The Program Committee for the 2009 Annual Meeting of the California American Studies Association invites proposals for presentations to the annual meeting, to be held Friday, April 10 to Sunday, April 12 at the campus of the University of California, Santa Barbara. Proposals for individual papers, conference panels (usually 3 papers, a commentator and a chair), roundtables (4-5 participants max), field trips, and other special sessions (films, performances) are welcome. CASA has a tradition of inclusiveness in representing American studies as practiced at all levels and in all venues; therefore the program will feature one or more panels highlighting American Studies as practiced at the K-12 and undergraduate levels.

The theme, "Building Community Across Borders" encourages consideration of all sorts of communities, from the very local to the transnational. The conference is intended to represent the best in current work in American Studies, not necessarily limited to studies linked to California. Papers and presentations might consider: colonialism and post-colonial American societies; agricultural production, environment, and consumption broadly conceived; national, racial, gender and class borders; material culture, oral history, public history, and historic preservation; academic and community-basecd coalitions; and re-consideration and theorization of key concepts in American Studies theory and method.

Proposals should include: The organizer's name, contact information (including email), and a session title; a 250 word abstract for EACH paper or proposed contribution, and a brief (1-2 page) CV for EACH participant. These materials should be forwarded in hard copy, no later than JANUARY 10, 2009 to:

Professor Ann Marie Plane
Program Committee Chair
Department of History
Mail Stop 9410
University of California
Santa Barbara, CA 93106-9410

Inquiries may be directed to Prof. Plane at plane@history.ucsb.edu.

The California American Studies Association, founded in 1982, is a chapter of the American Studies Association, and is dedicated to the promotion of collegial dialogue and dissemination of current research.