For the 2020 BAAS Postgraduate Symposium, we welcome proposals that reflect aspects of this year’s theme, Connection and Collective Action: Past and Present. This year has seen an unprecedented reexamination of the ways we interact with one another, be it on an international, governmental, institutional, or personal level. While coming together physically is more complicated than it ever has been, this year has also seen people around the world unite to challenge engrained systems and demand change. This Symposium will enable us to participate in our own evaluation and interrogation of methods of connection and collective action in American history and culture.

We seek to touch upon the following questions: How have people taken collective action historically, and how does this reflect on our present historical moment? How are cultures shaped by the points of connection and conflict that arise between the people that form them? How can our connection and collaboration as researchers enable us to wrestle with and address the social, political, and cultural challenges we face today? We invite proposals that address any aspect of these questions from postgraduate and early career researchers from all disciplines and time periods.

For further information and updates about this year’s Symposium, follow us on Twitter @PG_BAAS2020 or visit https://www.baas.ac.uk.

This Symposium is dedicated to Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, George Floyd, and all those who have been the victims of institutionalized and systemic racism.