Organization of American Historians
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2008 OAH Annual Meeting

Bringing Us All Together: The 101st Annual Meeting of the OAH, Friday, March 28
to Monday, March 31, 2008
Hilton New York

Call for Papers

The one-hundredth and first annual meeting of the Organization of American Historians will be held in New York City, answering a call to bring us all together. The last generation or so of scholarship in American history has excavated the experiences and concerns of a wide array of Americans. Our field now advances a far more expansive definition than ever before of what it means to live an American life. We not only know about people of many genders and races, we see class and region as integral dimensions of American identity. Scholars writing in languages other than English and living outside the United States are also valued members of the community of American historians.

However a fragmentation of concept has accompanied this fine bounty of scholarship. Too often we lose sight of what brings our subjects and our fields together, letting slip the opportunity of intellectual cross-fertilization. In New York in 2008 we will talk across lines, addressing larger issues as they manifest themselves in our subfields. No more fragmentation for now: rather, an attempt of synthesis and unity. Let us talk across sub-fields and specialization, not in some relapsed American exceptionalism, but in an expansive spirit of unity.

The program committee invites the submission of panels and presentations that surmount intellectual barriers, but it will also consider proposals exploring other issues and themes in American history. We prefer to receive proposals for complete sessions, but will consider individual paper proposals as well.

Teaching sessions are also welcome, particularly those involving the audience as active participants or those that reflect collaborative partnerships among teachers, historians, and other history educators. Topics may cover any pedagogical issue or technique, at any level, from K-12 through postsecondary.

We encourage presenters to post their papers on the OAH website before the meeting, in order to deepen the discussion in New York.

The committee will work to have the program represent the full diversity of the OAH membership in the U.S. and abroad. We urge proposers to include presenters of both sexes and members of ethnic and racial minorities. Panels also should represent a range of historians, teachers, and other history professionals, wherever they are employed and at varying levels of seniority in the profession.

Submission Procedure

The proposal deadline of February 15, 2007 has passed.

Registration and Membership Requirements
All participants must preregister for the meeting. Participants who specialize in American history and support themselves as American historians are also required to be members of the OAH. Participants representing other disciplines do not have to be members.

Repeat Participation
OAH policy prohibits individuals from participating in two consecutive annual meetings in the same role and limits individuals to appearing only once on the program in a given year. If you have questions about this policy, email the OAH meetings department.

2008 Program Committee
Deborah Gray White, Rutgers University, Chair
Neil Baldwin, Montclair State University
Mark Philip Bradley, Northwestern University
Alan Gallay, The Ohio State University
Wanda A. Hendricks, University of South Carolina
Stephen Kantrowitz, University of Wisconsin, Madison
Eduardo Obregón Pagán, Arizona State University
Dylan Peningroth, Northwestern University
Patricia A. Schechter, Portland State University
Deborah Willis, New York University

Last modified:
02:47 PM, 06/11/07