CfP: Artistic Expressions and the Great War: A Hundred Years On

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Hofstra Cultural Center, New York, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday November 7, 8, 9, 2018

To mark the 100th anniversary of the end of the Great War, this interdisciplinary conference proposes to explore the impact of total war on the arts from a transnational perspective, including attention to the Ottoman Empire and colonial territories. We are defining arts broadly – literature, performing arts, visual arts and media, including film, propaganda and other mass mediated forms.

World War I was the matrix on which all subsequent violence of the 20th century was forged. The war took millions of lives, led to the fall of four empires, established new nations, and negatively affected others. During and after the war, individuals and communities struggled to find expression for their wartime encounters and communal as well as individual mourning. Throughout this time of enormous upheaval, many artists redefined their place in society, among them writers, performers, painters and composers. Some sought to renew or re-establish their place in the postwar climate, while others longed for an irretrievable past, and still others tried to break with the past entirely. This conference explores the ways that artists contributed to wartime culture – both representing and shaping it – as well as the ways in which wartime culture influenced artistic expressions. Artists’ places within and against reconstruction efforts illuminate the struggles of the day. We seek to examine how they dealt with the experience of conflict and mourning and their role in re-establishing creative traditions in the changing climate of the interwar years.

Keynote address: The Great War and the Avant-Gardes
Annette Becker, Professor of Contemporary History, Université Paris Ouest Nanterre la Défense

We invite proposals from a broad range of scholars in all disciplines on the following and related themes:
Individual artists
Art movements
Artistic expressions of wartime atrocities
Literature and art concerning the memory of the Great War
The artistic design and construction of war memorials
Gender and artistic/media expression
Mass media and the war
State intervention/censorship and artistic expression
Artistic strategies for sustaining creative activity during the war
Support of artists and artistic expression during the war
Artists’ national and international networks, their dissolution, reconstitution, or continuation before and after the war
Changes in performance practices during and/or after the war
The dynamic relationship between artistic expression and mourning in the postwar climate
The emergence of new gender norms and their impact on creative choices after the war
New directions for artists after the war
Artistic expressions in the colonial territories during and after the war
Artistic expression, racialization, and race politics

The deadline for submission of proposals is January 15, 2018.

Applicants should email a 250-word proposal and a one-page curriculum vitae to the conference director, Sally Debra Charnow, at sally.charnow@hofstra.edu. Include the applicant’s name and email address.

Conference Director:
Sally Debra Charnow, PhD
Department of History
Hofstra University
Hempstead, New York 11549

For more information, please contact the Hofstra Cultural Center at 516-463-5669 or hofculctr@hofstra.edu

Franklin Research Grants (post-doctoral)

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Scope
This American Philosophical Society program of small grants to scholars is intended to support the cost of research leading to publication in all areas of knowledge. The Franklin program is particularly designed to help meet the cost of travel to libraries and archives for research purposes; the purchase of microfilm, photocopies or equivalent research materials; the costs associated with fieldwork; or laboratory research expenses.

Eligibility
Applicants are expected to have a doctorate or to have published work of doctoral character and quality. Ph.D. candidates are not eligible to apply, but the Society is especially interested in supporting the work of young scholars who have recently received the doctorate.

Award
From $1,000 to $6,000.

Deadlines
October 2, December 1; notification in January and March.

Contact Info
Linda Musumeci
Director of Grants and Fellowships
American Philosophical Society
LMusumeci@amphilsoc.org
215-440-3429

URL: http://www.amphilsoc.org/grants/franklin

CfP: 85th Annual Meeting of the Society for Military History

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The Society for Military History is pleased to call for papers for its 85th Annual Meeting, hosted by the University of Louisville’s College of Arts & Sciences and the Department of History in Louisville, Kentucky.

For the 2018 meeting, the program committee will consider paper and panel proposals on all aspects of military history, especially encouraging submissions that reflect on this year’s theme, Landscapes of War and Peace.

We will mark two particularly important anniversaries in 2018, the centennial of the end of the First World War and four hundred years since the beginning of the Thirty Years’ War, one of the most destructive conflicts in history. The program committee invites submissions that explore the outbreak of warfare and the difficult ways out of fighting and towards peace. Because the conference will be hosted in the heart of the Ohio country, locale of many early American conflicts, the program committee is also interested in submissions that focus on the geography, environment, and spaces of warfare.

Submissions of pre-organized panels and roundtables are strongly encouraged and will be given preference in the selection process. Excellent panel, paper, and poster proposals will clearly explain their topics and questions in ways that will be understandable to the broad membership of the SMH, not only to those interested in the specific topics in question. Additionally, the SMH encourages the representation of the full diversity of its membership and especially values panel and roundtable proposals that reflect the organization’s diversity of institutional affiliations, various career paths and ranks, gender, race, and ethnicity.

Panel proposals must include a panel title and 300-word abstract summarizing the theme of the panel; paper title and a 300-word abstract for each paper proposed; and a one-page curriculum vitae for each panelist (including the chair and commentator) that includes institutional affiliation, email address, and other contact information.

