The organizers gathered scholars from the fields of economic history, literature, history, philosophy and political science to discuss contemporary attitudes toward the rise of banks, paper money, joint-stock corporations, stock markets, and long-term public debt. The original call for papers can be viewed here.
There were five two-hour sessions spread out over the three days. Papers were circulated well in advance of the colloquium and participants read them before arriving. Four papers were presented in each session (the last session being reserved for review and assessment), with presenters having just five minutes to summarize their papers. The focus of each session was on group discussion with the goal of improving the collective understanding and identifying prospects for new, interdisciplinary research.
Organizers for the colloquium were Chris Fauske (School of Arts & Sciences, Salem State College), Rick Kleer (Department of Economics, University of Regina), and Ivar McGrath (School of History, University College Dublin).