The deadline for submitting proposals for next year’s European Association for American Studies Biennial Conference is June 15th.
To highlight the range and diversity of American Studies in Europe the EAAS is issuing an open call for proposals for the 2016 conference. Proposers may wish to identify and explore long-standing, current and emerging intellectual debates in American Studies; to explore critically the varying practices and methodologies in American Studies; to bring to life current discussions and to posit potential paradigms in American Studies.
The various anniversaries of 2016 provide a variety of potential foundations for proposals:
150 years earlier marked the start of post-Civil War Reconstruction.
The 1860s was the era of the dime novel, and Seeley Regester’s The Dead Letter, credited by some as the first full-length American crime novel, appeared in 1866.
125 years will have passed since Thomas Edison patented the motion camera.
1916 saw the creation of the US National Parks Service;
the opening of the nation’s first birth control clinic;
the election from Montana of Jeanette Rankin, the first woman to sit in the US House of Representatives;
the release of D.W. Griffith’s Intolerance;
the publication of Carl Sandburg’s Chicago Poems.
Shirley Jackson, Walker Percy, and Walter Cronkite were born in 1916.
Henry James died in the same year.
The National Organization for Women celebrates its 50th anniversary in 2016.
Robert Heinlein’s The Moon is a Harsh Mistress, its narrative echoing the American Revolution, also dates from 1966.
Star Trek first reached TV screens in that same year.
Contemporary American Studies topics could include, for example:
discussion and exploration through various methodologies of the USA’s strong, diverse and expanding literary canon;
the multi-dimensional character and seemingly endless inventiveness of America’s cultural output;
the adaptability of American culture in an age offering radically new social media;
the heritage that might be left after the nation’s first African-American presidency.
The EAAS conference encompasses topics across the disciplinary spectrum in American Studies, as well as interdisciplinary and multi-disciplinary approaches to the subject. The themes mentioned above are only indicative, and not in any way intended to be a definitive list.
Submissions
The conference content will be defined by the range and breadth of your suggestions and the conference committee looks forward to receiving many different and stimulating proposals.
All proposals must include the name and institutional affiliation of the proposer.
Proposals are invited for individual paper presentations or complete panels, roundtables, workshops, shop-talks, dialogues, interviews, performances, individual lecture presentations, readings or other innovative formats. All proposals are expected to include the opportunity for discussion. Colleagues are also invited to volunteer as session chairs or facilitators using the web form. Submissions should state a title for the panel/presentation/paper/proposal and a small number of keywords providing an indication of the disciplinary reach and content of the proposal.
Proposals for individual papers should consist of an abstract (max. 250 words) including brief mention of any relevant supporting information.
Proposals for panels and other formats should provide a brief explanation of the structure and goals of the proposed session (500 words), accompanied by details of the contributors and 250-word abstracts of each contribution. All proposals must include details of any audiovisual or other equipment required to deliver the session/presentation, using the appropriate field in the web form. Colleagues volunteering as session chairs or facilitators should include keywords indicating their expertise and interests
Small grants may be awarded at a later date by EAAS to help some presenters attend the conference. Such awards will be in an amount no more than €200, and eligibility to compete for support will be restricted to such categories as presenters who are members of the American Studies associations in low GDP countries, and postgraduate students without other financial support. Acceptance on to the EAAS conference programme does not imply the award of any financial support. http://eaas.eu/eaas-grants/eaas-conference-travel-grants
The deadline for proposals will be 15 June 2015.
Use this link to access the submission form: