Call for Papers: “History on Trial: Rethinking the Discipline, Rethinking the Past”
Drew University, Madison, New Jersey
June 5-6, 2015

The History and Culture graduate program at Drew University is pleased to announce that the Third Annual Dean Hopper New Scholars Conference will be held June 5-6, 2015 at Drew’s campus in Madison, New Jersey, and is now accepting submissions for presentations. Reflecting Drew University’s dual commitments to both public engagement and scholarly innovation, this year’s conference welcomes presentations that challenge accepted practices in research and teaching, and re-examines perspectives on well-known historical events and issues. While oriented towards history, the conference welcomes presentations from a wide range of disciplines covering a diverse array of topics, and encourages papers that address a broad public audience. These may include, but are not limited to, examinations of:

• Methodological innovations within the Humanities, such as the application of new theoretical paradigms, or of hybridizations that transgress traditional disciplinary boundaries.

• Challenges and opportunities created by new tools in digital scholarship.

• Innovative methods for disseminating historical topics to the general public or in the class-room.

• New perspectives or historiographical critiques on topics familiar to a general audience, such as the American Civil War, The World Wars, and the Civil Rights movement.

• Novel interpretations of the histories of artists, musicians, authors and their works.

• Cutting-edge scholarship in religion, comparative religion, or Biblical studies addressing the topical – religious radicalism, homosexuality and religion – or the timeless – the nature of faith, the historical genesis of a religion.

• Critiques of the popular conception or memory of an historical event.


We also welcome submissions for oral debates between two or more presenters. (Single submissions for debates are welcome, but please indicate your interest on your abstract.) Possible topics include:

• Controversies over the treatment of minority history in the mainstream

• The perceived differences between historical writing and journalism

• The benefits or failures of recent trends in education or scholarship

The conference will be accepting single or panel submissions from current graduate students and early career scholars. Presentation proposals should include an abstract of no more than 300 words explaining the topic, main argument, and methodology of the project. In addition, proposals should include the presenter’s current curriculum vitae, as well as any audio or visual requirements needed for the presentation. Individual papers should not exceed 20 minutes in delivery.

Please send submissions to: conferencesubs@drew.edu
Deadline for submissions: February 6, 2015