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War and Peace Studies Caucus Main Page
The War and Peace Studies Caucus will identify the analysis of violence and conflict as a primary field of study within American Studies scholarship and provide a dedicated space in which scholars interested in exploring how these issues intersect with the critical questions central to the study of American culture can share ideas, network, and collaborate to generate new directions for research and teaching. Recent scholarship that interrogates questions of transnationalism, imperialism, and borderlands studies, as well as that which seeks to historicize and explore the significance in American culture of the “War on Terror” and the on-going wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, have led to much excellent work that critically engages these issues. However, scholars working on these issues often remain separated because their alignment with particular subfields and historical periods prohibits collaboration with scholars working on similar issues in other fields or with regard to other historical moments.
The War and Peace Studies Caucus will seek to bridge this gap by encouraging collaboration across subfields and historical periods to develop new directions for teaching and research regarding how issues of violence and conflict intersect with issues ranging from notions of patriotism and nationalism to the role of technology and religion in American life. We are interested in interrogating specific historical incidents, theoretical questions about violence and conflict, the relationship between the study of war and peace and other subfields in American Studies, and all other issues that allow us to critically interrogate both issues of war and peace and the larger question of the location of these issues within the American Studies project. We are particularly interested in encouraging partnerships that will lead to increased consideration of how the methodological and theoretical approaches central to the study of war and peace are useful in producing new understandings of those topics, and, concurrently, how examining those intersections will lead to innovative understandings of the historical and contemporary significance of war and peace in American culture.
Contact information:
* David Kieran, American Culture Studies Program, Washington University in St. Louis (dkieran@artsci.wustl.edu)
* Aaron DeRosa, English Department, Purdue University (aderosa@purdue.edu)
Community Blog
News from the ASA 2011 Annual Meeting
Dear Members of the War and Peace Studies Caucus,
In just three years, the War and Peace Studies Caucus has become a vibrant force in the ASA. From the initial roundtable on “Studying War in Peace in American Studies” at the 2009 annual meeting in Washington, D.C. , we have worked to increase the visibility of war studies at the ASA and to provide opportunities for scholars interested in these topics to meet and collaborate. The results have been outstanding; the 2011 program included at least fifteen panels directly related to the study of war and peace, on topics ranging from the Pequot Wars to the use of drones in the War on Terror. We can’t take credit for all of the, but several did emerge from within the caucus, and we have much to be proud of.
At the 2011 Annual Meeting, the Caucus met to discuss our continuing work, which includes continuing to provide networking opportunities for scholars interested in presenting at the Annual Meeting. We also discussed how the Caucus might partner with other groups within and without the ASA to develop conference and publication opportunities.
Below is a quick summary of items that were discussed as well as some initiatives that are in the works for 2012:
* Broadening Our Community: Mike Hill offered to reach out to the members of war-related panels on the 2012 program and invite them to join the Caucus.
* Anniversaries and Commemorations: We are in the midst of a particularly dense period of anniversaries and commemorations - the 10th anniversary of September 11, 2001 and the beginnings of the War on Terror and its component wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the 150th anniversary of the Civil War, the 70th anniversary of Pearl Harbor, the 40th anniversary of the end of the war in Vietnam, and the 60th anniversary of the Korean War are all approaching or occurring. We discussed the potential for the caucus to be involved in creating panels and roundtables that would explore the politics of commemoration in the current moment.
* Empire and War: Kristin Hass suggested a continuing gap between those who identify themselves as scholars of empire and those who identify as scholars of war. We discussed a potential panel that would explore the range of ways and places in which empire and war have intersected in American culture, and Kristin has offered to reach out to scholars on the 2012 program who are working on empire. Those interested should email Kristin directly (.(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address))
* War and/in/on the Environment:
o Bob Marzec proposed a panel entitled “Military Ecology and the Sciences” that would focus, among other issues, on the military’s approach to climate change, energy policy, and the relationship between the environmental movement and the military. Interested people can email Bob directly (.(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address))
o Bruce Franklin proposed that the caucus co-sponsor a panel with the Environmental Caucus, the members of which seem keen on doing so. I will be reaching out to them.
* Base Culture Across the Hemispheres: We discussed a potential panel that would examine the culture and politics surrounding U.S. military bases around the world - in Korea, the Philippines, Puerto Rico, Guam, and other places. There are clearly a range of interesting, provocative topics to be explored here. I don’t think anyone has offered to coordinate this panel, so please use the Google Group (see below) to network.