Roundtable proposals must include a roundtable title, the full names and institutional affiliations of each participant, a 300-word abstract summarizing the roundtable’s themes and points of discussion, and a one-page curriculum vitae for each participant (including the moderator, if any).

Poster proposals allow military historians (especially, but not limited to, graduate students) to share their research through visual materials. Proposals should clearly explain (in no more than 300 words) the poster’s topics and arguments, as well as how the information will be presented visually.

Individual paper proposals are also welcome and must include a 300-word abstract of the paper, and one-page vita with contact information and email address. If accepted, individual papers will be assigned by the program committee to an appropriate panel with a chair and commentator. Those who wish to volunteer to serve as chairs and commenters should send a one-page curriculum vitae to the program committee chair.

Participants may present one paper, serve on a roundtable, or provide panel comments. They may not fill more than one of these roles during the conference, nor should they propose to do so to the Program Committee. Members who act as panel chairs for only one session may deliver a paper, serve on a roundtable, or offer comments in a different session. Members who serve as both the chair and commentator of a single session may not present in another session.

All submissions must be made through the 2018 SMH Submission Portal. One person will need to gather all required information for panel and roundtable submissions and enter the information in the portal. Individual paper and poster submissions can be made by the individual. For questions about the submission process, please contact smh2018@louisville.edu.

All proposals must be submitted by October 1, 2017. All accepted presenters, chairs, and commentators must be members of the Society for Military History by December 31, 2017 to be placed on the conference program.

2018 SMH Submission Portal: www.smh-hq.org/2018submissions.html.
Further information here.

Doctoral and Postdoctoral Fellowships

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The GHI (German Historical Institute, Washington DC) awards short-term fellowships to European and North American doctoral students as well as postdoctoral scholars to pursue research projects that draw upon primary sources located in the United States.

We are particularly interested in research projects that fit into the following fields:

German and European history
The history of German-American relations
The role of Germany and the USA in international relations
American history (European doctoral and postdoctoral scholars only)

The proposed research projects should make use of historical methods and engage with the relevant historiography. We especially invite applications from doctoral students and postdoctoral scholars who currently have no funding from their home institutions. The fellowships are usually granted for periods of one to five months but, in exceptional cases and depending on the availability of funds, they can be extended by one month.

The GHI will not provide funding for preliminary research, manuscript composition, or the revision of manuscripts. It will give clear priority to those postdoc projects that are designed for the “second book.” The fellowship is open to both doctoral and postdoctoral scholars based in North America and Europe. The monthly stipend is € 2,000 for doctoral students and € 3,400 for postdoctoral scholars. In addition, fellowship recipients based in Europe will receive reimbursement for their round-trip airfare to the U.S.

The GHI has two deadlines each year for the fellowships: April 1 and October 1. The next deadline for applications is October 1, 2017.

Eligibility Requirements
Applicants should be based at (or recent graduates of) a North American or European university or research institute.
For doctoral students applying, ABD status is required before starting the fellowship.
For postdoctoral scholars applying, the preference is for projects that are designed for the “second book” (Habilitation or equivalent).
The proposed project should require primary research in the United States.

Application Procedure
To apply please send the following materials (as a pdf) to fellowships@ghi-dc.org:

Application form
Brief cover letter
Curriculum vitae
A copy of your most recent diploma or transcripts
Project description (no more than 2,000 words)
At least one letter of reference (sent separately)

Please combine all of your application materials except for the application form into a single PDF and include a word count at the end of your project description. Applicants may write in either English or German; we recommend that they use the language in which they are most proficient. Applicants will be notified about the outcome approximately two months after the deadline.

Further information here.
Questions about applying or for the fellowship program in general should be directed to Bryan Hart (hart@ghi-dc.org).

Conference: Nerves and War. Psychological Experiences of Mobilization and Suffering in Germany, 1900-1933

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12-13 October 2017, Friedrich-Meinecke-Institut, Freie Universität Berlin
Organized by Gundula Gahlen, Björn Hofmeister, Christoph Nübel and Deniza Petrova

´Nerves´ enjoyed a central place in German debates about war at the beginning of the 20th Century. Politicians, scientists, the public, and the military discussed the extent to which a future war would strain the nerves of German society. Concepts of ´strength of nerves´ as well as of ´weakness of nerves´ were increasingly used as combat terms during the First World War. The massive scale of experiences of psychological injuries and suffering only added to this phenomenon. The social and political administration of the medical treatment of psychological war disabilities presided over post-war discourses of managing the consequences of war. Simultaneously, a new spiritual mobilization for war followed in the Weimar Republic, which, after 1933, ´synchronized´ almost all aspects of social life in the Third Reich.

