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Call for Papers:
Emotions in Early Modern Europe and Colonial North America
November 7-10, 2002
Junior and senior scholars are invited to submit paper proposals for a
conference entitled "Emotions in Early Modern Europe and Colonial North
America," to be held at the German Historical Institute in Washington,
D.C., USA, on November 7-10, 2002.
"Interest in 'the emotional' has burgeoned in the last decade, not only in
anthropology, but in psychology, sociology, philosophy, history and
feminist studies" Catherine Lutz and Geoffrey White wrote in 1986. They
could have made the same statement with even more justification in 2002:
The interest in emotions has increased sharply in recent years, and a new
understanding of what emotions are and their historical importance has
begun to gain wide acceptance. Some, like Michelle Z. Rosaldo, view
emotions as "embodied thoughts," while others, like Alice M. Isen and
Gregory Andrade Diamond liken them to "overlearned cognitive habits." Not
all would go that far, but the cognitive element - emotion as the
expression of judgement - is increasingly emphasized nowadays. Moreover
there is little doubt that emotions, though a bodily state, have a cultural
dimension. As the cognitive and cultural elements in emotions are
recognized, history is given broader scope for investigation. When Lutz and
White wrote the statement quoted above, the only historical work they could
draw on was by Lawrence Stone, who included sentiments in his study of the
history of the family. Since then the study of emotions in history has made
progress. Peter Stearns, for example, has stressed the role of normative
systems regulating the display of emotions and how they change. Historical
research in the emotions has concentrated so far on the medieval era and
the eighteenth century onward; research on the early modern period however
has lagged behind, though a theory of emotional change for that period was
proposed long ago by Norbert Elias. The aim of this conference is to
redress this imbalance by bringing together scholars who focus on the early
modern period in Europe and colonial North America.
Themes for exploration may include (but are not limited to):
Theoretical approaches, problems of definition and research
Emotions in different spheres of early modern life (in politics, in the
legal and economic realm,
in religious life, in private)
Early modern discourses on emotions
Emotions and events (war, revolution, natural disasters etc.)
Emotions and gender, race, and class
Emotions and social control/social discipline (shame, guilt, embarrassment)
Historical change in the experience and perception of particular emotions
(e.g. envy, grief, love)
Emotions and the body
Those invited to participate in the conference will be asked to submit a
paper of approximately 25 double-spaced pages by September 30, 2002 for
pre-circulation. The conference language will be English. The conference
committee plans to edit the conference papers and publish them in a volume
of essays. Lodging will be provided and limited travel support will be
available for conference participants.
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Please send a brief curriculum vitae including address and e-mail, a ca.
500-1000 word description of the proposed paper that explains the main
arguments, the sources to be used, and the topic`s relationship to the
theme of the conference, and indicate if you need funds for travel.
For further information please contact Otto Ulbricht, e-mail:
oulbricht@email.uni-kiel.de or Vera Lind, e-mail: lind@ghi-dc.org.
Application materials should reach the conference committee via mail, fax,
or e-mail by March 1, 2002.
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