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Annual Meeting
Submitting a Proposal
Call for Proposals: ASA Convention (Closed)
"Practices of Citizenship, Sustainability And Belonging," November 5-8, 2009, Washington D.C.
The 2009 ASA Program Committee invites colleagues in American Studies and all related disciplines to submit proposals for individual papers, entire sessions, presentations, performances, films, roundtables, workshops, conversations, or alternative formats described below on any topic dealing with American cultures, including topics in disciplines that have been under-represented in American Studies research and teaching.
The theme for the 2009 ASA Annual Meeting is "Practices of Citizenship, Sustainability, and Belonging." Please carefully read the Call for Proposals for the participation guidelines. Submitters and panelists have accounts at the ASA's Online Submission System. The site will open on December 1, 2008. The Program Committee may consider and/or accept only proposals that are submitted by the deadline through the ASA's online submission system. Emailed or posted proposals will NOT be considered. The deadline for submissions is 11:59 PM (Pacific) on January 26, 2009. The submission site shuts down automatically at the deadline. We will accept no proposals after the deadline.
Meeting Theme
The theme for the 2009 ASA Annual Meeting, to be held in Washington D.C., is "Practices of Citizenship, Sustainability, and Belonging."
Questions of citizenship, belonging and sustainability have for some time been at the heart of much Americans Studies scholarship. Historically, categories of citizenship, traditions of belonging, and concepts of sustainability have been constructed and sustained through specific practices -- of state and society, individuals and communities. They have been subject to profound redefinition, in response to changing national and geopolitical realities. This has always been so. But today, in a time of global and domestic crises, practices of citizenship, sustainability, and belonging demand reflection and debate informed by the ASA's distinct mode of scholarly and civic engagement. Whatever the outcome of the 2008 election, these themes are timely and compelling particularly for the upcoming meeting to be held in the nation's capitol. What better time and place to pose these and related questions: What are the practices that define us as citizens? What are the practices that have sustained and can sustain human communities and the planet? What are the practices that create a sense of belonging in our lives? At the same time, we must ask about the practices that delimit those communities. What costs are exacted by specific constructions of belonging and citizenship? What is sustained, and how is power enacted, in the rituals and practices of individuals and institutions?
A robust tradition of work in American Studies has often emphasized that citizenship is not given. Contrary to conventional wisdom, citizenship is not an abstract attribute, intrinsically available to all native-born and naturalized American citizens. Rather, the issue of who is a citizen, and thus able to claim, following Hannah Arendt, "the right to have rights," has been a deeply contingent and contested matter since the founding of the American nation. In the past and present, the lived experience of citizenship in practice, whether defined from above, by the state, or from below, by persons and groups, has been understood as a double-edged process of inclusion and exclusion. As such, citizenship would seem to be enough for one ASA conference. But in pairing the theme of citizenship with sustainability, we acknowledge the growing interest the latter concept has had in the field of American studies, and its increased influence in national and international public discourse. Notions of sustainability, also marked by debate and contestation, have transformed the theory and practice of citizenship for people in the United States, which in turn, often has global consequences. Notions of sustainability have informed the pursuit of ideas of health, security, justice and well-being in the public arena, ranging from the personal to the planetary, through myriad forms of civic engagement, including the rise of the environmental justice movement, consumer lifestyle choices and boycotts, movements for nuclear disarmament, taxpayer revolts, public health advocacy, HIV-AIDS activism, etc.
Our interest in sustainability, however, extends well beyond the present moment. We believe this keyword can prompt serious inquiry into questions of political economy and citizenship in the past. For example, Thomas Jefferson could only imagine a particular kind of sustainable political economy, one that expanded democracy through increasing the population of landowning white males. To him, this was sustainable, but at what costs to others outside this charmed circle? When have concerns about economic sustainability precluded issues of social change, and when have they been the catalyst for such change? The use of and control over such natural resources as land, water, forests, oil, coal, uranium and other minerals have profoundly shaped national borders, citizenship boundaries and foreign relations. At times, visions of expanded citizenship have relied upon assumptions of economic expansion, while struggles for the expansion of rights frequently have been tied to national and international crises, including global wars. We welcome explorations of these anxious intersections, as well as studies that examine practices that have sought to combine economic stability and increasing equality. We envision a wide range of possible projects, including a re-examination of some utopian communities of the nineteenth century, as well as historical and contemporary examinations of religious practices, social movements, and cultural products. And we seek to encourage ongoing research in all periods, including work by Americanists in environmental studies and Native American studies, scholars of public policy, urban studies, and the social, natural, and behavioral sciences.
