Washburn University invites proposals for papers and panels for presentation at the upcoming conference, “Affirmative Action at 40: Requiem or Renaissance?” This conference, to be held September 22-24, 2009, will mark the fortieth anniversary of the implementation of the first federal affirmative action employment program to have defined, quantifiable, enforceable goals.

In recognition of the role played by Washburn alumnus Arthur Fletcher, known to some as “The Father of Affirmative Action,” we will bring historians, lawyers, public policy scholars, administrators, politicians, and many others interested in affirmative action together to discuss the meaning and impact of affirmative action over the last 40 years and its possible impact in the future. The conference will be held at Washburn University in Topeka, Kansas.

Gerald Torres, co-author of The Miner's Canary: Enlisting Race, Resisting Power, Transforming Democracy and the Bryant Smith Professor of Law at the University of Texas, has been designated the Oliver L. Brown Distinguished Visiting Professor for Diversity Issues, 2009, and will serve as the keynote speaker for the conference.

We welcome panel and paper proposals from scholars and students in a wide range of disciplines, and encourage any submissions relevant to the history, interpretation, practice, or consequences of affirmative action.

Proposals for panels and papers must be submitted no later than Friday, April 3, 2009, using the conference’s website: http://www.washburn.edu/ce/affirmative-action/call-for-proposals.php. Submissions of individual papers should include a 250-word abstract. Panel submissions should include individual abstracts as well as a 200-word description of the panel. For more information, please visit our website http://www.washburn.edu/ce/affirmative-action/index.php. Questions may be directed to Janet Thompson Jackson at janet.jackson@washburn.edu (785-670-1637), Kerry Wynn at kerry.wynn@washburn.edu (785-670-2062), or Steve Cann at steve.cann@washburn.edu (785-670-2027).