The American Association of Teachers of Turkic Languages (AATT) is pleased to announce the establishment of an annual “Graduate Student Pre-Conference in Turkish and Turkic Studies”. This conference is being established to mark the 20th anniversary of the establishment of AATT. The first Pre-Conference is co-sponsored by the Institute for Turkish Studies and Georgetown University.

The first annual Pre-Conference will be hosted on Friday evening, November 18 and Saturday, November 19 by Georgetown University. It will be held in conjunction with the 2005 meeting of the Middle East Studies Association to be held November 19-22, 2005 in Washington, DC. (Future meetings may also be coordinated with the annual meeting of the Central Eurasian Studies Society.)

The Pre-Conference is designed to encourage research making significant use of sources in Turkish and Turkic languages by graduate students in Turkish and Turkic Studies in North America. It will promote contact between students at various institutions and allow for feedback from faculty discussants participating in the pre-conference. Another goal is to help students progress towards more formal presentations at national conferences such as those of MESA, CESS, and organizations devoted to specific disciplines.

AATT will award a limited number of travel awards to help subvent the cost of student participation. Students are also encouraged to seek funding from their home institutions.

Students should submit a 250 word proposal for a paper together with the following information:

1. Name
2. Current institutional affiliation (department/university)
3. Adviser’s name
4. Educational background (undergraduate and graduate degree programs)
5. Current status (taking courses, preparing for exams, researching dissertation, writing dissertation, defended/deposited dissertation)
6. Title of dissertation (if applicable)
7. Contact information (email, telephone number, preferred mailing address)

The deadline for submission of proposals is September 15, 2005.

Proposals should be submitted by email to:

Professor Uli Schamiloglu
Department of Languages and Cultures of Asia
University of Wisconsin-Madison
uschamil@wisc.edu

OR

Professor Erika H. Gilson
Department of Near Eastern Studies
Princeton University
ehgilson@princeton.edu

Applicants will be informed of the selection committee’s decision by October 1, 2005.