We propose the additional keyword, belonging, to invite examinations of the practices by which communities are formed-as sites of political engagement cultural production, and social transformation, from the local to the global. The concept of belonging enables projects that examine formulations of nationalism, as well as those imagined communities that function as alternatives to the modern nation-state, or which simply exist alongside and across its borders. The concept of belonging is crucial for the conference theme because it invites work on religion, which has been integral to the formation of communities, and on media and technology, which have variously transformed the conceptual possibilities and modalities through which belonging is enacted. We welcome inquiry into the full range of media, from the role of print and popular culture since the early Republic, to the rise of "new media," including cable television and the internet, in the construction of new ways of belonging. The term also opens up questions about the construction of family and gender, as well as examinations of foreign policy, transnational organizations, and globalization. As with the other keywords of the theme, we envision the most expansive approach to issues of belonging. That includes us, as American Studies scholars and practitioners. The conference offers an opportunity to consider the theoretical models that scholars in our interdiscipline have drawn on to constitute our intellectual communities, and to assess the success of those models in bridging the many (and growing) subfields and disciplines within American Studies. What models, what types of questions, and which intellectual practices are appropriate to an engaged American Studies that is interested in furthering sustainable practices and states committed to upholding human rights?
Our program committee seeks panels and individual papers that, in examining past and present practices of citizenship, sustainability and belonging, will also further the ASA's commitment to forging an inclusive community of participants from the arts, policy makers, journalists, community organizers and activists, K-16 educators, and international scholars. The conference theme provides a platform, from the nation's capitol, no less, for enhancing the ASA's public profile in a consequential way. In addition to fostering collaboration with communities, both in the DC region and nationally, we also hope that the theme will attract a wider range of scholars, not only from the humanities, cultural studies, and visual culture fields that have been mainstays at ASA meetings, but also Americanists working in the social science disciplines, including economists, demographers, legal scholars and advocates, scholars and practitioners in urban design and planning, geographers, and scholars in such fields as material culture, policy studies, and public health and psychology. We welcome proposals from scholars working in the pre-twentieth century fields, including the colonial era, the early Republic, and the nineteenth century.
An engagement with citizenship as enacted through various modes of practice opens the door to explorations of the concept from multiple perspectives and locations, including but not limited to: the historical and contemporary politics of immigration and deportation, voting rights, Native American sovereignty, practices of belonging or exclusion enacted through music, literature, or media; the history and legacy of social movements from the 18th to the 21st centuries, discourses of human rights and challenges to our understandings of the human, or projects historicizing U.S. racial practices and/or analyzing processes of racialization and constructions of religious identity in the post 9-11 world. Other key issues might include the role of market relations -- corporations, unions, finance, and consumer culture -- in shaping and redefining notions of citizenship and civic belonging; the making of global cities or pastoral dreams; contestations over citizenship through struggles over representation in artistic, literary and cultural production; histories of sex, practices of gender, and the debates over same-sex marriage; the impact of wars and revolutions on categories of belonging; systems of labor, work, and inequality and their ideological justifications; issues of academic freedom, past and present; the relation between religious practice and political behavior; the political dimensions of disease (mental and physical), disasters, and epidemics; politics of the body and constructions of disability; environmental justice; legal and constitutional studies, both nationally and internationally; science and technological studies; access to public spaces, spheres, and resources; internal and expansionist empires, and so on.
