Call for Papers

Traces of Early America

An Interdisciplinary Graduate Student Conference



Hosted by the McNeil Center for Early American Studies, University of
Pennsylvania September 26 to 28, 2013



Scholars encounter early America through its traces, the vestiges and
fragments left behind. And in reconstructing the fleeting and ephemeral,
scholars also attempt to trace early American encounters.

This conference will bring together graduate students from a wide variety
of disciplines to explore the various meanings of traces—as material
objects, cultural representations, and academic practices.

Papers might consider how people deliberately and unwittingly left traces
as they moved through space and time; what traces or remnants of the past
get privileged while others are marginalized or occluded; how written,
visual, and other texts are both material objects and traces of lives and
experiences; and where we look for the traces of different communities and
conflicts in early America. More generally, papers might address tracing as
a method of historical inquiry, one that both uncovers and constitutes
objects and archives, as well as the methodological traces that have
reconfigured early American studies, such as Atlantic history, diaspora
studies, hemispheric studies, and circum-Caribbean and Latin American
studies.



We welcome applicants from a wide variety of disciplines—among them
history, literature, gender studies, ethnic studies, anthropology,
archeology, geography, art history, material culture, religious studies,
and political science—whose work deals with the histories and cultures of
North American and the Atlantic world before 1850.

Applicants should email their proposals to [log in to unmask] by
March 15, 2013. Proposals should include an abstract of no more than 250
words along with a one-page c.v. Paper presentations should be no more than
20 minutes. Limited financial support is available for participants’ travel
expenses. Decisions will be announced by May 15, 2013.



Any conference-related questions can be directed to:

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Sarah Chesney, MA

PhD Candidate

Historical Archaeology Program

Department of Anthropology

College of William and Mary

P.O. Box 8795

Williamsburg, VA 23187

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Carl G. Drexler, MA (ABD)

Arkansas Archeological Survey – SAU Research Station

College of William & Mary

U.S. Army Engineer Research & Development Center



P.O. Box 9381

Magnolia, Arkansas 71754

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870-235-4230



“Build to-day, then, strong and sure, With a firm and ample base; And
ascending and secure, Shall to-morrow find its place.” – Longfellow, “The
Builders”