Call for Papers. Memory and Commemoration
The NCSA program committee invites proposals on any aspect of “memory and commemoration” in the nineteenth century. From photographs and locks of hair to jubilee processions and civic monuments, nineteenth-century men and women sought to commemorate, preserve, and utilize personal and collective memories and histories. How did individuals remember loved ones, or their own histories? How did they celebrate corporate visions of the past, or dispute visions put forward by others? How were interpretations of the past used as tools of revolution, nation-building, imperialism, and other political activities? In what ways did new economies of tourism and consumerism support a culture of commemoration? How, too, have memories of the nineteenth-century past been contested by later generations? Topics might include civic commemorations, jubilees, holidays, public memorials, architectural changes, cemeteries, elegies, death rituals, photography, souvenirs, memoirs and autobiographies, or literary and artistic uses of the past. Papers may also analyze theoretical concepts of memory, invented traditions, and contested spaces, as well as interdisciplinary and alternate interpretations.
Send 250-word abstracts with 1-page CVs to ncsacharleston2017@gmail.com by September 30, 2016. Abstracts should include author’s name, institutional affiliation and paper title in the heading. We welcome panel proposals with three panelists and a moderator or alternative formats with pre-circulated papers and discussion. Please note that submission of a proposal constitutes a commitment to attend if accepted. Presenters will be notified in November 2016. Graduate students whose proposals have been accepted may submit completed papers to apply for a travel grant to help cover transportation and lodging expenses. Scholars who reside outside of North America and whose proposals have been accepted may submit a full paper to be considered for the International Scholar Travel Grant (see NCSA website for additional requirements: http://www.ncsaweb.net).