By no means do we wish to create the impression that proposals must literally integrate or incorporate all three pillars of our tripartite theme. Rather, we seek proposals of panels, individual papers, and roundtable sessions that foreground at least one of those admittedly big ideas, ideally while placing them in a sort of dialogue with the others. We seek papers and panels that examine issues related to one (perhaps more) of these three concepts in depth, which strikes us as preferable to proposals that attempt to cover all three concepts referenced in the theme. As with citizenship, we thus propose ideas of sustainability and belonging as somewhat free-standing and in themselves expansive rubrics for scholarship.
We feel that such an ambitious theme is warranted by the strong tradition of critically engaged scholarship in American Studies, and more importantly, by the crises--political, constitutional, economic, military, and diplomatic--faced by the United States and the world. Washington D.C., is a fitting place to examine the relationship of the United States., with its growing extremes of wealth and poverty, and its outsized use of the world's energy and water resources, to the poverty and numerous challenges to health, governance, and survival faced by many citizens in the global south. With its national monuments, numerous heritage sites, and government buildings, the District attracts tourists from all over the United States and the world, and its cultural institutions have been at the center of national discussions, occasionally contentious ones, of heritage, historic preservation, and commemoration of the nation's past. At the same time, like most cities of its size, it faces its own chronic problems of inequality and exclusion, and an ongoing struggle waged by District residents for home rule and full citizenship and representation. We look forward to working with the Site Resources committee to draw on the rich cultural resources of Washington DC, and involve local constituencies and scholars seeking to address the concerns particular to residents in the District.
Proposal Submissions
We encourage you to consult Getting on the ASA Meeting Program: A Practical Guide before you submit a proposal.
Please carefully read the proposal submission requirements and guidelines below before proceeding to use the online submission site. Follow the directions precisely and start the application process early. The ASA staff is eager to help people submit their sessions and papers, but it is much easier to do that work when the staff is not pushed up against the deadline. If you encounter any problems please contact us before 5 PM (Pacific) on January 26, 2009 at .
We accept proposals only through our online submission site. Emailed or posted proposals will NOT be accepted. To submit a proposal for a complete session or for an individual paper visit: http://convention2.allacademic.com/one/theasa/theasa09/index.php?
There are a number of ways that our membership could help both themselves and the program committee when using the on-line system. First, ASA guidelines clearly state that a member may appear only once on the program. When members do not heed this advice, they create more work for the program committee as well as jeopardize both of the panels for which they have committed themselves. Second, we encourage members who have agreed to participate in a panel or have submitted a paper not to then double register as commentator and chair. Third, ASA guidelines state that sessions should reflect institutional and disciplinary diversity. One of the benefits of attending a national conference is to interact with scholars from institutions and fields other than our own. So, when proposals arrived with presenters from only one institution or field they are less attractive to a program committee regardless of content. Finally, it is important to remember that the competition for these slots is extremely competitive.
Proposal Types
Proposals on any topic dealing with American Studies may be submitted for traditional paper sessions. Proposals may be submitted for sessions with alterative formats including sessions with papers and sessions without papers (see below). Proposals may also be submitted for individual papers.
Proposals for sessions with papers, including traditional paper sessions, as well as those in talk, online, or exhibit formats, should indicate in a one-page description the session subject/s and the proposed format. Such proposals should also include all relevant information requested below in the submission guidelines and instructions and must include abstracts for each individual presenter.
Proposals for sessions without papers, such as workshops, dialogues, and performances, should indicate in a one-page description the session subject/s and the proposed format. Such proposals should also include all relevant information requested below, though they need not include individual presenter abstracts.
Proposed presentations should represent work in progress, rather than published work. Presentations should offer unique, original work not presented elsewhere.
Standing Committee, Caucus, Taskforce, and Program Committee members are authorized and encouraged to submit session proposals. Proposals from organizations affiliated with the ASA are also welcome.
All Standing Committee, Caucus, Taskforce, Affiliated Society, and Program Committee member proposals must adhere to the same conditions, deadlines and restrictions as other session proposals, and are subject to review by the Program Committee.
Alternative Proposal Formats for Washington D.C. 2009
The Program Committee supports innovative formats that disrupt the conventional "three people reading papers" format.
