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51st Annual Italian American Studies Association's Conference Program

Keynote Speaker: Jennifer Guglielmo

Keynote title:  "Italian American Studies for a World in Crisis"

Jennifer Guglielmo, Associate Professor of History

Jennifer Guglielmo is an associate professor of history at Smith College where she teaches histories of women, labor, race, migration, working-class communities, transnational cultures and revolutionary social movements in the United States, from the nineteenth century to the present. Her publications include the award-winning Living the Revolution: Italian Women’s Resistance and Radicalism in New York City, 1880-1945 (2010), and Are Italians White? How Race Is Made in America (2003). Currently, she is engaged in community-based public history with the National Domestic Workers Alliance, developing tools for domestic workers and organizers to access historical knowledge and archival evidence, so it is easier to use history as an organizing tool.

Conference Hotel: Crowne Plaza Chicago West Loop

Crowne Plaza: Chicago West Loop

733 West Madison

Chicago, IL 60661

The cutoff date to register at the hotel was Wednesday, September 26; the discounted rate is no longer available.

Online Reservations: IASA

Reservations: 312-829-5000

Please mention Group Code "T5G" when making reservations online or by phone

 

Call for Papers for the 51st Annual Italian American Studies Association Conference

51st Annual IASA Conference at the University of Illinois,  Chicago

 

— Call for Papers —

“The Conflicts of Immigration Past and Present:

The Position[ing] of Italians and the Diaspora”

 

Date: October 18-20, 2018

 

Location: University of Illinois, Chicago

 

Submission Deadline EXTENDED: Friday, May 11, 2018

 

Upload/submit proposals to Submittable:

 https://italianamericanstudies.submittable.com/submit

 

For inquiries, please contact the conference committee at: IASAConference18@gmail.com

 

The Italian American Studies Association (IASA), formerly the American Italian Historical Association (AIHA)*, celebrates its fifty-first year of academic inquiry into all things Italian and Italian American. This year’s conference theme will address (teaching) the conflicts and tensions in the diaspora, and especially about bringing attention to collective phenomena and how the Italian Diaspora intersects with other diasporic communities. The call is for papers that examine, interrogate, or reflect on the broad themes of the Italian Diaspora that move scholarship forward.

Possible presentation and panel topics may include but are not limited to the following:

  • Italian Chicago as the gateway to migrant expansion
  • Italian Chicago, the churches, and sainthood
  • Italian Chicago and organized crime
  • Historiography of the Italian Diaspora
  • The Diaspora in the community: bureaucracies, institutions, power, leadership
  • Urban neighborhoods and other spatial formations
  • The changing models of the immigrant/migrant experience through time
  • The Italian Diaspora in relationship to other ethnic and racial diasporas
  • The narrative quest for the American Dream (as seen in the media, sports, film, literature, etc.)
  • The Italian Diaspora as seen through creative expression
  • Italian Diaspora from the perspective of the behavioral and social sciences
  • Whiteness, blackness, and identities in diasporic communities

The conference is interdisciplinary in its perspective and methodology. IASA welcomes scholars from all disciplines (including, but not limited to: political science, urban studies, film, literature, women and gender studies), especially those interested in the ethno-historical, religious, and psychological ramifications of migration as well as creative writers (novelists, poets, and memoirists) and visual-media artists. The conference committee will consider proposals that do not specifically address but may complement this year’s conference theme.  

You must email an abstract of your individual presentation or panel proposal and include a brief biography (150 words max.) and academic affiliation, if applicable. For panel proposals, attach a biography of all presenters as well as their affiliation. The abstract should not exceed 500 words. Include requests for audiovisual equipment or special accommodations.  

We encourage the submission of organized panels of no more than three presenters, not including the chair and respondent, and creative writers and artists of three or more presenters. All presentations are limited to 15-20 minutes based upon the number of people on the panel. Participation is limited to 3 presentations; this may include academic papers, creative readings, and/or as a part of round table or respondent. If you are willing to serve as chair, please indicate that willingness in your cover letter. This is separate from your presentation(s).

All presenters, respondents, and discussants must be members in good standing of the Italian American Studies Association by September 1, 2018. Dues are for the calendar year.

For further information, please visit www.italianamericanstudies.net 

IASA encourages proposals in diverse formats, including round tables, debates, workshops, teaching sessions, and performances. We prefer fully formed sessions, although we also encourage people to submit individual presentations, as well as we encourage submission of individuals who would prefer to moderate or to comment. If this is your interest, please submit a CV and statement of areas of interest and expertise. We are especially interested in linking scholars across fields and we welcome participants from multiple disciplines, roles, and backgrounds.

Guidelines for Proposals:

Sessions will be 75 minutes, and we will ask the presenter to limit her or his remarks to 15-20 minutes each, so there is ample time for Q&A and discussion. Proposals may be for one of three forms:

  • Individual presentation, paper, or talk.
  • Panel session or workshop, featuring multiple presenters.
  • Performance, reading, or screening of creative work.

Proposals should include:

  • Proposal title and a brief (250-word description)           
  • Suggested topic category (see list above)      
  • Brief biographical statement, affiliation, and e-mail     
  • Technology needs, if any.

* December 1966, a group of historians, educators, sociologists, and other interested persons met at the LaGuardia Memorial House in New York City and founded the American Italian Historical Association. Since then, the Association has grown exponentially to reflect the diversity of scholarship that now subtends Italian-American studies.

IASA Annual Conference Poster created by Catherine Yaun

Key Dates & Registration

All presenters must register and be members of IASA for the year 2018; we are extending the early registration fee until Sunday, October 7. On Monday, October 8, late registration will be $200.00

Late Registration Fee:

$200.00

Late Adjunct Faculty Fee:

$100.00

Student Registration Fee:

$50.00

Non-presenter/Spouse/Partners

Daily

$25.00

Entire Conference

$50.00

Farewell Banquet

Saturday, October 20

$80.00

Conference Dates:

October 18-20, 2018