Digital BAAS 2021 – The Digital Conference

 April 6-11, 2021

Call for Papers

BAAS are excited to announce details for the British Association for American Studies’s 66th Annual Convention — its first to be hosted entirely remotely. For several years BAAS has been building towards an event of this type, in order to transcend the exclusivity and waste of our traditional conference model. The organisers’ plans have been pushed forward by our familiar enemy Covid-19 but are equally motivated by their twin concerns of environmental impact and accessibility/inclusivity. As part of the ‘Green BAAS’ agenda, they are committed to reflecting upon the environmental impact of their activities, and to making positive changes to combat climate catastrophe. The decision to host a virtual conference presents the opportunity not only to minimise international travel, but also to highlight the work of members working in the environmental humanities, and to reflect critically upon the culture of academic conferences. Furthermore, the organisers hope that the reduced costs associated with a virtual event will facilitate the participation of American Studies students and scholars across the globe, and will help generate new and productive networks and collaborations.

The organisers welcome scholars from all disciplines and time periods whose work engages with the culture, politics, society, and history of North America, the United States and the Americas more broadly. Proposals on any aspect of American Studies are welcomed, but the organisers particularly encourage proposals that engage with issues of sustainability and environmental studies.  BAAS is recruiting for a conference manager for this event. Please see the BAAS site for further details.

Dates

• April 6-11 2021

Plenary Speakers

• Full (exciting) details forthcoming

Location

• All sessions will take place remotely and will be hosted through a digital events platform.
• To facilitate the attendance of colleagues based outside the UK, sessions will take place between 14:00 and 20:00 GMT

Formats

• While individual paper proposals will be considered, proposals for fully-formed sessions are preferred. The organisers encourage innovative and experimental panel/session formats which take into consideration both the possibilities and the limitations of remote conferencing, and are designed to engage audiences in live discussion and interaction.

Examples:

• Roundtables
• Flash papers
• Keyword/image sessions
• WIP discussion of pre-circulated papers
• Reading groups
• Pedagogical workshops
• Network meetings

Sessions which require the circulation of pre-prepared materials, such as drafts, videos, podcasts, posters, etc, will also be considered. Fully-formed session proposals should include a summary of the session’s aims and format, and a short summary of the component presentations, if appropriate, along with a preferred duration, and any special requirements, up to a total of 500 words. Individual paper proposals should be no longer than 250 words. BAAS is dedicated to fostering a culture of diversity and inclusion. We will give preference to panels that reflect the diversity of our field in terms of gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation, and institutional affiliation. We will also give preference to panels that include a mix of participants from across the career spectrum (i.e., from postgraduate to Professor). Historically women have been disproportionately underrepresented on panels and BAAS is taking positive action, as permitted under s.158 Equality Act 2010, to enable and encourage the participation of women. For this reason all-male panel proposals will not be accepted. BAAS may constitute an all-male panel or other presentation where absolutely necessary (but any such consideration will be other than via the call for papers procedure).

Contact:

• Members are encouraged to discuss ideas for session formats with the organisers at conferencesupport@baas.ac.uk, and to send final submissions to this address by the deadline below.

Deadline for Submission

•  30 November 2020