The Program Committee believes that we cannot think about new, powerful connections between the academy and the world if we use only conventional academic forms. The Committee is proposing, therefore, several formats different from conventional paper-reading sessions. The Committee urges you to consider them if they seem appropriate and useful.
In order to broaden the modes of presentation and discussion in the Annual Meeting program, we invite proposals in two broad categories of untraditional formats:
A. Sessions with Papers.
Although these resemble conventional sessions in having a chair, presentation of papers to an audience, and commentary, papers in these sessions will not be read aloud, allowing more time for informed, informal, and engaged discussion. These sessions require an abstract.
"Talk" formatPresenters will write papers, as usual, and distribute them to the chair, commentator, and other panelists by the deadline. But in the session they will "talk" their paper from notes, speaking directly to the audience rather than reading line-by-line.
On-line format. Presenters will post their papers on the Internet one month before the meeting. These sessions will be prominently marked in the program as intended primarily for an audience that has read the papers in advance and followed whatever on-line discussion they may have generated. The session will be devoted to formal commentary and group discussion. The panel will set up the web site on their own server, post the online papers, and provide the forum for discussion of those papers. The ASA will publicize the on line sessions and install the links from the on line program to the panel's web site and discussion blog.
Exhibit format. Presenters will post their materials on a large bulletin board that can accommodate text pages in large type, graphics, primary source extracts, etc. Video and audio clips can also be used. These sessions will feature three or four such presentations grouped around a common theme. The first half of the session gives the audience time to read and discuss each exhibit with the presenters. The second half encourages group discussion, facilitated by a chair and commentators.
B. Sessions without Papers.
In past meetings, the ASA has already sponsored many kinds of alternative sessions: roundtables, conversations, performances, multi-media presentations, readings of creative work, workshops involving audience participation, and presentations linked to the community outside the hotel (community centers, museums, secondary schools, prisons, etc.). These formats will experiment with creative forms of expression, performance and dialogue that represent a significant departure to conventional presentations of papers.
Performative format. Presenters will perform their work. This could include the range of artistic performing arts (dance, music, drama, spoken word, performance art) to multi-media presentations (video, film, audio, digital media) and readings of creative fiction and non-fiction.
Dialogue format (Roundtables).Presenters will engage in dialogues with each other and the audience. Possible formats could include roundtables of academics; forums with scholars, community activists, mass or alternative media-makers and public officials; conversations between performing and/or visual artists, curators, and educators about aesthetic and expressive innovations or the challenges of developing public cultures in diverse communities. This format might be particularly well suited to creating linkages with the communities outside the hotel (community centers, performing arts centers, museums, secondary schools, prisons, libraries, and other public sites).
Workshop format. Presenters will create venues to verbally and physically interact with the audience. Educators, artists, and curators, for example, could lead these workshops to emphasize the interactive challenges and possibilities of interdisciplinarity and American Studies.
We are excited about the possibilities for Washington, DC 2009. We hope you will join us in making this a stimulating, conversational, and useful conference for the American Studies Association and its members.
ASA Individual Paper Submission Instructions
All individual paper submitters will need the following:
- Individual Paper Title (maximum of 15 words per title. Do not begin the title with quotes or other characters.)
- Paper Abstract (maximum of 500 words per abstract)
- Session Keywords
- Special Requests
- Individual Author information including: first name, last name, affiliation, e-mail address, and one page vitae.
Those submitting individual paper proposals will receive a confirmation e-mail that the paper has been submitted. The Program Committee will organize as many individual papers as possible into sessions. Individual paper submitters will each have to create a brand new user account at the convention submission site, even if he or she submitted last year, and the submitter can edit his or her personal information, paper titles, and abstracts. Proposals may be edited after submission only until January 26, 2009, but personal information may be updated at any time.
