The Society for the History of Children and Youth invites proposals for panels, papers, roundtables or workshops that explore histories of children and youth from any place and in any era. We will, however, give particular attention to proposals that build upon this year's conference theme about childhood and youth: “Transition, Transaction and Transgression.”
Children and youth encounter a steady stream of opportunities to transform themselves even as they are categorized by others. Through various acts of circulation, imagination and rebellion, children and youth have helped to transform the worlds around them. In addition, we know that the young have responded by altering the meaning of gender, race, and sexuality – among other markers of identity – as they were prescribed by previous generations. Yet, these are only the most general of historical statements. How might current historical studies of childhood help us better grasp the connection between childhood, youth, and the many instances of “trans-” entering public and academic conversations? Specifically, but not exclusively, we call for papers/panels exploring transnational or trans-colonial exchanges; venturing into the worlds of transient workers, refugees, migrants, and the homeless; investigating the dynamics of transactional spaces (markets, advertising, popular culture); locating transformative historical structures, experiences, or events; reconsidering well-worn questions about the transgression/constitution of social norms; and examining the human capacity to transfigure or translate texts and artifacts.
Our theme draws upon the interdisciplinary orientation of this year’s hosting department: the program in Childhood Studies at Rutgers University, Camden. We welcome contributions by persons working from philosophy, languages, literature, anthropology, sociology, political science, education, social work, and law – among other disciplines and professions – who are using historical sources and methods to analyze the discourses, institutions, and practices of childhood and youth.
Submission Guidelines:
We will give priority to submissions of complete panel sessions. Individual papers will also be considered, but we urge you to recruit members for complete panel sessions and to make use of the many networks in the history of childhood and youth.
H-Childhood inquiries can be made via: https://networks.h-net.org/h-childhood
We encourage panels from all periods of time, with diverse national representation. We also welcome proposals for non-traditional and experimental panel sessions that extend historical research in unusual directions (eg. research-in-progress workshops, methods and theory workshops, material culture explorations, etc.).
Sessions will last approximately 90 minutes. A minimum of fifteen minutes should be reserved for audience discussion. In lieu of formal discussants, the Program Committee suggests that complete panel session organizers identify Chairs who can facilitate engagement with the session audience.
Complete Panel Session Proposals:
In order to be considered for the program, proposals must be received no later than October 1, 2016. They should include the following information:
1. Panel Title
2. The session organizer’s name, department, institution, address, and e-mail address
3. The following information for all participants:
–Names and roles (eg. paper-presenter and/or Chair)
–department and institution
–address and e-mail address
4. 250-word abstract for each paper
5. 1 page CV for each participant
6. Please state what, if any, audio-visual technology will be required for your session.
Individual Paper Proposals:
In order to be considered for the program, individual paper proposals must be received no later than October 1, 2016. They should include the following information:
1. Name of presenter, institutional affiliation, address and email.
2. Title of individual paper
3. 250-word abstract of paper
4. 1 page CV for presenter
5. Please state what, if any, audio-visual technology will be required for your paper.
Proposals should be gathered into one PDF document and sent as an email attachment to Brandi Venable. brandi.venable@rutgers.edu
The Program Committee will finalize decisions no later than December 1, 2016 - at which time we will notify the delegates. The program schedule will be produced during the winter.
Direct queries to the Co-chairs of the program committee:
Kristine Alexander, kristine.alexander@uleth.ca
Patrick Ryan, pryan2@uwo.ca