American Society of Church History Winter Meeting 2019 Call for Paper

By Soojin Chung February 8th, 2018 in Announcements, Call for Papers

The Program Committee of the American Society of Church History, chaired by President-Elect Paul C. H. Lim, is pleased to announce its Call For Papers for the upcoming Winter Meeting.

The annual Winter Meeting of the American Society of Church History (ASCH) will be held Thursday to Sunday, January 3-6, 2019, in Chicago, Illinois, as a concurrent event to the annual meeting of the American Historical Association (AHA). All ASCH sessions will be held at the historic Blackstone Hotel, next door to the main AHA conference hotel.

Conference Theme: “Race and the Other: Whose Church, Which Histories?”

When the term “church history” is used in the North American context, whose church(es) do we mean?  Has “church history” – both as a demarcator of a discipline and as a range of discursive parameters – served to signify inclusion of certain groups, while ignoring, occluding, or excluding others, however unintentionally?

Reflecting the conference theme, “Race and the Other: Whose Church, Which Histories?”, papers and panels are solicited that deal particularly and organically with the various ways racial and cultural others have been depicted historiographically; resisted or accommodated, tolerated or celebrated existentially; and become the mirror to reveal the fault-line of identity formation of various communities of Christian faith.

Proposals from the following periods and categories, inter alia, are welcomed:

1) Early Christianity and patristic literatures

2) Medieval and Byzantine

3) Reformation and Early Modern Atlantic

4) American: Colonial to Contemporary

5) Africana, broadly construed

6) Latino/a/x

7) Modern European

8) World Christianity

We solicit proposals that address the conference theme, or any other aspect of the history of Christianity and its interactions with culture, within traditional categories of historical periodization and geographical area, or across periods or regions. We also encourage proposals that engage in interdisciplinary discussion; place theological ideas and lived religious practices in historical context; examine particular genres, source materials or methods, including the use of digital humanities and non-textual sources; or treat the current state of the study of histories of Christianity. Sessions that deal with pedagogical issues of concern in the teaching of the history of Christianity, or with issues in the publication and dissemination of research to specialist and general audiences are also invited. Sessions may also consider a major recent book or offer critical assessments of a distinguished career.

Types of Proposal

We solicit three types of proposal for presentation: regular panels, roundtables, and individual papers. Each type is defined below.

Regular Panel: Structured presentations from three (or, rarely, four) scholars of original research papers. These papers must be no more than twenty minutes each. Moderated by a chairperson, these presentations are often commented upon by a respondent, after which there is a conversation among the panelists as well as time for audience questions.

Roundtable: Structured group discussion of a topic, question, theme, or book significant to the discipline of the history of Christianity. Such a discussion can be proposed in a variety of ways, at the discretion of the person submitting the proposal. Roundtables are limited to six participants, along with the chairperson. The aim of the roundtable is a discussion among the participants, who may present short papers (~five minutes each) to frame their further contributions. The roundtable format should reserve a substantial amount of time for interaction with the audience at the end of the formal discussion.

Individual Paper: While the Program Committee gives strong preference to regular panel and roundtable proposals, one can also propose an individual paper for presentation on the conference program. If accepted, an individual paper will be placed into a panel — usually constructed of other individual paper submissions —by the Program Committee.

To ease scheduling and foster diverse dialogue, the ASCH limits the participation of conference attendees to:

• 1 presentation of a paper, and
• 1 comment on a session or participation on a roundtable, and
• 1 chairing of a session.

Deadlines For Proposals

The regular ASCH deadline for proposals is March 15, 2018.

The priority deadline, by which all proposals to be co-sponsored by the AHA must be submitted, is February 15, 2018. Persons submitting AHA co-sponsored proposals must submit them to both the AHA and the ASCH, using the proposal submission forms of each society.

The Program Committee will do its best to announce the results of all submissions by April 30, 2018.

Submission Guidelines

To submit a proposal for a full panel, roundtable, or individual paper, go to churchhistory.org/proposals/. Submitters will be required to enter basic information about their proposal, as well as submit a proposal document.

Full panel and roundtable proposal documents will consist of a single PDF or Word file containing:

1) session title

2) a description of less than 300 words outlining the topic of the session

3) a description of less than 300 words of each paper

4) a biographical paragraph of each presenter, the session chair, and the respondent if applicable

5) an e-mail address and phone number for each participant

Full panel and roundtable proposals should exhibit diversity (gender, ethnicity, rank, scholarly location, etc.) in their composition. Sessions are typically ninety minutes in length and allow for three or four papers, a formal response, and audience interaction. The committee reserves the right to reconfigure sessions as needed.

Individual paper proposals will consist of a single PDF or Word file containing:

1) a description of less than 300 words

2) a biographical paragraph about the applicant

3) an e-mail address and phone number for the proposed presenter

Video Projection

Panels or papers requiring video projection should provide a clear rationale for doing so, as the expense involved is considerable. While we will make every effort to accommodate requests, unfortunately the Program Committee cannot guarantee that projection equipment will be available for every presentation.

Membership and Registration Requirements

All session participants (except those living and working outside the United States) must hold a 2019 ASCH membership by November 1, 2018 in order to remain on the program.  For information about ASCH membership, go to http://www.churchhistory.org/membership

All session participants must purchase a registration for the 2019 Annual Meeting by November 1, 2018 in order to remain on the program.

Call for Papers: The Annual Orlando E. Costas Consultation on World Missions & Ecumenism

By Soojin Chung February 6th, 2018 in Announcements, Call for Papers

Call for Papers for the 2018 Yale-Edinburgh Meeting

By Soojin Chung January 29th, 2018 in Announcements, Call for Papers

Call for Papers for the 2018 Yale-Edinburgh Meeting on the History of the Missionary Movement and World Christianity

Date: June 28 to June 30, 2018

Location: New College, University of Edinburgh