Call for Papers:
"Childhood and the State / The State of Childhood"
Second Biennial Meeting of the Society for the History of Children and Youth
June 26-29, 2003
University of Maryland Baltimore County
The Society for the History of Children and Youth invites scholars at all levels to submit proposals for its Second Biennial Meeting to be held June 26-29, 2003 in Baltimore. We welcome individual papers and complete session proposals across a range of historical periods and national contexts.
The first part of our theme, “Childhood and the State,” solicits scholarship on the relation of children and youth to politics, and issues of state development. Children and youth have often served as political icons and as emblems of the nation. How has the state defined (or attempted to define) young people, and how have young people experienced and influenced the state? How does the study of these young historical subjects allow us to think differently about membership, community, and the experience of inclusion or exclusion? What provisions have states made for the nurture, education, training and recreation of the young?
The second part of our theme, “The State of Childhood,” calls for papers that address the shape, status, and condition of childhood and youth and their study. How have the meanings of childhood and youth been contested and variously framed over time and place? What roles have science, religion, literature and art played in these definitions? How might we integrate the study of ideologies of childhood with children’s own experience? Topics might include children’s self-consciousness, material culture, youth culture, and the changing constructions of age and youth.
Finally, we interpret our theme as a call for a discussion of the state of children’s history itself. We seek papers that show us where this emergent and vibrant field is headed: the most pressing conceptual and methodological questions, areas of important new research, and new paradigms in the field.
The SHCY aims to foster the study of children and youth across disciplinary and methodological boundaries and incorporates scholars who address all historical periods and regions of the world. In addition to the work of historians and youth studies scholars, we are interested in scholarship in fields such as children’s literature, education, film studies, art history, history of medicine, legal studies, and social work.
Individual paper proposals should include a 300-word abstract; author contact information including a paper title, postal address and e-mail address; and a one-page cv. The organizers of complete sessions should send, in a single packet, abstracts and cvs for each of the paper presenters; cvs for the session chair and commentator (one person can, if desired, serve in both of the latter capacities); and a 200-word description of the session. All submissions should include contact information for all participants. Please list audio-visual requirements, if any.
The SHCY Program Committee for 2003 consists of Paula S. Fass (University of California, Berkeley), chair; Leslie Paris (University of British Columbia); and Patrick Ryan (University of Texas, Dallas)
All proposals must be submitted by February 15, 2003. Presenters will be expected to pre-register for the conference.
Send your proposal to:
Paula S. Fass
Department of History
University of California
Berkeley, California 94720
