CFP: Massachusetts Historical Society Seminar Series

Cassie Cloutier Discussion

CALL FOR PROPOSALS

due March 15, 2019

 

The Massachusetts Historical Society in Boston invites proposals for its 2019-2020 seminar series:

  • The Boston Seminar on African American History, focusing on African-American history from the colonial era to the present day
  • The Boston-Area Seminar in Early American History, focusing on topics in American history up to the 1820s
  • The Boston Environmental History Seminar, focusing on any aspect of American environmental history
  • The Boston Seminar in Modern American Society and Culture, focusing on topics in American history after 1870
  • The Boston Seminar on the History of Women, Gender, & Sexuality, co-sponsored by the Schlesinger Library at Radcliffe, focusing on all aspects of the history of women, gender, and sexuality in America

 

The “Boston” in the series’ names signals not the topics we address, but the numerous academic institutions in Boston, Cambridge, and greater New England whose students and faculty regularly gather around our seminar table. The sessions are widely announced on H-Net and in our publications and are well attended, often attracting more than two dozen participants.

 

Each series meets 4-7 times during the academic year. Each session focuses on the discussion of pre-circulated works in progress, especially article or chapter-length papers, distributed to seminar registrants three weeks before the program. Authors must have their papers ready for circulation at this time. The essayist and an assigned commentator will each have an opportunity for remarks before the discussion is opened to the floor. Seminars meet for approximately 90 minutes and are followed by light refreshments, offering further time for networking.

 

We invite proposals (500 words) and CVs from interested researchers. In your proposal, please indicate when your paper can be available for distribution, as well as your preference (fall or spring) based on when the seminar’s feedback would be helpful to you. Advise us of any special scheduling conditions, such as a planned trip to Boston or an extended period when you cannot make a presentation. The steering committees will consider all proposals for the available session slots, and proposers will be notified by mid-May.

 

Please submit your proposals by March 15, 2019 to Kanisorn Wongsrichanalai (kwongsrichanalai@masshist.org), Director of Research at the Massachusetts Historical Society. For more information about our seminar series, and to see CFPs specific to each series, visit www.masshist.org/research/seminars.