Midwest Conference on British Studies 68thAnnual Meeting
Bowling Green State University
Bowling Green, OH
October 15-16, 2021
The Midwest Conference on British Studies is proud to announce that its 68th Annual Meeting will be hosted by Bowling Green State University in Bowling Green, Ohio, October 15-16. The keynote speaker will be Dr. Sara Butler, Professor and King George III Chair of British History at the Ohio State University. While the MWCBS intends to hold the conference onsite at Bowling Green State University, the organizers may change the conference to an online format if extraordinary circumstances related to the Covid pandemic warrant. If so, the change to an online format will be announced in July.
The MWCBS seeks papers from scholars in all fields of British Studies, broadly defined to include those who study England, Scotland, Wales, Ireland, and Britain’s Empire and the Commonwealth from Roman Britain to the modern age. The organizers welcome scholars from a broad spectrum of disciplines, including but not limited to history, literature, political science, gender studies, art and music history. Scholars at all stages of their careers, from graduate students to emeriti, as well as independent scholars, people working in associated careers, and more traditional academics are welcome. The organizers accept full panel proposals and individual proposals equally. The MWCBS encourages scholars to use H-Albion to find additional panelists. The organization can also help find chairs, commentators, and additional panelists, if needed.
The MWCBS welcomes individual proposals and proposals for panels (of three participants plus chair/commentator), roundtables (of four participants plus chair), poster sessions, and panels featuring the pre-circulation of papers among participants and audience members.
The MWCBS welcomes proposals that:
- Examine new trends in British Studies
- Explore new developments in digital humanities, pedagogies, and/or research methodologies
- Present professional development sessions on collaborative or innovative learning techniques in the British Studies classroom or on topics of research, publication, public outreach, or employment relevant to British Studies scholars
- Offer comparative analyses of different periods of British Studies, such as comparing medieval and early modern issues in context
- Situate the arts, letters, and sciences in a British cultural context
- Present new research on the political, social, cultural, and economic history of the British Isles
- Examine representations of British and imperial/Commonwealth national identities, including the construction of identities shaped by race, class, ethnicity, sexuality, gender, and dis/ability
- Consider Anglo-American relations, past and present
- Assess a major work or body of work by a scholar
The MWCBS welcomes presentations by advanced graduate students and will award the Walter L. Arnstein Prize for the best graduate student paper(s) given at the conference. A limited number of Jim Sack Travel Awards will also be available, and all graduate students are encouraged to apply. Further details will be available on the MWCBS website: http://mwcbs.edublogs.org/
Proposal Requirements and Deadline:
- Include a 200-word abstract for each paper and a 1-page c.v. for each participant, including chairs and commentators.
- For full panels, also include a 200-word abstract for the panel as a whole.
- Please place the panel abstract, accompanying paper proposals, and vitas in one Word or PDF file and submit it as a single attachment. Also identify, within the e-mail, the panel’s contact person.
- All proposals should be submitted electronically by April 23, to the Program Committee Chair, David Pennington at dpennington41@webster.edu
Program Committee: Celeste Chamberland, Roosevelt University; Jules Gehrke, Saginaw Valley State University; Mary McCain, DePaul University; David Pennington, Chair, Webster University; Valerie Schutte, independent scholar; Emily Wicktor, North Dakota State University.
Visit the MWCBS website at http://mwcbs.edublogs.org/