Call for Papers – The History of the Body

Second Annual Washington University in St. Louis Graduate
History Conference: The History of the Body

October 26-27, 2012 at Washington University in St. Louis

Keynote speaker: Professor Leor Halevi, Vanderbilt University

The Graduate Conference Committee of the History Department at Washington University in St. Louis invites graduate students to submit proposals for its second annual Graduate Conference.

We welcome interdisciplinary submissions for this broadly conceived topic, and are excited to see in what new and creative directions participants will take this theme. For example, the “History of the Body” might include bodies used for political and religious expression, gender and the body, sexualities, the body politic, the transgression of boundaries, the movement of people, changing ideas of “good” and “bad” bodies over time, and the idea of bodies in the formation and appropriation of personal and impersonal spaces. Very literal uses of the “body” as well as more representational and less-direct approaches are equally welcome.

The Graduate History Conference chooses a biennial rotating theme, allowing for deeper examination of historical problems and questions over a period of time. This year will be the second year to explore the “History of the Body,” and we are eager to see how this provocative topic will develop in the concluding installment of the conference.

Deadline for submission of proposals: June 1, 2012

Proposals for papers should be between 200-300 words. Final papers should be approximately 20 minutes in length. Individual papers as well as proposals for panels will be considered. We welcome new as well as returning presenters. Please submit proposals to the conference website, http://history.artsci.wustl.edu/GHA/Conference/Submissions. For any questions please contact Ethan Bennett at ethanrbennett@gmail.com.