CFP: Waging Peace: A Conference Studying the Challenges of Postwar Peace

“Waging Peace: A Conference Studying the Challenges of Postwar Peace”

Hosted by the Dale Center for the Study of War & Society, New Orleans, Louisiana, September 8-10, 2016

University of Southern Mississippi

When wars end, the communities, veterans, and governments that waged them begin the processes of peace. From the reconstruction of national identities to the resettlement of refugees, postwar periods are often as complex as the conflicts themselves. The year 2016 marks the anniversaries of the first year of peace following the end of the War of 1812, the U.S. Civil War, the Second World War, and the Vietnam War. The Dale Center for the Study of War & Society at the University of Southern Mississippi invites papers and panel proposals that explore transitions to peace and postwar experiences from the ancient world through the end of the twentieth century. We are especially interested in panels that are comparative and that offer broad conclusions across time and place about the challenges of “Waging Peace.”

Paper and panel topics may include but are not limited to:

• Social, political, and cultural processes of reconstructing nations and national identities
• The experiences of veterans and their families
• Veteran care: private family care, professional care, pensions/the cost of care
• The evolving image/role of the disabled veteran
• Refugees and refugee resettlement
• The relationship between peacekeeping forces and local communities
• Transitions to peace on the home front
• Violence inflicted by occupying forces
• The image of the veteran in postwar politics and culture
• Making sense of peace via the media and popular culture
• Reshaping peacetime national identities for international audiences
• Failures of waging peace
• Memoirs as therapy, debates continued, quests for meaning
• Postwar empowerment of previously enslaved, persecuted, or marginalized groups
• Veterans and postwar politics
• Veteran care and postwar economies
• Occupying forces: repeating and changing patterns of past successes and failures

The Margaret Boone Dale Keynote Roundtable on Women and War: Friday, September 9: The 2016 Waging Peace Conference will close with a special keynote roundtable on the history of women and war featuring distinguished scholars Catherine Clinton, Cynthia Enloe, Nicoletta Gullace, and Heather Stur. Drawing on their diverse expertise in the history of women, gender, and conflict across place and time, the roundtable will reflect on the past and future of scholarship dealing with women’s experiences of warfare and the waging of the peace.

“Laissez Les Bons Temps Rouler”: One of the most historic and eclectic cities in the U.S., New Orleans features legacies of America’s colonial past, battlefields and war memorials, and some of the country’s greatest art, music, and food. On foot through the French Quarter, on the streetcar up to the Garden District, and everywhere in between, conference attendees are sure to find plenty to do in the Crescent City. Conveniently located between the Quarter and the Central Business District, the conference hotel, the Sheraton New Orleans, is easily accessible for those traveling to the city by air, rail, and car.  The Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport is situated approximately fifteen miles west of downtown and is serviced by taxis, shuttle buses, and public transportation.  Ground transportation options to New Orleans include Amtrak train and Greyhound bus lines, which arrive and depart through Union Station.  Public transportation within the city consists of buses and streetcars, both of which have routes that run near the Sheraton.

Proposals: While individual paper proposals will be considered, full panel proposals are preferred. Panel proposals should be submitted as one PDF document and include a title and one-page abstract of the theme of the panel, one-page abstracts of each paper to be presented, and a 2-page CV of each presenter, and for the chair and commenter. These will all be submitted in one PDF document. Individual paper proposals will include a one-page abstract of the paper and the individual’s 2-page CV. For more information and to submit proposals, please contact Program Committee Chairs, Dr. Kyle Zelner or Dr. Heather Stur at wagingpeace2016@gmail.com  Submission deadline: February 1, 2016. For more information, visit http://www.usm.edu/war-society

Proposal Deadline: February 1, 2016