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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
CFP: Keywords Roundtable, 2013
Hello fellow WPSCers—
I’ve agreed to David’s request that I organize the keywords session roundtable, which came up as a prospect at the caucus meeting in PR in November.
I’ll paste David summary below for folks (like me) who weren’t able to attend the meeting itself:
· “Keywords for Studying War and Peace ” We think that four years after our very successful ‘Studying War in Peace in American Studies / Studying America by Studying War and Peace roundtable at the 2009 ASA is a good time to revisit some of the foundational questions about how the study of war and peace intersects with the larger American Studies Project. We propose a roundtable in which presenters will briefly present ideas about how critical keywords in American Studies ” Empire, Human Rights, Environment, Peace, Technology, Trauma, Neoliberalism, and others ” intersect with the study of war. We invite ideas about keywords and participants.”
I’d like to reserve the keyword(s) ‘human rights,’ unless somebody else feels strongly attached to it, in which case I could do either ‘race,’ or ‘technology’. Bob Marzec has asked to cover ‘environment’. So that’s two down.
Can I ask for at least two others from our caucus to complete the roundtable, two additional folks who might claim one of the key words that David lists above and that I gather circulated w/ some interest (maybe even tentative commitment?) at the meeting in PR?
We’ll also need a Chair for the session. Anybody?
Please let me know by the end of the week—say, Monday, 12/17—if you would, just so I can fix a roster. I’d like to get the complete proposal to ASA by 1/15.
Best,
—Mike
Categories:
2013 Call for Participation: War and Peace Studies Caucus
The Caucus had a small but effective meeting at the ASA meeting in San Juan, and we are looking forward to the 2013 annual meeting in Washington, D.C. I want to provide a brief update on some ideas for 2013 panels that came up and invite you to contact me if you are interested in participating or if you have ideas of your own that you are interested in circulating.
2012 Business Meeting of the War and Peace Studies Caucus
Hello War and Peace Studies Caucus Members,
I hope everyone’s semester is off to a great start. The War and Peace Studies Caucus will be meeting from 2:00 to 3:45 on Saturday, November 17, in Foyer A of the Puerto Rico Convention Center. I hope that you will all take time from the program and San Juan to join us. Over the past few years we’ve made great strides in creating opportunities for more war and peace related panels and roundtables at ASA, and for better networking, particularly between senior and junior scholars and graduate students. This meeting will be an opportunity to build on this momentum and also to talk about new directions.
I welcome suggestions for agenda items, etc.
Hopefully before the meeting I will have time to send out a list of panels of interest; in the mean time, I encourage you to use the group to publicize your own panel, recently published writing, or other relevant information.
One event that I hope you will all consider attending is the Roundtable that the Caucus is sponsoring on Vieques. We discussed this last year at out business meeting and thought it crucial given ASA’s location. Several of you worked very hard to make it happen, and the result is a panel that brings together academics from a variety of fields with activists, folks working both in the U.S. and in Puerto Rico. I will post the information below.
I’m looking forward to seeing you all in San Juan.
Best,
Dave
David Kieran
Visiting Assistant Professor
American Studies
Franklin and Marshall
.(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Scheduled Time: Fri, Nov 16 - 2:00pm - 3:45pm Building/Room: Puerto Rico Convention Center, 101A
Title Displayed in Event Calendar: Vieques Struggle: Political, Social and Historical Significance
Session Participants:
Chair: Marie Cruz-Soto (New York University (NY))
Panelist: Robert Rabin (El Museo Fuerte Conde Mirasol (PR))
Panelist: Bonnie Donohue (School of the Museum of Fine Arts Boston (MA))
Panelist: Nilda Medina Díaz (Incubadora de Microempresas Bieke (PR))
Panelist: Marie Cruz-Soto (New York University (NY))
Abstract:
Puerto Rico inhabits a liminal space. It is a colony, in fact the oldest in the world, of an Empire that denies its imperial identity. As a “non-incorporated territory,” it is neither a full member of the U.S body politic, nor a simple chapter in U.S. mainstream history books. Like all in-between spaces, Puerto Rico(tm)s situation remains, for the most part, out of sight” within U.S. Public discourse “and seldom acknowledged” within mainstream academia. Vieques anti-military social movement changed all this. In a struggle for their lives” and against a military that was tainting their environment and poisoning their bodies “Vieques social movement not only succeeded in expelling the U.S. Navy from the island, but also in bringing to international attention the colonial situation.
Sponsored by the War and Peace Studies Caucus of the American Studies Association, this roundtable will discuss the political, social and historical significance of Vieques(tm) anti-military struggle. The discussion will be led by important activists and academics that participated in and studied the movement. Some of the themes to be discussed include: the relationship between culture, colonialism, and the global presence of the U.S. military; the environmental legacies of U.S. war making; the racial and ethnic dimensions of U.S. militarism; the politics of local and transnational community organizing and activism; and the politics of tourism, among others.
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.
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