Call for Papers: Andrea Mitchell Center for the Study of Democracy Annual Graduate Workshop Series – Jul 31

Posted by The Andrea Mitchell Center on July 22, 2025

The Andrea Mitchell Center for the Study of Democracy at the University of Pennsylvania invites paper proposals for its Annual Graduate Workshop Series. We welcome submissions by doctoral students (PhD, JSD, SJD, etc.) from any university and discipline whose research explores the controversies, dilemmas, and promises of democratic society.

The Center provides an interdisciplinary venue for graduate students to present their research and receive constructive scholarly feedback. By placing papers in conversation with each other across disciplinary boundaries, we hope to provoke new ways of thinking about the implications of democracy and citizenship. We encourage papers that interrogate democracy and citizenship from any of the following dimensions and beyond:

• Tensions over definitions and practices of democracy
• Citizenship and political membership
• Historical and contemporary responses and resistance to political institutions
• Movement and migration
• The politics of climate change
• Law and public policy
• Health and society
• Economic inequality and social stratification
• Science, medicine, and technology
• Policing and militarization
• Gender and sexuality
• Issues of race and racism
• Disability studies
• Religion and politics
• Cultural memory and public history
• Media and misinformation
• Social movements
• Affect theory
• Alternative visions of political life
• Successes and failures of the international order
• Education policy and politics

Apply by  Thursday, 31 July at midnight EST. Please submit your applications through this Google form. The application will require the following information:

1. An abstract of up to 300 words including a working title for the paper and up to 5 keywords connecting your project to the aforementioned themes
2. A brief statement that indicates your discipline and institution
3. Three workshop dates (from those mentioned below) that suit your availability, in order of preference
4. Your preference for in-person (in Philadelphia) or virtual attendance at the workshop

Learn more.