German Studies Association – Call for Seminar Proposals
The German Studies Associations (GSA) is receiving proposals for approximately 15 seminars to be hosted during the 45th GSA Conference in Indianapolis, Indiana from September 30 to October 4, 2021.
The conference will also host a series of conference sessions and roundtables. Additional information on the general conference is available here.
Seminars meet for all three days of the conference. They explore new avenues of academic exchange and foster extended discussion, rigorous intellectual debate, and intensified networking. Seminars may enable extended discussion of a recent academic publication; the exploration of a promising new research topic; engagement with pre-circulated papers; an opportunity to debate the work of scholars with different approaches; the coming together of scholars seeking to develop an anthology; or the in-depth discussion of a political or public policy issue, novel, film, poem, musical piece, painting, or other artwork.
Seminars are typically proposed and led by two to three conveners (in special cases, there may be four conveners) and must consist of a minimum of 10 and a maximum of 20 participants, including the conveners themselves. Conveners are expected to make every effort to aim for broad diversity and include scholars from different disciplines and at different career stages, including graduate students.
Conveners are strongly encouraged to structure their seminars around creative and engaging forms of intellectual exchange; lengthy individual presentations are discouraged as they imitate “traditional” panels and may hamper discussion, collaboration, and innovative thinking.
To apply to convene a seminar, GSA members should submit a proposal through the online portal (https://www.xcdsystem.com/gsa
The Committee will review seminar proposals and post a list of approved seminars and their topics on the GSA website by January 4, 2021.
Conveners may then enlist participants to join the seminar. A call for auditors (who may observe but who are not considered formal participants) will be issued later in the year, once the final conference program has been published.
Guidelines and additional information regarding seminars and proposals are available here.