The 35th annual Great Lakes History Conference, sponsored by Grand Valley State University, will be held in Grand Rapids, Michigan on October 8-9, 2010. All fields of history, as well as other disciplines, are invited to submit proposals related to this year’s theme: “Civil Wars in Domestic and Global Context: Conflict and Resolution from the Battlefield to the Home Front.” 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 to exchange ideas and research on this topic. Papers and arranged panels addressing this year’s topic are welcome. We encourage comparative work across regions and chronological boundaries. Please consult the Grand Valley State University History Department website (www.gvsu.edu/history) and its link to the conference for updated information.

We are pleased to announce two distinguished keynote speakers for this year’s conference. On Friday October 8th, Dr. Eric Foner, DeWitt Clinton Professor of History at Columbia University, will provide the conference’s opening keynote address. Dr. Foner is a distinguished historian with numerous accolades. His book Reconstruction: America’s Unfinished Revolution, 1863-1877 won the Bancroft Prize, the Parkman Prize and the Los Angeles Times Book Award. He is the leading contemporary historian of the post-Civil War Reconstruction period. In addition, Dr. Brooks Simpson will provide an address on Saturday, October 9th. Dr. Simpson is a Foundation Professor of History at Arizona State University. He has authored five books, coauthored another and is the editor or coeditor of six other books. He is best known for his work on Ulysses S. Grant, especially his book entitled Ulysses S. Grant: Triumph over Adversity, 1822-1865 (Houghton Mifflin 2000).

If you are interested in presenting a paper, please send an abstract of approximately 200 words and curriculum vitae by June 30, 2010, to Dr. Scott Stabler at stablers@gvsu.edu. 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 and 20 minutes in a 3-paper session. Sessions will last 90 minutes. Full panel proposals are welcome.

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 Holiday Inn of Grand Rapids (formerly the Days Hotel), which is across from the Eberhard Center. Their telephone number is (616) 235-7611. The conference is within easy walking distance of museums and restaurants. Grand Rapids is served by most major and regional airlines. The conference weekend coincides with the last weekend of Grand Rapid’s ArtPrize contest (http://www.artprize.org/home) so we suggest conference hotel accommodations be made early.

Please address all inquiries and abstracts to:

Dr. Scott Stabler
Grand Valley State University, 1 Campus Drive
Department of History, MAK D-1-160
Allendale, MI 49401
Phone: (616) 331-8699, Fax: (616) 331-3285
Email: stablers@gvsu.edu
Registration and program information will be sent summer 2010.