater and book reviews; editorials;
and much more. Serves as a listserv that invites participation. Email is dietrich@shawsociety.org. And the ISS homepage leads you to many links
that encourage interaction.
v
The right to vote in ISS
elections and referendums and the right to hold elected and appointed office
and to serve on committees.
ISS SCHOLARSHIPS, GRANTS, &
PRIZES
As one of the principal goals of the ISS is to encourage
younger generations to experience the delights of reading and seeing Shaw's
works and participating in the discussion of them, the ISS offers a generous
program of support in the form of scholarships and grants most of which are
allied with particular events, such as symposia and conferences. To that end, in twelve years sixty-five young
scholars have been awarded eighty-four ISS Travel Grants to attend the annual Symposia at
the Shaw Festival in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario, Chicago Symposiums in 2010
and 2013 co-sponsored by the ShawChicago Theater Company, and the Shaw
Conferences in 2004, 2006, 2009, 2011, 2013, and 2015, respectively at the
University of South Florida, Brown University, Catholic University of America,
the University of Guelph (Canada), University College Dublin, “Shaw’s Corner”
in Ayot St. Lawrence, UK, and Fordham U. Lincoln Center, New York. If you give a minimum of $500, the grant the
ISS gives with that can carry your name, if you wish. See www.shawsociety.org/ISS-Travel-Grants-2017.htm
for grants given this year.
(Click here to go
directly to a membership form printable on one page)
STATEMENT REQUIRED OF 501 (c)(3)
CHARITABLE ORGANIZATIONS
BY THE STATE OF FLORIDA UNDER Chapter 496,
FLORIDA STATUES,
THE SOLICITATION OF CONTRIBUTIONS
ACT
INTERNATIONAL SHAW SOCIETY
REGISTRATION#: CH22341
“A
COPY OF THE OFFICIAL REGISTRATION AND FINANCIAL INFORMATION MAY BE OBTAINED
FROM THE DIVISIONS OF CONSUMER SERVICES BY CALLING TOLL-FREE (800-435-7352)
WITHIN THE STATE. REGISTRATION DOES NOT
IMPLY ENDORSEMENT, APPROVAL, OR RECOMMENDATION BY THE STATE.”
Webmaster: RFD
(dietrich@usf.edu)