Monday, February 21, 2011

Call for Papers: Grad Student Conference at Penn

"The Power of Stories: Authority and Narrative in Early America" An Interdisciplinary Graduate Student Conference

Hosted by the McNeil Center for Early American Studies, University of Pennsylvania
September 29 - October 1, 2011

This conference will bring together a diverse group of graduate students to discuss the power of stories and their relationship to authority in early America and the Atlantic world before 1850. Addressing written, pictorial, oral, or other narratives, papers might consider examples of how groups or individuals decide what stories to tell about themselves; why some narratives come to predominate over others; how narratives change over time and across generations; and the ways in which stories can strengthen or undermine political, ethnic, religious, economic, or other communities. At a broader level, papers might address how scholars can harness the power of stories in their own writing as a means of evoking past worlds.

We seek papers that will engage a wide range of disciplines, including history, anthropology, Native American studies, literature, American studies, African American studies, political science, art history, geography, material culture, and race and gender studies. In order to be considered, applicants should email their proposals to mceas.stories.2011@gmail.com by March 15, 2011. Proposals should include a one-page c.v. and a prospectus of no more than 250 words. Paper presentations will be limited to 20 minutes. Limited financial support is available for participants' travel and housing expenses. Decisions will be announced by May 15, 2011.
Please direct conference-related questions to Whitney Martinko at mceas.stories.2011@gmail.com.

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