Call
for Papers:
"Childhood and the State / The State of Childhood"
Second Biennial Meeting of the Society for the History of
Children and Youth
June 26-29, 2003
University of Maryland Baltimore County
The
Society for the History of Children and Youth invites scholars
at all levels to submit proposals for its Second Biennial Meeting
to be held June 26-29, 2003 in Baltimore. We welcome individual
papers and complete session proposals across a range of historical
periods and national contexts.
The
first part of our theme, “Childhood and the State,”
solicits scholarship on the relation of children and youth to
politics, and issues of state development. Children and youth
have often served as political icons and as emblems of the nation.
How has the state defined (or attempted to define) young people,
and how have young people experienced and influenced the state?
How does the study of these young historical subjects allow us
to think differently about membership, community, and the experience
of inclusion or exclusion? What provisions have states made for
the nurture, education, training and recreation of the young?
The
second part of our theme, “The State of Childhood,”
calls for papers that address the shape, status, and condition
of childhood and youth and their study. How have the meanings
of childhood and youth been contested and variously framed over
time and place? What roles have science, religion, literature
and art played in these definitions? How might we integrate the
study of ideologies of childhood with children’s own experience?
Topics might include children’s self-consciousness, material
culture, youth culture, and the changing constructions of age
and youth.
Finally,
we interpret our theme as a call for a discussion of the state
of children’s history itself. We seek papers that show us
where this emergent and vibrant field is headed: the most pressing
conceptual and methodological questions, areas of important new
research, and new paradigms in the field.
The
SHCY aims to foster the study of children and youth across disciplinary
and methodological boundaries and incorporates scholars who address
all historical periods and regions of the world. In addition to
the work of historians and youth studies scholars, we are interested
in scholarship in fields such as children’s literature, education,
film studies, art history, history of medicine, legal studies,
and social work.
Individual
paper proposals should include a 300-word abstract; author contact
information including a paper title, postal address and e-mail
address; and a one-page cv. The organizers of complete sessions
should send, in a single packet, abstracts and cvs for each of
the paper presenters; cvs for the session chair and commentator
(one person can, if desired, serve in both of the latter capacities);
and a 200-word description of the session. All submissions should
include contact information for all participants. Please list
audio-visual requirements, if any.
The
SHCY Program Committee for 2003 consists of Paula S. Fass (University
of California, Berkeley), chair; Leslie Paris (University of British
Columbia); and Patrick Ryan (University of Texas, Dallas)
All
proposals must be submitted by February 15, 2003. Presenters will
be expected to pre-register for the conference.
Send
your proposal to:
Paula
S. Fass
Department of History
University of California
Berkeley, California 94720