ASA Session Submission Instructions:
Session submitters will need the following:
- Session Title (maximum of 15 words)
- Session Abstract (maximum of 500 words)
- Session Keywords
- Special Requests
- Individual Paper or Presentation Titles from each session participant (maximum of 15 words per title)
- Paper Abstract from each session participant (maximum of 500 words per abstract) for sessions with papers only
- Contact and biographical information from each session participant including: first name, last name, affiliation, e-mail address, and one page vitae
The session submitter will receive a confirmation e-mail upon submission and will serve as the primary contact with panelists and the ASA. Session participants will each have (to create) a user account at the convention submission site http://convention2.allacademic.com/one/theasa/theasa09/index.php? and can access and edit only their affiliation and contact information. The session submitter is responsible for editing paper titles, abstracts, and vitae. The proposal may be accessed only through the session submitter's account. The submitter may edit the session proposal until January 26, 2009. Individuals may update their affiliation and contact information through their own user account at any time.
In the past one individual was permitted to organize numerous sessions so long as they were only participating in one session in accordance with the participation guidelines. This policy has changed for 2009.*SESSION ORGANIZERS ARE ONLY PERMITTED TO SUBMIT ONE PROPOSAL.
.Submission Restrictions and Guidelines
- Please note that each person is allowed to make and/or be listed as a participant on only one submission. The Program Committee reserves the right to eliminate from consideration those who submit and/or are listed as a participant on more than one proposal.
- So that as many members as possible will have the opportunity to be actively involved in the Annual Meeting, participants will be strictly limited to one formal appearance in one session on the program. A person may not present a paper in one session and serve as a chair or commentator in the same session with papers or another session (with or without papers). Nor may a person serve as chair and/or commentator on more than one session at the same annual meeting. A session organizer may chair and present on the same session without papers. Those who otherwise have more than one appearance on a proposal or appear on two or more proposals will render those proposals ineligible for consideration by the Program Committee. SESSION ORGANIZERS ARE ONLY PERMITTED TO SUBMIT ONE PROPOSAL.
- Sessions submitted without a chair will not be considered. A person may chair and comment on the same session.
- If a panel has a commentator, he or she should not be the dissertation advisor of any member of the panel.
- Session organizers should seek out a mix of junior and senior panelists, as well as a mix of institutions represented by faculty and graduate student panelists.
- A major headache at all Annual Meetings is papers that go on for too long, wearying the audience and disrupting the schedule. Session organizers should make sure that their session begins on time, and that participants do not abuse the time limits. All sessions are 105 minutes in length. This includes the reading of papers, responses by the commentators and comments from the audience. When an audience has sat through a typical session of three papers and one response by a commentator, they quite rightly feel cheated and frustrated if no time is left for audience participation. The following chart can be used by the session chair as a guide to allocating time during the session, assuming that one takes five minutes for introductions.
| Session Length | Number of Papers or Presentations | Time Allowed per Paper or Presentation | Time Allowed for a Single Commentator | Time Allowed for Audience Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 105 minutes | 3 | 20 | 20 | 20 |
| 105 minutes | 4 | 16 | 16 | 20 |
| 105 minutes | 5 | 13 | 15 | 20 |
Participation Requirements
The association expects that people agreeing to appear on the ASA program should recognize their professional responsibility to support the organization with their dues as well as conference registration fees.
All participants on the convention program must be listed on the ASA membership roll by April 30, 2009. If a program participant does not join the ASA by April 30, 2009, he or she will not be listed in the printed program book and should be replaced immediately.
All members of overseas affiliated societies may participate in the convention as full members, i.e., may pay member registration fees.
On occasion, non-academic participants or specially invited distinguished academic speakers may, with written permission of the Executive Director, be exempted from the membership requirement. Applications for exemption shall be submitted in writing to the Executive Director of ASA by April 30, 2009. These non-members, however, must register for the conference at the non-member rate.
All participants on the Convention program must pre-register for the Convention by May 31, 2009. If a program participant does not pre-register for the convention by May 31, 2009, he or she will not be listed in the printed program book and should be replaced immediately.
The Program Committee advises each participant of his or her professional and ethical obligation to appear, and also to locate suitable replacements in the event of an unavoidable withdrawal.
