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Call for Proposals: Beyond National Boundaries: Internationalizing American Studies Toward an Era of Peace Making, June 2008 (Contingent Upon Funding)

The American Studies Association and the Japanese Association for American Studies, with support from the Japan-United States Friendship Commission (JUFSC), are pleased to announce a competition open to ASA members (U.S. citizens). We plan to select (contingent upon funding) two ASA delegates for participation in the annual JAAS conference at Kyoto University in June 7-8, 2008.

We invite proposals for the 2008 JAAS-ASA workshops on the themes “American Democracy: Myth and Reality”; and “From Downtown to Uptown: Social Mobility in Ethnic Communities.”

The two workshop themes were chosen by the Japanese Association for American Studies. The following statements have resulted from the collaboration between the JAAS and the ASA. The statements are meant to raise questions to prompt the writing of applications, not to limit directions in which the themes may be developed.

The proposed workshop on “American Democracy” is intended to welcome applications in the humanities (but not exclude other disciplinary emphases); and the workshop “From Downtown to Uptown,” the social sciences (again, not exclusively). In proposing and indeed revisiting the following themes, the JAAS recognizes that the hallmark of American Studies among the ASA and JAAS memberships today is an interdisciplinarity that opens the proposed themes to an originality and richness of approaches.

“American Democracy: Myth and Reality:” The call here is for new and current discussions, critiques, and analyses of an established topic, even while the topic also calls for contextualizing in histories of American democracy and possibly the roles of democracy in ideas about a future era of peace making.

“From Downtown to Uptown: Social Mobility in Ethnic Communities.” Through lenses of cultural studies, sociology, political science, economics, anthropology, and the interdisciplinarity of American Studies, what has been and is characteristic of social mobility in the United States? In proposing this theme, American Studies colleagues in the JAAS observe and are asking about a possible consequence of social mobility in the United States in particular, where constructs of “ethnic communities” have strong meanings: within ethnic communities of the United States, along with social mobility is social stratification becoming increasingly pronounced? Is “ethnic identity” too becoming stratified as a consequence of social mobility? Is social mobility an urban phenomenon, and can the “downtown/uptown” metaphor be seen thematically as applying to United States society in broader scope? Are these and other questions about social mobility comparable with or related to social phenomena beyond the borders of the United States?

The two workshops on the general themes of “American Democracy: Myth and Reality”; and “From Downtown to Uptown: Social Mobility in Ethnic Communities” will include an ASA delegate and two or three members of the JAAS or other international delegations and will be conducted in English.

To develop fuller scholarly exchanges and deeper collegiality among American Studies scholars in both the U.S. and Japan, the JUSFC since 1990 has awarded the ASA and the JAAS funding for several American Studies scholars to undertake ten-day to two-week scholarly visits to Japan. In addition to speaking at the JAAS annual meeting, the responsibilities of the ASA scholars include: collaborating with JAAS colleagues and offering public addresses, as arranged by the JAAS, for on average a two weeks’ period in Japan; helping to arrange research, speaking and scholarly collaboration opportunities for JAAS project participants in the United States; and contributing papers to an anthology to be published in print and/or electronic form. In order to address wider audiences in a variety of locations across Japan, a number of public lectures may be arranged for ASA scholars by the Public Affairs Section of the US Embassy in Japan, within the 10 to 14-day period. We are particularly interested in encouraging the application of mid-career scholars for whom this would be their first academic trip to Japan. We hope to foster international and cooperative work among American Studies scholars in both nations, who will remain in contact with each other over the years.

Participants in previous competitions are encouraged to update their application materials and re-submit them, indicating interest in and availability for a two-week period in June 2008. The award covers round trip airfare to Japan, housing, and modest daily expenses.

Application Procedures: Each application letter will include a summary in 300 words of the proposed paper to be presented at the JAAS annual meeting. Participants should specify the workshop, “American Democracy: Myth and Reality” or “From Downtown to Uptown: Social Mobility in Ethnic Communities” to which they are applying. Explain how the proposed paper contributes to discussion of that topic. Include a two-page curriculum vita, emphasizing teaching experience and publications. Also include the names and addresses of three references and a personal statement, no longer than two pages, describing your interest in this project and the issues that your own scholarship and teaching have addressed. Please devote one or two paragraphs to why you understand this scholarly visit to be central to your own development as a scholar in the world community. You may include comments on previous collaboration or work with non-U.S. academics or students. If you wish, you may comment on your particular interest in, or connections to, Japan. Prior experience of work or travel in Japan, however, is not a requirement for selection. Applicants must be current members of the ASA.

Application materials should be addressed to the Selection Committee, ASA-JAAS Internationalizing American Studies, and sent via electronic mail message, as a Word, Word Perfect, or PDF document in a single attachment before midnight (US DST) October 1, 2007, to asa-jaas@theasa.net.