Category Archives: CFP

CFP: Object Matters: Making Memory: material and visual culture of commemoration in Ireland c.1800 – 2016

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National Gallery of Ireland, Merrion Square, Dublin 2
13-15 October 2016
Funded by the Irish Research Council ‘New Foundations’ Scheme

Deadline for proposals 12 July, 2016

Proposals of c.300 words accompanied by a short CV are invited for 20-minute papers related to the material and visual culture of commemoration in Ireland from c.1800 to the present day. Please email to makingmemory@ncad.ie.

This cross-disciplinary conference will address how objects, images, artworks, buildings, spaces and bodies have worked and been understood in the creation and maintenance of public and private memory in Ireland since c.1800. While topics might include key personages and events such as World War 1, the Irish Civil War and the Manchester Martyrs, we also encourage proposals that address the commemoration of lesser-known histories.

Commemorative culture might encompass events such as ceremonies and parades, artefacts such as souvenirs or artworks, institutional practices such as collecting and exhibiting, particular sites such as commemorative buildings, graveyards and ceremonial spaces, and private modes of visual and material remembrance such as domestic mnemonic objects.

The conference should contribute to our understanding of how ideas about the past have been visualised, manufactured, articulated, materialised, distributed and performed.

Proposals are welcomed from researchers and practitioners across various fields including Art practice, Archaeology, Anthropology, Geography, Architectural History, History of Design, Material Culture, Visual Culture, Memory Studies, Museum Studies, Art History, History of Media, Cultural History, Sociology and Critical theory. A publication is planned based on the conference proceedings. For the proceedings of the first Object Matters conference Making 1916: material and visual culture of the Easter Rising, see http://liverpooluniversitypress.co.uk/products/60501.

Deadline July 12, 2016. Participants will be notified by July 22.

Conference Convenor Dr. Lisa Godson, National College of Art & Design
Conference Administrator Kate Butler, BL

Supported by the National College of Art and Design + University College Dublin Centre for Creative Arts and Critical Cultures / National Gallery of Ireland/Irish Museums Association / Irish Architecture Foundation / GradCAM

Enquiries and proposals should be directed to: makingmemory@ncad.ie

CfP: War and its Aftermath: Veteran Treatment and Reintegration in Post-War Societies

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War destroys everything. Even the lives of those who survive the war are destroyed. Financial hardships, trauma, and the demand for reintegration by peaceful societies are burdens for those who return alive from the battlefield of the former war. However, the post-war societies have to struggle to provide sufficient possibilities for reintegration of veterans into the new peaceful life as well. In all periods of human history political entities and states have tried to find a way for such a reintegration without triggering the violent potential that is represented by former soldiers. Despite such attempts, modern nation states and societies still struggle with the task to find a solution for veteran reintegration in post-war environments. The editors of the planed volume want to analyze the historical aspects of veteran treatment and veteran reintegration — without chronological or geographical limitations — and therefore welcome proposals for chapters that deal with, but are not limited to the following topics:

the veteran as a radical force in post-war societies
veteran education in post-war societies
political movements and veterans
paramilitarism in post-war societies
trauma treatments
medical issues and veterans
economic perspectives on veteran reintegration
veterans and memory in post-war societies
veteran rights movements
veterans and the post-war state
veterans and social relations

Proposals (ca. 300 words) and a short CV should be sent to fjacob@qcc.cuny.edu and stefan.karner@uni-graz.at until July 15, 2016. Final chapters, 7,000-10,000 words, using footnotes (Chicago Manual of Style) are due by October 15, 2016.

Contact Info:
Frank Jacob, History Department, CUNY-QCC, 22205 56th Ave, Bayside, 11364 New York

CfP: Between Realpolitik and Utopia: A Century with the Balfour-Declaration

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We call for potential contributors to the conference “Between Realpolitik and Utopia: A Century with the Balfour-Declaration”, to take place at Basel University, 1-3 November 2017.

Coordinators and conveners of the conference are Alfred Bodenheimer and Erik Petry (Center for Jewish Studies) and Maurus Reinkowski (Seminar of Middle Eastern Studies), University of Basel, in cooperation with Hans-Lukas Kieser from The Centre for the History of Violence, University of Newcastle, Australia.

The Balfour Declaration is a major stepping stone in the construction of new order of the Middle East after the demise of the Ottoman Empire, but it is also a notion of what Palestine, Europe and the Middle East might and or should – not – have been. The conference will address the various utopian and dystopian aspects and interpretations of the declaration. The Balfour Declaration has multiplied the projective dimensions of Palestine in the European imagination and has made it part of Europe’s history of identity by embedding the Zionist vision into Western imperial ‘Realpolitik’. A main rationale of the conference is to argue that the Balfour Declaration is emblematic for how convoluted the two entities are that we still conceive today as ‘Europe’ and the ‘Middle East’.

