Citizenship
The first thematic scope of “20/20 Vision” is citizenship. We thus welcome papers targeting the idea of citizenship from various historical, political, ethical, and aesthetic perspectives, and addressing questions about the archaic, residual or emergent forms, styles and norms of being a citizen. Papers and pre-formed panels may focus on the following problem points:
- the evolution or devolution of the idea of a democratic citizen in American politics
- legal fiction, the citizen, and citizenship in history and literature
- the problems of citizenship and agency in the days of the early Republic
- the relation between citizenship and economy
- citizenship and mobility
- citizenship and migration
- citizenship and slavery
- citizenship and disability
- citizenship and the changing idea of freedom
- citizenship and community
- civil rights
- limits of responsibility
- limits of engagement
Space
The second theme “20/20 Vision” addresses is space, a general umbrella term for the issues related to the environment:
- land exploration and exploitation in the US
- American history of land property
- US borderland issues
- US problem of natural resources
- climate change and the US policy
- climate change and the American landscape
- pollution and toxic waste
- ecological disasters
- space exploration
The theme of space also relates issues connected with spatiality on a different dimension such as the issues of
- private vs public space
- social media and internet space
- architecture, mortgage problem
- rural vs. urban space
- utopias in American history, politics and literature
- dystopias in American history, politics and literature
- American heterotopias
Renewal
The last focus area of “20/20 Vision” is perhaps the broadest of the three: the idea of renewal. While strongly related to the issues of citizenship and space, where it may also serve as a reflective angle, the theme of renewal on its own relates to a strong appeal in the American culture of the discourse of rebirth, reawakening, and revolution. Long before “make it new” became the slogan of the modernist artists on both sides of the Atlantic, making things new and resetting the parameters had always been part of the American life ethos. We welcome individual papers as well as pre-formed panels.
Submissions
We welcome abstracts and proposals in a range of formats, including individual papers; complete three-paper sessions (do note that a proposed session cannot feature scholars from the same institution and the same country); roundtables; and workshops. Individual paper abstracts should be no longer than 350 words (excluding bibliography, if you choose to have one). Session proposals must include a short description of the session as well as the title and abstracts of all three papers.
Deadline for abstracts:
November 30, 2019
Acceptance notifications:
December 15, 2019