CFP for the SSAWW 2018 Triennial Conference in Denver, Colorado (Deadline Extended)

CFP for the SSAWW 2018 Triennial Conference in Denver, Colorado

Conference Theme: “Resistance and Recovery across the Americas”

November 7-11, 2018 | The Westin Denver Downtown

From Anne Hutchinson to Phillis Wheatley to the Crunk Feminist Collective, American women writers have historically engaged in resistance in their creative/activist works, pushing against restrictive gender norms, a patriarchal culture that devalued women in political and economic spaces, the tradition of silence and silencing, and any number of other obstacles that limited women’s voices and their freedom to explore the full breadth of their unique identities. At the same time, from scholars like Frances Foster to the initiatives championed by the likes of Legacy and the Colored Conventions Project, scholars also work toward recovery, eager to rediscover the works of American women writers who were active in their resistance, insightful in their social and political critiques, and responsive to the dominant discourse on race, protest, social justice, as well as identity, etc. emerging during their lives. For the 2018 SSAWW Triennial Conference in Denver, CO, we invite proposals on the topic of “Resistance and Recovery across the Americas,” from early American literature to the literature of the present day. Proposals are encouraged in, but not limited to, the following topics:

    Literary Studies

• Writing the fight: social justice, resistance, and protest in poetry and prose

• Confronting race, whiteness, invisibility, and labor in women’s writing

• Social and political resistance in American women’s writing

• Resistance to restrictive gender roles in women’s writing

• The role of writing in emotional recovery from systemic oppression

• Memoir as a genre of recovery and resistance

• Periodicals, newspapers, and magazines: women and textual engagement

• Recovering American women’s writing from the archives

Teaching and Pedagogy

• Women scholars’ resistance and work to change academic institutions

• Resisting the canonical syllabus by diversifying the field of women writers taught in the classroom

• Teaching beyond traditions by transcending traditional theoretical lenses, engaging new approaches to student research/scholarly production, etc.

• Encouraging thinking beyond traditional academic silos by engaging the intersection of art, music, literature, etc. for a more interdisciplinary approach

Public Humanities

• Performance

• Scholarship as social engagement

• Teaching outside of the academic classroom

• Creating partnerships for public humanities by bridging the university and the public sphere

 Digital Humanities

• Utilizing digital avenues to showcase research projects and student work

• Pedagogical practices of digital tools, assignments, projects in the classroom

• Labor and recovery in the digital age: new models of resistance, politics, and economies

• Approaches to shepherding projects from initial idea stage to fully-formed digital works

• The state of digital humanities

  • Access to grant funding and sustainability of long-term projects

  • Perceived disparities between projects focusing on male versus female authors

  • How digital publication platforms can both hurt and/or help recovery work

  • Discussion on the differences between digital and print texts, journals, etc.

Professional Development

• Professional challenges within universities or the discipline (e.g. how to “count” digital work toward promotion and tenure, reconsidering the value of edited volumes, etc.)

• From PhD candidate to colleague: tips for demystifying the academic job market

• Resisting the PhD pipeline: considering the non-academic job search and the role of Humanities PhDs outside of the academy

• From proposal and beyond: understanding academic publishing in the twenty-first century

The deadline for proposals is Friday, March 2, 2018, using the corresponding Google Form listed below. Session lengths are 1 hour and 15 minutes, and preference will be given to pre-formed panels as well as roundtables (pending review by our esteemed SSAWW reviewers), though high-quality individual submissions will be accepted and grouped into coherent panels whenever possible.

• Submit individual paper proposals to: goo.gl/y3wLgL

  • Interested participants will be asked to provide a tentative paper title as well as a proposal of approximately 250 to 300 words.

• Submit pre-formed panel proposals to: goo.gl/J8f1QQ

  • Interested participants will be asked to provide a tentative panel title and contact information for the session chair. In addition, we will need a tentative title and a brief proposal of approximately 250 to 300 words for each participant. Note that panels typically consist of three, preferably four, presenters who are each allotted between fifteen and twenty minutes to present their work with time remaining for discussion.

• Submit pre-formed roundtable proposals to: goo.gl/P61gGK

  • Interested participants will be asked to provide a tentative roundtable title and the contact information for the session chair. In addition, we will need a tentative title and brief proposal of approximately 150 to 250 words for each participant. Note that roundtables typically consist of five to eight participants allocated around six to eight minutes to present their work with time remaining for discussion.

• Submit workshop and exhibition proposals to: goo.gl/Q4v4Aj

  • Interested participants will be asked to provide a tentative session title as well as a brief workshop/exhibition overview of approximately 150 to 250 words. There is an optional section devoted to additional session information to provide space and time considerations, contact information for additional contributors, etc.

• Submit special sessions (for SSAWW affiliate organizations) to: goo.gl/HPf2oe

  • SSAWW affiliate organizations will be asked to provide a tentative panel title and contact information for the session chair. In addition, we will need a tentative title and a brief proposal of approximately 250 to 300 words for each participant. Note that panels typically consist of three, preferably four, presenters allotted fifteen to twenty minutes to present their work with time remaining for discussion. For any special sessions (such as a syllabus/assignment exchange, film screening, etc.) that does not follow this format, please contact Dr. Christopher Varlack directly at ssaww.vpdevelopment@gmail.com with a query.

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For complete sessions, please ensure that notifications are sent to potential participants by early February at the latest to allow those whose proposals are not accepted for the panel or roundtable to submit individual paper proposals by the submission deadline of March 2, 2018. A/V requirements will be requested after acceptance (please note that while we do recognize the need for support for some presentations, there are high costs associated with securing this equipment that we would like to limit).

This year, participants are allowed to appear on the final program no more than twice in an effort to allow as many individuals as possible the opportunity to participate. Participants will be listed in the program if they are presenting a paper, participating in a roundtable or workshop, or serving as the chair for a session. Participating in two different roles in the same session (e.g., as the chair and a panelist) would therefore count as two listings in the program. Please note that it is not permissible to present on two panels, though individuals can present as part of a panel and a roundtable session.

For help regarding any technical issues with the new electronic submission form or for questions regarding the participation guidelines above, please contact the Program Director for the 2018 conference, Dr. Christopher Allen Varlack, at ssaww.vpdevelopment@gmail.com; he is also the contact person for scheduling, A/V requests, etc. For questions regarding the conference itself, please contact the Vice President of Organizational Matters, Dr. Sabrina Starnaman, via E-mail at ssaww.vporganizationalmatters@gmail.com.

Note that selected participants must be members of SSAWW no later than September 28, 2018 in order to secure their place on the conference program. We look forward to receiving proposals for the many thoughtful and informative sessions that our SSAWW members always produce and to seeing you in Denver for yet another powerful SSAWW Triennial Conference. The registration and hotel information will be posted to the SSAWW website, listserv, as well as social media accounts under separate cover.

For additional information about the Society for the Study of American Women Writers, please visit our website at ssawwnew.wordpress.com.