Call for Papers for PAHA's 76th Meeting in Chicago Il, due April 15, 2018

Chicago from Public Domain Images website

The 76th annual meeting of the Polish American Historical Association will be held in Chicago as part of the 133rd yearly meeting of the American Historical Association, January 3–6, 2019.

The theme for the AHA conference is “Loyalties.” As explained in the general CFP “… loyalties function on multiple levels. Individually, or in groups, humans commit themselves to communities, loved ones, principles, a leader, a nation, a religion, an ideology, or an identity.”

https://www.historians.org/publications-and-directories/perspectives-on-history/october-2017/loyalties-the-theme-of-the-133rd-annual-meeting

The multivalent and rich nature of the concept of‘loyalty’ and ‘loyalties’ is a fitting theme for the PAHA conference as 2018 is a year when PAHA celebrates its 75th anniversary and Poland celebrates the 100th anniversary of 1918 – the year when after 123 years of political partitions, Poland regained its independence.

The conference thus offers a unique chance to reflect on various levels of loyalties (individuals, family, traditions, old and new communities) and how they change over time and space. What contributes to the sense of loyalty and duty that came with it? What forms did they take? And how did the Polish Americans of different generations and social standing deal with the conflicting, changing, or perhaps double loyalties to the old and new country?

We invite scholars who study the Polish American communities or the greater Polish diaspora as well as those who deal with migration, ethnic, and regional studies and would like to join the discussions related (but not limited) to the following topics:

• Polish Americans and the restoration of Poland’s independence, 1918
• 1918 and Polish migration, new understandings of citizenship, settlement, and assimilation patterns
• Intersections of ethnicity, class, gender and race
• Ethnic lobbying and occurrences of ethnic mobilization
• Rituals, imagery, and symbols of continued loyalty 
• The relationships between different loyalties – loyalty to the old country vs. new country
• Immigration to the USA and state building in Poland 
• Diplomacy, outreach, and relationships between Poles in the country and abroad 
• Polish American experience and various forms of nostalgia for the old country 
• Polish American experience 

We invite proposals for sessions as well as individual papers related to all aspects of the Polish American experience (in history, sociology, literature, art, music, etc.) on both American continents.

The deadline for submissions is April 15, 2018.

Abstracts for papers and panel proposals are now being accepted and should be submitted to:

PAHA Chair of the Program Committee
Anna Muller, Ph.D.
anmuller@umich.edu
University of Michigan-Dearborn
4901 Evergreen, SSB 2192
Dearborn, MI 48128
(313) 583-6539 (phone)
(313) 593-5645 (fax)

Electronic proposals in email and word format are strongly preferred.

Individuals and session organizers should include the following information when submitting a proposal:
• Paper/Session title(s) (of no more than 20 words)
• Paper/Session abstract(s) (up to 300/500 words, respectively)
• Biographical paragraph (up to 250 words) for each participant
• Mailing and e-mail address for each participant
• Chair (required) and commentator (optional) for the session
• Audiovisual needs, if any.

Please be advised that it is not always possible for PAHA to provide AV equipment for all sessions due to the high cost of mandatory rental from AHA. All presenters are encouraged to consider submission of their papers for publication in PAHA's peer-reviewed journal: “Polish American Studies."

For more information please see PAHA's website: www.polishamericanstudies.org