“New Perspectives on War and Society,” Oct. 20-21, 2006

The 31st annual Great Lakes History Conference, sponsored by Grand Valley State University, will be held in Grand Rapids, Michigan on October 20-21, 2006. All fields of history as well as other disciplines are invited to submit proposals related to this year’s theme: “New Perspectives on War and Society.” In the last two decades, scholarship on war and its impact on social, political, economic and cultural life has broken new theoretical ground and re-shaped the ways in which historians conceptualize the larger significance of mass violence, trauma, and society. We invite scholars from a wide range of fields and disciplines exchange ideas and research on this topic.

We are pleased to announce two distinguished keynote speakers for this year’s conference. Prof. Omer Bartov will provide an address on racial war and extermination on Oct. 21. Prof. Bartov is a Distinguished Professor at Brown University who has published extensively on the history of the Holocaust and genocide studies, including The Crimes of War: Guilt and Denial in the Twentieth Century, Hitler’s Army, and most recently The ‘Jew’ in Cinema: From The Golem to Don’t Touch my Holocaust. In addition, Dr. Jonathan Shay will provide a keynote address on medical and social responses to combat trauma on Oct. 20. Dr. Shay is a distinguished psychiatrist who has with the Veterans Administration, US Naval War College, and Office of Army Deputy Chief of Staff. Dr. Shay’s research on psychological trauma in Vietnam veterans has resulted in his acclaimed Achilles in Vietnam: Combat Trauma and the Undoing of Character and Odysseus in America: Combat Trauma and the Trials of Homecoming (with a forward by Senators John McCain and Max Cleland).

We welcome papers and arranged panels addressing this year’s topic. We encourage comparative work across regions and chronological boundaries. The conference will be organized around themes that have dominated recent scholarship. Papers are encouraged to touch on, but are not limited to, the following:

- Psychological trauma
- Race, violence, and war
- Genocide
- Gender and sexuality
- Social and political consequences of war
- War and revolution
- Economic consequences of war
- Memory and memorialization
- History of the ‘home front’
- Health and medicine
- Theories on violence (origins and consequences)
- Brutalization and its effects on social and political systems
- Militarization and its role in society
- Propaganda, media, and perceptions of war
- Terrorism and warfare in the 21st century
- Children in war
- Refugees
- War in film and popular culture
- Literature and war (including narratives, memoirs, and fiction)
- Oral history

If you are interested in presenting a paper, please send an abstract of approximately 200 words and a curriculum vitae by June 15, 2006. Please include your address, email, and phone number. Those interested in commenting on a session should send a CV and indicate areas of expertise. Papers must take no longer than 30 minutes in a 2-paper session or 20 minutes in a 3-paper session. Sessions will last 90 minutes.

Conference headquarters will be at the L.V. Eberhard Center of Grand Valley State University in downtown Grand Rapids. Hotel accommodations will be available at the Days Inn of Grand Rapids, which is across the street from the Eberhard Center. The conference is within easy walking distance of museums and restaurants. Grand Rapids is served by most major and regional airlines.

Please address all inquiries and abstracts to:

Dr. Craig Benjamin or Dr. Jason Crouthamel
Department of History
1 Campus Drive, MAK 1060a
Grand Valley State University
Allendale, MI 49401
Phone: (616) 331-2931
Email: benjaminc@gvsu.edu or crouthaj@gvsu.edu
Fax: (616) 331-3285

Registration and program information will be sent in the summer 2006.