Is Hegemony Dead?
The Eighth Annual Graduate Conference
Hosted by the Future Professoriate Program of Syracuse University,
Department of History
Friday, April 29th, 2016
The Future Professoriate Program of the Department of History at Syracuse University will
hold its eighth annual interdisciplinary Graduate Conference on Friday, April 29th, 2016.
We are delighted to invite proposals from graduate students of all disciplines on topics related
to the conference’s theme: Is Hegemony Dead?
Graduate students throughout the northeast region are welcome to submit proposals for
either panels or individual papers. The conference theme should be interpreted broadly.
Possible topics may relate to the impact of local, regional, and global exercises of power,
cultural conflict, political economy, social issues, identity, and the mechanics underlying
the pursuit of cultural and political hegemony.
Our keynote speaker will be T.J. Jackson Lears, Board of Governors Distinguished Professor
of History at Rutgers University and the editor of Raritan. He is the author of No Place of
Grace: Antimodernism and the Transformation of American Culture, 1880–1920 and, most
recently, Rebirth of a Nation: The Making of Modern America, 1877-1920, among other
notable works. For the keynote address, Professor Lears will be revisiting his valuable article,
“The Concept of Cultural Hegemony: Problems and Possibilities,” thirty years after its
publication.
Some of the questions and themes the conference hopes to explore will include, but are
not limited to, the following:

• To what extent does hegemony remain a viable analytical framework for scholarly analysis?
• What are the limits of its explanatory power? Is it worth re-working or should we
  abandon it as a limiting category of analysis?
• How can non-Marxist and non-Gramscian scholars make use of hegemony? How do
  scholars in the humanities and social sciences account for cultural, economic, and political
  dominance? Does the analysis have to be Marxist or Gramscian in nature?
• Is hegemony a source of stability or conflict?
• At what scale is hegemony most appropriately applicable? The local? National? International?
  Does it function differently depending on the scale of analysis?
• How are hegemonies formed? How do they collapse?
• What distinguishes hegemony from domination?
• Does the concept of hegemony negate the possibility of human agency? How is consent
  maintained and how is it challenged? Is there such a thing as consent within a hegemonic
  system?
• What roles do individuals, institutions, and ideas play in the formation of or challenges
  to the status quo? Are there broader factors at play?
• How does hegemony vary along lines of class, race, gender, and sexual orientation?
  Does it?

Each proposal should include a maximum 300-word abstract along with a C.V. for each
panelist. For panel proposals, please also submit a 200-word panel abstract. Deadline for
proposals is Sunday, January 10th, 2016. Please submit all materials to
suhistoryfpp@gmail.com. Applicants will be notified by early February whether the abstract
has been accepted.
Participants will be responsible for their own travel and meal expenses, but some refreshments
will be provided. A reception will be held for all participants after the conference.
Queries may also be sent to: suhistoryfpp@gmail.com. More information can be found at
http://historyfpp.syr.edu.