The LSE IDEAS Cold War Studies Programme (CWSP), The Center for Cold War Studies (CCWS) of the University of California at Santa Barbara, and the George Washington University Cold War Group (GWCW) are pleased to announce the 2012 International Graduate Student Conference on the Cold War.

The conference is an excellent opportunity for graduate students to present papers and receive critical feedback from peers and experts in the field. We encourage submissions by graduate students working on any aspect of the Cold War, broadly defined. Of particular interest are papers that employ newly available primary sources, non-traditional methodologies, or under-investigated aspects of the Cold War.

The conference sessions will be chaired by prominent faculty members from LSE, GWU, UCSB, CWSP research associates, and other prominent Cold War and international historians. This years keynote speaker will be Andrew Preston (Cambridge), author of the forthcoming "Sword of the Spirit, Shield of Faith: Religion in American War and Diplomacy."

The author of the best paper will be awarded the Saki Ruth Dockrill Memorial Prize, the opportunity to publish the paper in Cold War History, and a £100 book voucher.

In 2003, UCSB and GWU first joined their separate spring conferences, and two years later LSE became a co-sponsor. The three cold war centres now hold a jointly sponsored conference each year, alternating among the three campuses.

To be considered, each prospective participant should submit a 300 word proposal (original to this conference) and a brief academic CV (in Word or pdf format) to ideas.coldwar@lse.ac.uk, with “Graduate Conference Proposal- YourLastName” in the subject line. Participants must be PhD students (pre-submission) or research-based masters students. The deadline for proposals is 8 January 2012.

The organizers will provide accommodation and meals. Participants may be asked to pay a small attendance fee (not more than £40) and will be responsible for their travel to London.