2013 New England American Studies Association Spring Colloquium
American Studies: What, How, and Why
Saturday May 4th, 10am-1pm
Suffolk University Poetry Center
Boston, MA

The New England American Studies Association Council is excited to announce that NEASA's third annual Spring Colloquium will be held on Saturday, May 4th, between 10am and 1pm in Suffolk University's Poetry Center! The Colloquium will be entitled "American Studies: What, How, and Why," and will focus on defining disciplinary questions of what American Studies is, how we American Studiers do it, and why American Studies is worth supporting and strengthening in this time of educational crisis (and all other times).

As has been the case each year, the Colloquium will feature informal presentations from New England American Studiers, offering an opportunity for regional scholars to share some of their work, interests, and ideas. This year, we're looking for folks interested in taking part in either of two distinct roundtable conversations (each of which will run for about an hour fifteen minutes, with a short break in between):

1) A conversation featuring American Studies program directors, coordinators, administrators, secondary educators, and any and all others who practice American Studies at their institutions and organizations or otherwise seek to pass the discipline on to their peers and communities.

2) A conversation where American Studies scholars will model some of the many ways in which their own work exemplifies the discipline—its focal points and questions, its methodologies and analyses, and the possibilities it offers for 21st century American academic, public, and communal narratives.

If you're interested in adding your voice to either of these roundtables, or have any questions about them or any aspect of the Colloquium, please email Colloquium organizer Ben Railton (brailton@fitchburgstate.edu). But in any case, we very much hope you'll be able to attend the Colloquium, and take part in these important American Studies conversations.

See you in Boston in May!
Ben