REVOLUTION & REFORM
SOCIETY FOR U.S. INTELLECTUAL HISTORY
ANNUAL MEETING, BOSTON, 2020
The Society for U.S. Intellectual History invites proposals for its 2020 annual conference. This year’s event will be held November 5-7, 2020, at the Back Bay Sheraton, located in the heart of Boston’s historic neighborhood of Copley Square. The Sheraton is a short walk or ride away from the Charles River, Fenway Park, the Museum of Fine Arts, the Massachusetts Historical Society, Boston Symphony Hall, the Public Garden, and hundreds of restaurants. It is easily accessible by plane, train, or car. We are delighted to report that we have a generous block of discounted rooms already secured, and we will share news of available travel grant opportunities for scholars in the coming months.
Our 2020 theme is “Revolution & Reform.” We interpret this broadly, and we welcome proposals touching on science, culture, politics, race, religion, gender, government, society, education—covering ALL time periods and events in U.S. history. We are glad to consider submissions that address any aspect, period, or problem from the history of American thought. Our meeting is meant to be a rich and diverse forum for those working in the realm of intellectual history. We encourage scholars from across the disciplines, as well as scholars at all stages of career development, to propose topics, panels, and papers. We strongly encourage panel organizers to create panels reflecting the diversity of our field in terms of gender, ethnicity, race, sexual orientation, and/or institutional affiliation.
The year 2020 and our meeting site of Boston, a longtime home of revolution and reform, present us with opportunities to consider several anniversaries and areas of interest:
- Women’s suffrage, gender, and political participation
- Elections
- New England intellectual life
- Climate change
- Counter-revolutions and resistance to reform
We have a terrific program on tap! On Thursday, join us for a special preconference workshop on teaching intellectual history, a festive opening reception, and a keynote address from Danielle Allen, James Bryant Conant University Professor at Harvard University, and Director of Harvard’s Edmond J. Safra Center for Ethics. Then, on Friday and Saturday, we’ll feature plenary panels on Native American history, presidential politics, and a live edition of “Historians at the Movies,” a popular Twitter gathering (#HATM). Please note that we meet from Thursday to Saturday, with no Sunday panels.
We look forward to your submissions on the evergreen theme of “Revolution & Reform.” While single papers will be considered, we strongly prefer submission of traditional panels, roundtables, and guided discussions. See below for details. SUBMISSIONS ARE DUE 15 April 2020. All submissions MUST be emailed as a single .PDF or Word file to: [email protected].
Types of Submissions
The committee will consider the following types of submissions:
Traditional Panels: 4-6 people
A traditional panel will include a chairperson/commentator and 4-6 presenters. Traditional Panel submissions must include the following materials: panel title; a designated chair; names, emails, and institutional affiliations of all participants; a 300 word abstract for each paper; a 500 word abstract for the entire panel; a one-page CV for each participant.
Roundtables: 4-5 people
A roundtable will include four or five discussants. One may serve as the chair/moderator, or the roundtable may include a separate chair/moderator. Roundtable submissions must include the following materials: a title for the roundtable; names, emails, and institutional affiliations of all participants; a 300 word description of each discussant’s contribution; a 500 word abstract for the entire roundtable; a one-page CV for each participant.
Guided Discussions: 3-4 People
Guided Discussion sessions ask the audience to consider four interrelated scholarly or pedagogical questions. Presenters each speak for 5-10 minutes, laying out one of the four questions. Audience members then split into groups for dialogue. Presenters share their table’s discussion with the room and encourage debate. Guided Discussion submissions must include: session title; names, emails, and institutional affiliations of all leaders; a proposed discussion question and a 300 word abstract from each leader; a 500 word abstract for the session; a one-page CV for each participant.
Submission Guidelines
The committee is eager to ensure a diverse representation of scholars at the conference. We welcome submissions from graduate students, historians, academics working in adjacent fields, scholarly professionals working outside the academy, and independent scholars. Individuals may appear on the program no more than twice. Those appearing twice must do so in two distinct capacities. Participants may, for example, deliver a paper and be a commentator, but may not present two papers. Panels that require a projector or other audio-visual hookup must notify the committee at the time of submission.
All persons appearing on the program must register for the conference. The committee will assume that submission to the conference is an indication that participants will attend the entire conference. We will be unable to accommodate special scheduling requests. Panel organizers will be notified of the committee’s decision in June 2020. All questions may be sent to the conference email: [email protected].
USIH2020 CONFERENCE COMMITTEE
Emily Conroy-Krutz
Peter Kuryla
Adam McNeil
David Mislin
Benjamin Park
Heather Cox Richardson
Bryn Upton
USIH2020 LOCAL ARRANGEMENTS COMMITTEE
Benjamin Alpers
Andrew Hartman
Jason Herbert
Andrew Klumpp
Whitney Nell Stewart
Benjamin Wright
USIH2020 CONFERENCE CHAIR, Sara Georgini
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