As we examine the various concepts of regionalism – their status and their interpretation – within American Studies today, we seek panel and paper proposals that address these and other issues:

What does regionalism mean for Americanists today, when broadcast and cellular media, global corporations, and the Internet blur or erase geophysical and geopolitical borders? What does regionalism mean in a period of "war on terrorism," when enemy targets reside not only abroad but within our own neighborhoods? What does regionalism mean in analysis of visual culture, when the institutional agents that transmit, disseminate or exhibit imagery are local, while the generally unseen creators and organizers of this imagery are often multicentric in location? Do the regional distinctions we as scholars and teachers often make to facilitate research, networking, and curriculum development continue to make sense? As participants in an interdisciplinary (and, yes, regional) association, are there discipline-specific ways by which we define regionalism that we must transcend for cogent discussion of the issues pertaining to the subject?

Please submit proposals and address questions to BOTH conference co-chairs.