Monday, February 13, 2012

CFP: Midwest Conference on British Studies (4/1/2012; 10/12-14/2012)




The Midwest Conference on British Studies is proud to announce that its fifty-ninth annual meeting will be hosted by the University of Toronto in Ontario, Canada, October 12-14th, 2012.  

The keynote speaker will be John Gillis, Professor Emeritus, Rutgers University. The plenary address will be given by Ian Gentles, Professor of History, Tynedale University College and Seminary.

The MWCBS seeks papers from scholars in all fields of British Studies, broadly defined to include those who study England, Scotland, Wales, Ireland, and Britain's Empire and the Commonwealth. We welcome scholars from the broad spectrum of disciplines, including but not limited to history, literature, political science, gender studies and art history. Proposals for complete sessions are preferred, although proposals for individual papers will be considered. We welcome roundtables (of four participants plus chair) and panels (of three participants plus chair/commentator) that:

  •  offer cross-disciplinary perspectives on topics in British Studies
  •  situate the arts, letters, and sciences in a British cultural context
  •  examine representations of British and imperial/Commonwealth national identities
  •  consider Anglo-American relations, past and present
  •  examine new trends in British Studies
  •  assess a major work or body of work by a scholar
  • explore new developments in digital humanities and/or research methodologies

After a very positive response to last year’s first teaching roundtable, we would particularly like to receive proposals for teaching roundtables that discuss collaborative or innovative learning techniques in the British Studies classroom.

The MWCBS welcomes papers presented by advanced graduate students and will award the Walter L. Arnstein Prize for the best graduate student paper(s) given at the conference.

Proposals must:
Include a 200-word abstract for each paper and a brief, 1-page c.v. for each participant, including chairs and commentators.
For full panels, include a brief 200-word preview of the panel as a whole.

Please place the panel proposal, the accompanying paper proposals and vitas in one file and send it as a single attachment. Also identify within the email the contact person for the panel.

All proposals should be submitted online by April 1, 2012, to the Program Committee Chair, Lia Paradis at lia.paradis@sru.edu.

Program Committee: Phil Harling, University of Kentucky; Robin Hermann, University of Louisiana at Lafayette; Isaac Land, Indiana State University; Jennifer McNabb, Western Illinois University; Lia Paradis, Chair, Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania; Lisa Sigel, Depaul University.

Visit the MWCBS website at http://mwcbs.edublogs.org/