Call for Papers
American Studies Symposium
“Critical and Comparative Perspectives on American Studies”
English Department, Faculty of Philosophy, University of Sarajevo, March 22, 2014
The English Department of the University of Sarajevo will host an American Studies Symposium on Saturday, March 22, 2014. We invite you to join us for a full day of theme-based sessions and discussion groups, with ample opportunities to present a range of approaches, and to exchange reactions, impressions, and suggestions.
Keynote speaker: Prof. Joseph W.H. Lough, Ph.D., University of California, Berkeley, and Visiting Fulbright Professor.
Since its inception in the 1930s, the field of American studies has been continuously examining its own disciplinary concepts, methodological approaches and geographic assumptions. It has been argued that such questioning of its own identity has made American studies one of the most rapidly developing disciplines in the world. One of the intrinsic tendencies in this field has been the linking a broad set of concerns across various other fields of study, notably those of cultural studies, ecocriticism, gender and critical race studies, immigration and issues of (post)coloniality. In recent decades, this discipline has been especially invigorated by focusing heightened attention on globalization, internationalization, transnationalization, and hemispheric studies (such as the most recent archipelagic American studies).
During this symposium, we will address the convergences and divergences of this area of inquiry, and, more specifically, how this discipline might be approached. Further, it will examine what role and capacity American studies may have amid menacing circumstances of environmental, economic and educational degradation, in a world marked by a transnational flux of people, money, and cultures.
The symposium will be hosted by the Faculty of Philosophy in Sarajevo (Franje Račkog 1), where all activities will take place. A book of proceedings containing the symposium papers will be published following an editorial process.
Submission
All papers pertaining to the topic are welcome. Possible areas of investigation include, but are not limited to history, literature, linguistics, politics, geography, popular culture, arts, education, philosophy, sociology, and gender. The presentations must be in English, and should be approximately 20 minutes in length. All interested parties are invited to send proposals (250 words or fewer) no later than February 20, 2014, to the following email address: amsinsarajevo@gmail.com. Along with your proposal, please submit a short biography, including contact information and any audio/visual equipment necessary for your presentation. Inquiries regarding the symposium may be made to the above mentioned email address.
Deadline for submissions: February 20, 2014.
Notifications of acceptance: March 1, 2014.
Registration: All participants are required to register for the conference. The registration fee is BAM 40.00. The participation fee includes all symposium proceedings, daytime refreshments and lunch. Payments can be made in advance by bank transfer or by cash on the morning of the symposium. Payment by credit card is not possible.