History Graduate Student Association

“Trauma, Memory, and Identity: Connection through Conflict”

Annual Graduate Student Conference

University of Maryland – College Park

 

The History Graduate Student Association (HGSA) at the University of Maryland, College Park invites graduate students from various disciplines to participate in their annual conference. This year’s theme seeks papers exploring historical narratives of trauma, memory, and identity as they emerge from both marginalized perspectives and within dominant historical narratives. They welcome proposals for individual paper presentations from diverse disciplinary perspectives and regions of study. In exploring approaches and perspectives to the studies of trauma, memory, and identity on both regional and global levels, this conference aims to create a space where differing dynamics can be explored and moved beyond a Western-centric lens.

Memory and Trauma studies have emerged as a key paradigm in humanities, social, and cultural studies in recent decades. The intersections and interactions between these two fields have been employed by contemporary scholars to study human histories of conflict, genocides, war, and displacement, connecting individual traumas to local and national experiences. Scholars have traced these experiences across time, generations and across borders, exploring how identities and memories are shaped in the aftermath.

 

Submissions should align with the theme and may address topics including, but not limited to:
– War and post-war atrocities
– Conflict and connection
– Memory activism
– Commemoration and institutionalization of memory
– Resilience and coping
– Memory traces and entanglements of memory
– Migratory memory and collective trauma
– Transcultural, transnational, and transgenerational trauma

 

Submissions are accepted from a wide range of disciplines, including but not limited to:

• History/Art History
• Gender and Sexuality Studies
• Military and Security Studies
• Literary and Cultural Studies
• Political Science
• Linguistics
• Environmental Studies
• Public Law and Policy
• Religious Studies
• Anthropology
• International Affairs
• Sociology

 

HGSA invites papers considering all historical periods and geographic regions that consider both individual, collective, and comparative histories.

Submission Deadline: 11:59 pm EST on January 5, 2024.

Intended Format: In-person with space for virtual panel presentations; food will be covered for all in-person participants.

To Apply: Please submit an abstract (300 words or less) and a short bio note of 100 words with the subject line “HGSA Conference Proposal” to hgsa.umcp@gmail.com.

Accepted papers will be notified by January 30, 2024.

Contact UMD HGSA at hgsa.umcp@gmail.com with any questions.