46th Annual Conference of the Western Society for French History
Portland, Maine
1-3 November 2018
Submission Due Date: 15 April 2018
The forty-sixth annual conference of the Western Society for French History will be held from November 1-3, 2018 in Portland, Maine. The theme for this year’s conference is “French History from the Edge,” exploring how the study of geographic peripheries, marginalized populations, the intersectionality of gender, race, and class, and interdisciplinary methodologies informs our understanding of France and Francophone worlds. Our keynote speakers will be Natalie Zemon Davis (Professor Emerita of History, University of Toronto) and Emmanuelle Saada (Director of French and Francophone Studies, Columbia University). We welcome proposals from our scholarly community on all aspects of French and Francophone studies, medieval to contemporary. To engage the membership in the society’s updated mission, we particularly seek panels, roundtables, and pedagogical workshops that explore this year’s theme of “French History from the Edge.” The WSFH encourages the participation of advanced graduate students. Western Society for French History Mission Statement Updated at the 45th Annual Meeting, 2-4 November 2017
The Western Society for French History was founded in 1974 to promote greater regional, professional, and methodological diversity in the study of French and Francophone history. Its international membership includes research and teaching faculty, graduate students, independent scholars, and historians in the general public from the United States, Canada, and around the world. The Society welcomes specialists of French and Francophone culture from a variety of disciplines and interdisciplinary perspectives. The Society takes pride in its longstanding support of graduate student research and conference participation, particularly through its scholarship program.
The Western Society for French History embraces a dynamic, diverse, and engaged scholarly community that is actively committed to achieving equity and inclusion in the production and transmission of knowledge about the Francophone world. To that end, the Society encourages its members to think critically about injustice in the academy and to develop tools and practices to combat structural inequalities in the profession and academic institutions. Convinced that academic excellence demands this kind of individual and collective engagement, the Society seeks to empower its members to work to eliminate oppression and discrimination in the field, as well as in their classrooms, home departments, and university administrations.
Research Panels: The Program Committee encourages the submission of panels of three research papers, a commentator, and chair. Please send complete panel proposals (preferred) or individual papers as a Microsoft Word attachment to Robin Walz, WSFH President and Program Committee Chair, at president@wsfh.org. Please note the following format requests:
- Research panel proposals should include the word “panel” and several key words or the title of the panel in the document name, e.g., panel_keywords.docx
- Individual papers should, likewise, include the word “paper” and the paper title in the name of the document.
- Research panel proposals should include the following items, integrated into a single Word document: 1) A cover page with the name of the panel and the panel organizer, contact information and an affiliation for each panel member, the commentator, and the chair, any AV needs. (Note: the commentator and the chair should not be the same person; 2) A paper abstract and one-page CV for each panelist; 3) any AV needs.
Panel Discussions, Roundtables, and Pedagogical Workshops: The Program Committee particularly welcomes proposals for panel discussions, roundtables, and pedagogical workshops that explore this year’s conference theme, “French History from the Edge.” These session proposals should be submitted in a single Word document that include: 1) an abstract describing the purpose, content, and format of the session; 2) the session organizer; 3) contact information, affiliation, and a one-page CV for each session participant; 4) any AV needs. Send session proposals as a Microsoft Word attachment to Robin Walz, WSFH President and Program Committee Chair, at president@wsfh.org. If you have alternate ideas for a session, please contact us.
The Program Committee: Gayle Brunelle (California State University, Fullerton), Christopher Church (University of Nevada, Reno), Stephen Harp (University of Akron), Joelle Neulander (The Citadel), Christy Pichichero (George Mason University), and Robin Walz, Chair (University of Alaska). The Local Arrangements Committee is chaired by Meghan Roberts (Bowdoin College).
Accommodations: The conference will take place at the Westin Portland Harborview (conference registration forthcoming), which is ideally situated within easy walking distance of Portland's charming downtown, working waterfront, lovely views of Casco Bay, and stellar restaurant scene. Portland is also within a short drive to beautiful recreational areas such as Two Lights State Park and Wolfe's Neck State Park. Participants can either fly directly into the Portland International Jetport (PWM) or take a Concord Coachways bus from Boston's Logan Airport (BOS) or South Station.
For more information, see the conference webpage. Please direct queries to Robin Walz at president@wsfh.org.