Western History Association Call for Papers

In the last couple months we’ve had a post by James Bennett, noting the lack of religion in this year’s Western History Association and a recap of the conference from David G., confirming that lacuna.  It’s too late to organize anything for the 2012 conference, but we can do something about the 2013 WHA – namely, organize sessions and propose them!  The WHA’s 2013 CFP is already posted on their website – we’re reproducing it here for Call for Papers Week.  We strongly encourage you to submit a proposal.  Since the program committee clearly prefers full panel submissions, feel free to use the comments section to find fellow panelists.  Or email us for suggestions – we’re happy to help!

Here’s the call for papers.  Ready?  Set.  Go!

2013 Call For Papers

53rd Annual Conference of the Western History Association

9-12 October 2013, Tucson, Arizona

VITAL SIGNS: EARTH, POWER, LIVES

No region of the world has been more important than the West of North America in encouraging historians to take an environmental perspective on the past. Today that perspective has become global in scale and significance, and it is time to bring it back home for reassessing ourselves. The 2013 program committee invites proposals on the theme of checking the “vital signs,” those indicators of health and illness that societies as well as individuals need. They include such measures of well being as energy supplies and consumption, ecological and cultural diversity, the distribution of wealth and power, the ups and downs of climate, and the resilience of ecosystems and human communities.

Once sought for its therapeutic promise, the West is experienced with death as well as life. Think of border migrants expiring in the desert, species lost to urban sprawl, or gunfights over contested animals. At the same time westerners have enjoyed inspiring vistas, productive soils, and outdoor recreation of uncommon quality. For the program we encourage you to address such issues, along with eco-justice, forests and fisheries, dams and suburban malls. Their scope may stretch across national borders or oceans, linking resources to producers and consumers and creating empires. Proposals for interdisciplinary panels (including at least one participant from a field other than history) are especially welcome.

The program committee strongly encourages full panel submissions and will consider single papers only when they can be reasonably matched with other panels or papers. When submitting an entire session or panel, include a brief abstract (250 words) that outlines the purpose of the session. Your designated contact person should submit the proposal. Each paper proposal, whether individual or part of a session, should include a one- paragraph abstract and a one-page c.v., with address, phone, and email for each participant. Indicate equipment needs, if any. The committee assumes that all listed individuals have agreed to participate. Electronic submissions are required and should be sent, with supporting materials, as a single document (PDF) to wha2013call@gmail.com.

SUBMISSIONS SHOULD BE SENT BY SEPTEMBER 1, 2012. The 2013 Program Committee Co-chairs are Kathleen Brosnan, University of Houston, and Douglas Cazaux Sackman, University of Puget Sound.

For more information on the WHA’s 53rd Annual Conference, visit http://www.westernhistoryassociation.org/