Current scholarship has devoted substantial historical research to the treatment and accommodation of psychological war-disabled veterans. This conference focuses on contemporary discourses on nerves in politics, society, science, and the military and aspires to elaborate the interaction as well as their practical consequences of these discourses for the period of 1900 and 1933. At this conference nerves are understood as a code and a construct that are central in negotiating identity. Both, contemporary discourses on nerves as well as individual and collective experiences of psychological mobilization and suffering will be presented and analyzed. The focus of the conference papers is on Germany, but in a wider European context.

Venue: Freie Universität Berlin, Fabeckstraße 23-25, 14195 Berlin, Room: 2.2059

Please register/contact us by October 5, 2017 at: dpetrova@zedat.fu-berlin.de

For further information please visit the conference website: www.nervenundkrieg.de

Call for Applications – Carnegie Council’s “The Living Legacy of the First World War”

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Carnegie Council for Ethics in International Affairs is now accepting applications for the World War I fellowship project, “The Living Legacy of the First World War.” Carnegie Council is creating up to ten fellowships to conduct projects involving original research, approaches, or methods on the American experience in the First World War and its impact and relevance in the modern world.

With this project, Carnegie Council aims to advance a vision of history that is diverse, dynamic, and inclusive. This approach begins with the selection of fellows of varying ages, backgrounds, and interests. In designing a research proposal, applicants are encouraged to draw on personal passions, integrating unique perspectives and insights into historical debates.

Selected fellows will research independently over the next year. Fellows will then share their findings and analysis in an article written for publication on CarnegieCouncil.org, in Ethics & International Affairs, or through another academic or popular publisher. In the case of graphic or other non-traditional projects, a written report may be substituted for an article. To reach a broader audience, the fellows will participate in a podcast interview series on CarnegieCouncil.org, where they will discuss their work. Fellows may also be invited to speak at other events associated with the centenary of World War I.

To apply, please submit a research proposal (1,000 words or fewer), curriculum vitae, and two references to program assistant Billy Pickett at bpickett@cceia.org by Friday, September 15, 2017. Proposals should include the following: the proposed research topic with background; the feasibility of the research; and the topic’s bearing on the present, whether in ethical debates, political discourse, governing institutions, demography, law, international relations, or other areas. Individuals of all nationalities are encouraged to apply, though articles and interviews will be published primarily in English.

Thanks to the generous support of the Richard Lounsbery Foundation, fellows will receive a stipend to support their research.

For questions, please contact the lead administrator for the World War I fellowship project and Carnegie Council senior fellow, Reed Bonadonna at rbonadonna@cceia.org.

CFP: Vulcan Early-Career Prize: social history of military technology

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The Vulcan Early-Career Prize for the best article in the field of social history of military technology

Vulcan: The International Journal of the Social History of Military Technology invites submissions for its inaugural Early-Career Prize. The winning article as judged by the editorial board will be published in the 2018 volume (6) of Vulcan, and will officially be announced as the prize winner in the journal volume as well as on the journal webpage. The winner will receive a cash prize of €500. The prize is open to graduate students who are currently registered at a higher education institute, or to those who have obtained their doctoral degree after January 1, 2012.

Vulcan is a peer-reviewed journal, appearing in one issue per year, that addresses military technology as both agent and object of social change. Vulcan publishes original research articles, book reviews, and short notes and communications that go beyond traditional hardware stories of military technology. Academic and popular histories of weapons, warships and other physical manifestations of warfare have tended to assume a strictly utilitarian or rational basis for invention, innovation and use. Such approaches may ignore some very important questions: What are the social values, attitudes, and military (and non-military) interests that shape and support or oppose these technologies? What are the consequences of gender, race, class, and other aspects of the social order for the nature and use of military technology? Or, more generally, how do social and cultural environments within the military itself or in the larger society affect military technological change? And the indispensable corollary: how does changing military technology affect other aspects of society and culture?

Vulcan casts a wide net, taking a very broad view of technology and its wider ramifications that encompasses not only the production, distribution, use, and replacement of weapons and weapon systems, but also communications, logistic, scientific, medical, and other technologies of military relevance. Papers may range widely in space and time, and we welcome especially submissions on non-Western and premodern topics. Themes might include the ways in which social factors (including politics and economics), and other extra-military factors have influenced and been influenced by the invention, R&D, diffusion, or use of military technologies; the roles that military technologies play in shaping and reshaping the relationships between institutions; historiographical or museological topics that discuss how military technology has been analyzed, interpreted, and understood in other fields, other cultures, and other times.
Submission Requirements

Articles should be based extensively on primary research, must not have been previously published in another form or outlet, and should not be currently under consideration by another journal or book series. Essays (between 8,000 and 12,000 words) should be written in American English, and conform to The Chicago Manual of Style (15th Edition). Papers should include an abstract of approximately 150 words and 5–8 keywords. Detailed submission instructions can be found at brill.com/vulc. Submissions for the prize should be submitted online through the Vulcan Editorial Manager by 31 December 2017. In order to allow for sufficient time for the peer review process, early submissions are welcomed.

For further information, please contact the Editor-in-Chief, Steven A. Walton at sawalton@mtu.edu.