For an extended abstract of the conference’s rationale please see here: balfour-conference_2017_11_1-3_basel

It is the intention of this conference to bring together researchers from various disciplines and fields who, based on free and substantial research (including archival historical research) can contribute to an innovative and responsible thinking on the complex issue of the Balfour Declaration.

Scholars interested to participate are requested to send by 30 June 2016 an exposé (1000 words) and a CV (1 page) to Maurus Reinkowski (maurus.reinkowski@unibas.ch) and Erik Petry (erik.petry@unibas.ch).

Universitaet Basel
Middle Eastern Studies
Maiengasse 51
4056 Basel
Switzerland
Tel. +41 (0)61 267 28 60
Fax +41 (0)61 267 28 64

CfP: Performing War: Acts of Transgression and Transformation

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DeAnna Toten Beard, Baylor University
Jenna L. Kubly, Independent Scholar

This body will convene a diverse group of scholars, methodologies, and research interests to participate in an ongoing conversation about the complex relationship between war and performance. In concert with the larger conference theme, the working group is interested in projects that consider the many ways that transgressive acts associated with war—for example, physical destruction, psychic violence, border crossing, political betrayal—both transform performance and are transformed by/in performance.

Papers might address how theatre, drama, civic performances, musicals, operas, popular entertainments, re-enactments, and dance relate to the following ideas:

How does the environment of violence impact theatre in a war-zone? On the Home Front? In a P.O.W. camp or concentration camp?
What are the artistic and ethical implications of presenting images of wartime violence on stage?
How has war-time drama supported soldiers and citizens negotiating the transition from peace time to war time—and then back again?
How might war and war-time theater offer a liminal space for explorations of transgender/sexuality?
How do voices of pacifism and reconciliation become transgressive during the climate of war?
How does the literal act of border crossing by combatants in times of war create opportunities for transcultural performance? How is artistic border crossing made suspect by war?
How do translations or transmissions of war-time texts operate as propaganda, modes of resistance, or documents of “truth-telling”?

The goal of the working group is to form a community of scholars and practitioners invested in this unifying theme. Through two rounds of paper exchanges with small subgroups, each participant is offered the change to give and receive feedback and suggestions on the completed 15-20 page work. During the conference session, participants will caucus in groups over questions suggested by the convenors, before coming together for a discussion that will include all participants.

Images, video, music or other multimedia to accompany the papers are strongly encouraged, but the participant must be able share it with the group prior to the conference (i.e. via a website link or Dropbox). There will be no media provision in the conference session.

For any specific questions, please contact the working group convenors at DeAnna_Toten_Beard@baylor.edu and JLKubly@yahoo.com. Please note that all submissions must be received formally through the ASTR website, at http://www.astr.org/page/16_WGSubmissions. The form will allow you to indicate second and third -choice working groups if you wish; if you do so, note that there is a space for you to indicate how your work will fit into those groups. The deadline for receipt of working group proposals is 1 June 2016 and we anticipate that participants will be notified of their acceptance no later than 30 June. As this is the first year of this new process, please contact the conference organizers at astr2016@astr.org if you have any questions about the process.

The Conference and Organisation

The American Society for Theatre Research (ASTR) is a U.S.-based professional organization that fosters scholarship on worldwide theatre and performance, both historical and contemporary.

The 2016 Conference will be held November 3-6, 2016
Minneapolis Marriott City Center
30 S 7th St
Minneapolis, MN 55402

CfP: Innovation, Adaptation and Change in War

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Innovation, Adaptation and Change in War
New Research in Military History: A Conference for Postgraduate and Early Career Historians

26th November 2016
Institute of Historical Research, Senate House, London

This conference, organised by the British Commission for Military History in association with the University of Sussex and the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, intends to highlight current research being undertaken by postgraduate and early career scholars in the field of military history and related disciplines.

This is the British Commission for Military History’s seventh annual New Research Conference giving postgraduate and early career scholars an excellent opportunity to meet, share new ideas and discuss the latest research.

The conference theme focuses on change in war, innovation and society. This might include matters relating to military organisations, technology and culture as well subjects concerned with strategy, tactics and social change. Proposals that move beyond solely British issues and engage global, colonial and post-colonial perspectives are particularly encouraged.

The conference organisers will also be very happy to receive papers on other topics related to military history, broadly defined, including those that deal with gender, society, identity and race.

Proposals (c. 300 words) for papers of 20 minutes should be submitted, along with an academic CV, to the organisers at bcmhnrc@gmail.com by Sunday 31st July 2016. The organisers welcome proposals for panel submissions as well as individual papers.

Contributors will automatically be considered for publication in a special issue of the British Journal for Military History.

Further information here.

