The 2006 MAASA Program Committee invites colleagues in American Studies and related disciplines to propose papers, panel sessions, presentations, performances, film screenings, roundtables, or workshops. The theme of the conference is "American Public Cultures." MAASA also welcomes proposals on any topic dealing with American Studies. Proposals should represent work in progress rather than published work. The meeting is open to anyone having an interdisciplinary interest in the study of American culture. We extend a special invitation to colleagues in community colleges, libraries, high schools, museums, arts organizations, and historical societies.

The study of public culture brings together many strands of American Studies scholarship, teaching, and practice. Public culture is the enactment of rituals, symbols, expressions, and displays intended to foster shared identities, build communities, and establish attachments to place. It involves the mobilization of tangible resources such as architecture, landscapes, visual artifacts, and tools, as well as intangible resources such as memory, affiliation, talent, belief, and place. Public culture, then, is the active mobilization of these resources to define social relations and shape public life.

Proposal guidelines:
1. Individual Paper. Two pages: first page contains name, affiliation, title, and 250-word abstract. Second page, brief c.v.

2. Panels, performances, workshops, roundtables. Cover page listing participants' names, affiliations, roles, and titles.† 250-word abstract of each presentation.†One-page c.v. for each participant.

Deadline: December 15, 2005

Send proposals to:
Matthew Mancini
MAASA 2006 Program Chair
Department of American Studies
Saint Louis University
3800 Lindell Blvd.
St. Louis, MO 63108

E-mail submissions not accepted.