Call for Papers: Working-Class Studies

Posted by on December 10, 2004

CALL FOR PAPERS
NEW WORKING-CLASS STUDIES: PAST, PRESENT, AND FUTURE

The 10th Aniversary Conference of the Center for Working-Class Studies at Youngstown State University Co-sponsored by Ford Foundation

May 18-21, 2005, Youngstown, Ohio

In 2005, the Center for Working-Class Studies will celebrate the 10th anniversary of its founding. In honor of that occasion, we are planning a conference that will reflect the diversity, creativity, and energy of New Working-Class Studies. The conference will feature plenary sessions reflecting on the development of the field, taking stock of where we stand today, and looking ahead to new possibilities and challenges. Our conferences always include arts exhibits, film screenings, poetry readings, and other events. The 2005 conference will also include a business meeting of the Working-Class Studies Association.

We invite proposals from students, workers, faculty members, organizers, artists, and activists in all fields, from literature to geography, history to filmmaking, union organizing to neighborhood activism. Along with papers, we invite performances, film showings, roundtables, and presentations of all kinds. In addition, we invite proposals for three-hour interactive workshops and field trips, which will be scheduled for Saturday morning. We encourage proposals that explore literature by and about the working class; working-class and labor history; material and popular culture; current workplace issues; geography and landscape; journalism and media; sociology; economics; union organizing and practice; museum studies; the arts; multiculturalism; ethnography, biography, autobiography; pedagogy; and personal narratives of work.

Presenters should describe the presentation they would like to give, including the suggested presentation format (panel, roundtable, reading, workshop, etc.) and length. Proposals should be no longer than one page and must be received by January 3, 2005. Address written correspondence to John Russo, Biennial Conference, Center for Working-Class Studies, Youngstown State University, Youngstown, Ohio 44555. Fax or e-mail inquiries should be sent to Patty LaPresta, (330) 941-4622 and pmlapresta@ysu.edu.

The Center for Working-Class Studies?s website is located at http:/www.as.ysu.edu/~cwcs/ and its discussion group at CWCS-L@lists.ysu.edu.