* The Military and Cultural Theory: Mike Hill pointed out that the military has become very interested in some of the same theoretical issues that animate cultural studies scholarship and is interested in exploring the ramifications of their theorizing, particularly around matters related to the political economy of war. We discussed potential collaboration with the Science and Technology Caucus on this panel. For more details, contact Mike (.(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address))
* ASA 2012 in Puerto Rico: The 2012 Annual Meeting in San Juan provides a wonderful opportunity to think about issues significant to the study of War and Peace. Two that we discussed were:
o The Representation / Lack of Latino Soldiers in the U.S. Military: This panel would examine the location of Latinos in the U.S. military both in the present and historically from a range of perspectives. Contact Irene` Garza (.(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address))
o Vieques: The use of a Vieques as a bombing range is an issue that the Caucus would like to take up, particularly given the conference’s site. One idea that we discussed was a roundtable with scholars and local activists. I will be checking with the ASA to see if they have already put any plans together, and will suggest that we collaborate with the executive board on a program.
* Teaching the Korean War: As we all know, the Korean War is often the conflict that gets short shrift in courses. Daniel Kim proposed a panel or roundtable that would explore strategies for teaching the War in college courses. Contact Daniel at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Other Issues:
* Sponsored Panels: Bruce Franklin learned that the Caucus can sponsor one panel, and that that panel will be guaranteed acceptance onto the 2012 Program. Those of you who are organizing panels and would like to be considered for sponsorship should post to the Google Group the information that you submit to ASA, and caucus members can send me their votes. To facilitate this process, please post your materials by January 15, 2012.
* Please note that the deadline for submitting proposals for ASA 2012 is January 26, 2012 at 11:59 PM EST.
There are, clearly, many more topics of interest to the community. To facilitate communication, the caucus has established a Google Group that is open to the public and where interested parties can share CFPs and Announcements. Please click here to join: http://groups.google.com/group/ASAWPSC
If there are additional announcements or corrections to the above, please let me know. Thanks to everyone for their continued work on the caucus, and to bringing War and Peace Studies to a more prominent place in the American Studies Community.
Best,
Dave Kieran
Visiting Assistant Professor
American Studies
Franklin and Marshall College
Categories:
CFP: “The Politics of War”
79th Annual Meeting of the Society for Military History
Arlington, VA, 10-13 May 2012
The Society for Military History is pleased to announce its call for papers for the 79th Annual Meeting hosted by the Army Historical Foundation in Arlington, Virginia, 10-13 May 2012.
Categories:
NEW ASA War and Peace Studies Google Group
The caucus has begun a Google Group to facilitate the sharing of CFPs and other materials. Interested members should click here (http://groups.google.com/group/ASAWPSC?hl=en) to join the group. Although some material will be available on the website, this will henceforth be our primary means of communicating.
Best,
Dave Kieran
How Do Encounters with the Material World Shape Our Sense of War?
Dear Colleagues,
I want to call your attention to a new web site and opportunity to participate in discussion both before and during the 2011 ASA conference:
http://warandvisceralimagination.wordpress.com/
The site supports the “War and the Visceral Imagination” panel session(Sunday, Oct. 23rd at 8:00 a.m. in Peale A of the Hilton Baltimore).
This interdisciplinary panel will explore the political and social ramifications of multisensory engagements with the material world by asking how objects act upon the visceral imagination to shape our sense of war. Each of the papers considers embodied experiences of the material within the context of a wartime culture in the United States: the Civil War, the Spanish American War, and World War II. In each case, the material cultures we trace called on participants not just to look, but also to hear, taste, and feel differently. The three papers are now online for you to read and comment on.
How to participate:
CFP: The Meaning of War in the Colonial American Context
The Meaning of War in the Colonial American Context
One of the central thematic concepts of the 2011 ASA conference is transformation.
Among the most transformative events in history are acts of war and conflict. This
panel seeks to address the way in which war transformed early colonial American
cultural history in the run up to the American Revolution. I especially would like
to explore the way in which the conflicts that took place in the colonial world
affected conceptions of just war and the laws of war. How was early American
cultural history formed by European concepts of war? How were indigenous events
affecting the way war was imagined? And, consequently, how did these new notions of
war shaped cultural formation in the colonial world? And given the conference
organizers’ reference to 9/11 in their call for proposal, what can we learn today
about how concepts of war evolved during the early colonial period?
Contact: Chiara Cillerai, .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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