Call for PapersSoutheastern American Studies Association (SASA)March 14-16, 2019Emory Conference Center and HotelAtlanta, GeorgiaSubmission Deadline: August 15, 2018 Looking Back, Talking Back, Moving Forward Black Lives Matter, the #MeToo Movement, the Women’s March, DREAMERs, the March for Our Lives. In recent years, we have witnessed—whether on the ground or via social media—a diversity of individuals and groups speaking up and talking back publicly in response to systemic intimidation and violence that has marginalized certain populations within and beyond the United States. Some say that we are at a watershed moment in U.S. history, but are we? Who and what have come before, and in what ways did they succeed and/or fail? How do the writers, speakers, and activists of today build upon the work of writers, speakers, and activists of yesteryear? And—in what ways—do new technologies impact social movements and the backlashes against them? For the 2019 SASA conference, we invite interdisciplinary papers and roundtables that explore moments (whether literary, historical, and/ or cultural) of “talking back” within national and transnational contexts. Where does public intellectualism/public scholarship fit into the research and teaching agendas of American Studies scholars? Where, when, and how do we speak up and talk back? With its 2018 theme, “States of Emergence,” the American Studies Association “emphasizes that our sense of crisis must be thought alongside our constant commitment to challenging the calamities that beset us and to producing alternative—indeed better—worlds.” In that spirit we welcome papers and sessions that explore how your scholarship, teaching, and/or service contributes to producing such worlds within and beyond your particular academic setting. Possible foci for papers, panels, or roundtable sessions: Civility, civil discourse, civil disobedience, civil rightsSocial media and social movementsHashtag activismStudent activismTalking back, disruptive staring, and other performances of creative resistanceImmigration, migration, gentrification, urbanizationInequality as a givenMaking sense of the 2018 midtermsPublic scholarship, public intellectualismMuseums, archives, and collective memory in the age of fake newsCreativity and the effectiveness of criticismPedagogical approaches to teaching about dissent, protest, movement-makingPedagogical approaches to teaching American Studies in 2019 Guidelines for submissions:Please use the online form to submit your proposals by August 15, 2018: https://goo.gl/forms/pZIOSNvtP3nf5BCh2 For individual papers, you will be prompted to submit the following: 1) an abstract for your proposed paper (500 words) and 2) a brief bio 300 words).For complete panel or roundtable proposals, you will be prompted to submit the following: 1) a title and description of the proposed panel or roundtable (300 words); 2) a brief abstract for each presentation within the session (300 words per abstract); and 3) a brief bio for each presenter (250 words per bio). In the interest of involving as many people in our conference as possible, each conference attendee may be listed in the conference program as a participant in a maximum of two sessions. While we welcome a range of formats, we ask that panels be designed so that they fit within a 75-minute time frame with at least 15 minutes dedicated to discussion. As always, we especially encourage graduate students to attend our conference, to present research, and to enjoy being part of our scholarly community. The Critoph Prize recognizes the best graduate student paper presented at each SASA conference. It includes a certificate and a check for $250, as well as recognition at the next biennial gathering. The deadline for graduate students to submit the papers they are presenting at the 2019 conference—as a Microsoft Word or PDF attachment to SASAcritophprize@gmail—is noon on March 14, 2019. Questions? Contact us at sasaconference2019[at]gmail.com.