Fees and Funding
Participant Registration Fee (postmarked on or before May 31, 2009):
ASA Member or International Affiliate $70.00
ASA Member or International Affiliate-Income under $15,000 $50.00
ASA Member-Student/K-12 Educator $25.00
Non-Member $90.00
Non-Member-Income under $15,000/year $70.00
Non-Member-Student/K-12 Educator $40.00
All participants are responsible for obtaining the funding they need to attend the Annual Meeting. Neither the ASA nor the Program Committee can underwrite travel funds, honoraria, per diem, or other subsidies for any chair, commentator, or panelist; breakfasts, luncheons, dinners, cocktail parties, receptions, and the like; professional or individual video tape recording of sessions or events.
Membership and registration fees are neither refundable nor transferable.
Forfeited registration fees will automatically transfer to the Baxter Travel Grant Fund. The Baxter Grants provide partial travel reimbursement to advanced graduate students who are members of the ASA and will travel to the convention in order to appear on the Annual Meeting program.
Program Decisions
The Program Committee will organize sessions from individual paper proposals and, on occasion, will combine individual papers with proposed full sessions. If your paper or panel is not accepted, the Committee may call upon you to play an alternative role at the meeting as a chair or commentator. To facilitate the Committee's work, please indicate on the online submission form whether you are willing to act as chair or commentator on another session. The Committee also invites self-nominations from ASA members to serve as chairs and commentators exclusively on sessions constructed from individual submissions.
After the January 26, 2009, deadline for submission of proposals, the Program Committee will meet to review the proposals and select the sessions to be held at the upcoming Annual Meeting. The Committee will approve proposals on the basis of their quality in relation to the others submitted. The Committee will also: attempt to include sessions on a wide variety of subjects and approaches, including scholarly, pedagogical, and professional subjects; consciously support the inclusion of panels focused on topics of concern to different minority groups; strive to balance its selections between topics of continuing interest and new topics to which little or no attention has been paid; look for sessions in which scholars in different fields engage one another on a common topic; and try to span different time periods and subject matters in sessions constructed from individual papers. There will be room for specialized sessions on particular subjects.
To avoid favoritism, the Committee will take care not to overload the sessions with faculty and graduate students from institutions represented by members of the Committee. This does not disallow members of the Committee from presenting papers. The Committee will make every effort to assure diverse representation through the inclusion of minorities, women, graduate students, and international colleagues, and will seek to reflect the regional and disciplinary diversity of the Association's membership.
Notification and Participation
Once the Committee has finalized the program, all persons who have submitted proposals will be notified in writing of the Committee's decisions. Session organizers are responsible for notifying the members of the proposed panel of the Program Committee's decision. If you do not receive an official letter or e-mail by April 30, please contact the Office of the Executive Director, 1120 19th St. NW, Suite 301, Washington, DC 20036, (202) 467-4783. E-mail:
The session chair will coordinate contact among the session participants to ensure maximum integration of presentations. Participants should send the session chair a brief biographical statement to be used in introductions.
If a session has a commentator, that session's participants must send copies of their completed papers to him or her by October 12, 2009.
It is not possible to guarantee any session or panelist a day or time on the program. If notified by April 30, the Program Committee will try to honor requests not to schedule a presentation on a religious holiday.
No-Shows
The ASA reminds participants of their professional and ethical obligation to appear in person at their session at the annual meeting. No-shows are conspicuous in their absence. They inconvenience the chair and fellow presenters, as well as those attending their session. The American Studies Association defines a no-show as someone on the program who is not physically present at her/his session at the annual meeting and either (1) has not notified ASA in advance that s/he cannot attend the meeting by October 1, 2009, or (2) has not submitted a presentation to be read by the chair or another person at the meeting by October 1, 2009. No-shows will not be considered for the following year's program. If you notify ASA in advance or submit a presentation to be made by someone else at their session, you will not be penalized. You are responsible for finding your own alternative presenter.
Contact Us
For further information about the Call for Proposals, you may contact the Convention Coordinator at annualmeeting@theasa.net, the President-elect Kevin Gaines (gaineskk@umich.edu) or the Program Committee Co-chairs: Joanna Brooks (jmbrooks@mail.sdsu.edu). Melani McAlister (mmc@gwu.edu), and Barry Shank (shank.46@osu.edu).
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