CfP: Remembering Muted Voices: Conscience, Dissent, Resistance, and Civil Liberties in World War I through Today

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Conference Dates: October 19-21, 2017
National World War I Museum at Liberty Memorial, Kansas City, MO, USA

During the Great War, many people questioned the claims of the Allied and Central powers, desired a negotiated peace, opposed intervention, refused to support the war effort, and/or even imagined future world orders that could eliminate war. Among them were members of the peace churches and other religious groups, women, pacifists, radicals, labor activists, and other dissenters. Intolerance and repression often muted the voices of these war critics. Almost overnight, the individuals and groups who opposed the war faced constraints on their freedom to advocate, organize, and protest from the government, the press, and war supporters. Peace advocates, antiwar activists, and conscientious objectors also confronted internal disagreements over how to respond to the war and advance the cause of peace. Yet, those who opposed World War I helped initiate modern peace movements and left a legacy that continues to influence antiwar activism.

This interdisciplinary conference, hosted by the National World War I Museum at Liberty Memorial in Kansas City, Missouri, USA, will explore the experiences of those who were in any way critical of the Great War, sometimes at great cost. We welcome paper, panel, poster, roundtable, and workshop proposals that engage in diverse ways with issues of conscience, dissent, resistance, and civil liberties during World War I in the United States and around the world. We encourage proposals that examine historical and contemporary parallels to the war. Strong conference papers will be given consideration for publication in special issues of the journals Mennonite Quarterly Review and Peace & Change.

Topics might include:

War Resistance as an Expression of Religious Conscience
Secular Dissent and Resistance to War (feminists, socialists, and other movements and communities)
The Costs of War: economic, political, social, physical, psychological, etc.
Civil Liberties in World War I and War Today
Race and Empire in World War I
The Legacy and Relevance of World War I Peace Activism to the Present
The Causes and Prevention of War: World War I and Since
Teaching World War I and Peace History in High School and College
Memory, Memorialization, and the Public History of World War I

The program committee invites interested participants to send a 1-page proposal focused on the theme of the conference by January 31, 2017 to John D. Roth (johndr@goshen.edu).

CfP: Gendering Peace in Europe, 1918-1945

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Humanities Research Institute (HRI), The University of Sheffield
Friday 20 – Saturday 21 January 2017

Organised by Dr Julie Gottlieb, together with Dr Caoimhe Nic Dháibhéid and Centre for Peace Studies

During and after the First World War, blueprints for peace and a non-violent reordering of society permeated all countries in Europe. They were political, artistic and practical responses to the experience of total war, based on a wide array of different political and religious values and motives. While many of these ideas and initiatives have been studied in some detail, the gendering of peace in Europe during and between the two world wars has not as yet been systematically analysed.

The gendering of initiatives for and debates over peace was a crucial element of European politics from the onset of the Great War to the struggles over appeasement in the run-up to the Second World War, and to the planning for post-war reconstruction. The gendering of peace is more than just the study of women’s pacifist groups – even though this is an important part of it. The notion of a gendering of peace refers to the fact that the different roles, emotions, and forms of agency that are attributed to men and women were crucial parameters for the ways in which a non-violent re-ordering of national polities and international relations was envisaged and legitimised. For example, male conscientious objectors as well as female pacifists were portrayed as ‘effeminate’, thus delineating a gendered space for the debate over non-violent politics. Discourses on nationalism and sovereignty in the wake of the Treaties of Paris in 1919/20 were ripe with gendered metaphors that portrayed the task of peaceful self-determination as a predominantly male endeavour. Debates over maternalism and the role of mothers in society were a crucial site for conceptualising a critique of belligerence.

The organising themes of the conference are as follows:
1) gender and non-violent practices, including the reception of Gandhi’s ideas in Europe;
2) masculine/feminine values and metaphors in debates over national sovereignty and rearmaments;
3) competing spaces and forms of agency for men and women in European pacifism; 4) the gendering and politicization of pacifism and peace campaigns across the political spectrum; 5) the evolution of pacifist commitment in the face of fascism and war.

We will discuss these issues in a two-day conference, to be held at the HRI on 20-21 January, 2017. The plenary speakers have been confirmed*, and we are now inviting abstracts for 20-minute papers to be presented in parallel sessions. We welcome proposals for individual papers or for panels consisting of three papers and a chair/commentator. Papers can cover any European country, take international or transnational viewpoints, or offer comparative case studies, and come from interdisciplinary perspectives. We especially encourage the submission of proposals from postgraduates and early career researchers.

Please submit your proposal with title, abstract of 250-300 words, and a short bio to julie.gottlieb@sheffield.ac.uk by 23 May, 2016.

It is the intention that a selection of the best conference papers will be published – in revised form – in a peer-reviewed journal or as an edited collection. We are grateful for the funding for this event to the Batley Legacy to the University of Sheffield, and we do not anticipate having to charge a conference fee.

*Confirmed plenary speakers:
Emily Baughan, Caitrona Beaumont, Laura Beers, Clarisse Berthezene, Charlotte Bill (filmmaker) with Helen Kay, Akos Farkas, Julie Gottlieb, Susan Grayzel, Richard Overy, Senia Paseta, Ingrid Sharp, Matthew Stibbe, Judith Szapor, Sonja Tiernan.

Further information here.