Ohio Valley History Conference
Call for Papers
Ohio Valley History Conference
Western Kentucky University, March 3-5, 2022
“History Made Strange”
Note: this conference has been moved from Fall 2021 to Spring 2022 to ensure that we can safely gather in person.
After a two-year delay due to the pandemic, the Ohio Valley History Conference will convene in person on the Western Kentucky University campus on March 3-5, 2022. The OVHC is open to historians and interdisciplinary scholars from all time periods and specializations. It welcomes faculty, independent scholars, graduate students, and advanced undergraduates. This year’s theme, History Made Strange, will examine how other academic disciplines or intellectual frameworks can transform conventional wisdom about the past. The OVHC accepts proposals for individual papers, panels, roundtables, and volunteers to chair panels. Traditional historical topics are welcome in addition to interdisciplinary historical topics. Graduate students are particularly encouraged to attend and present.
Possible topics can include but are not limited to:
- Gender and Sexuality
- Public History
- War and Peace
- Labor History
- Digital Humanities
- Race and Ethnicity
- Philosophy of History
- Environmental History
- Visual Culture
- Economic History
Keynote Speaker: We are proud to announce the keynote speaker will be Dr. Brooke Blower, Associate Professor of History, Boston University. The dinner and keynote will be on Friday, March 4th at 5:30pm. Dr. Blower’s research focuses on modern American politics, culture, and war. Her first book, Becoming Americans in Paris: Transatlantic Politics and Culture between the World Wars (Oxford University Press, 2011) won the Gilbert Chinard Prize from the Society for French Historical Studies and the James P. Hanlan Best Book Award from the New England Historical Association. Dr. Blower is currently writing a book that traces the lives and politics of seven American noncombatants and the missions that took them across the globe during World War II. Articles related to this project have appeared in the American Historical Review, Diplomatic History, and the book she co-edited with Mark P. Bradley, The Familiar Made Strange: American Icons and Artifacts after the Transnational Turn (Cornell University Press, 2015). With Sarah T. Phillips, Blower co-edits Modern American History, a Cambridge University Press journal that covers all aspects of United States history since the 1890s.
Location and Accommodations: Western Kentucky University is located 70 minutes from Nashville International Airport. A block of rooms is available at the Hyatt Place adjacent to the WKU campus in Bowling Green, Kentucky, for a reduced rate. When available, registration information will be posted here on the conference website: https://www.wku.edu/history/ohio_valley_history_conference.php.
Submission Process: For panels, roundtables, or individual papers, please submit a 200‐word abstract of each paper and a 1‐2 page CV. Volunteers to chair sessions or provide comment should submit a 1‐2 page CV indicating areas of interest and expertise. All proposals should be submitted as PDF documents. For any questions, please contact conference organizer Dr. Alexander Olson at alexander.olson@wku.edu.
Submission Deadline: December 15, 2021. Send proposals as a PDF attachment to ovhc@wku.edu. Please include the name and affiliation of each participant as you would like it to appear in the program.
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