American Society of Church History
Winter Meeting 2020
Whose América:
New Perspectives, Contours, and Connections
in Church Histories
(Please note: we are no longer accepting proposals for the 2020 winter meeting.)
The Program Committee of the American Society of Church History (ASCH), chaired by President-Elect Daniel Ramírez, is pleased to announce its Call For Papers for the upcoming Annual Meeting.
ASCH 2020 will be held Friday to Monday, January 3-6, 2020, at the Parker New York Hotel in New York City, concurrent with and proximate to the annual meeting of the American Historical Association (AHA).
Call For Papers
The ASCH annual meeting continues to serve as a site for critical scholarly production and conversation in all periods of Christian history. The guild’s current introspection and interrogation of foundational terms (e.g., “Whose Church, Which Histories, Which América?”), methods, and discursive parameters (e.g., racialized and exclusionary historiography) allow for expanded perspectival and comparative approaches to and between regions and received periods and invite critical examination of the epistemic ramifications of inequitable global knowledge production systems.
To take one example, the 450th anniversary of the publication in Basel of Casiodoro de Reina’s Spanish-language Biblia del Oso invites a consideration not only of exilic Christianities of the early modern period (as well as Jewish, Muslim, and Erasmian influence in Iberia and Iberoamérica) but also of that very deracination’s explanatory force in later periods of intensified migration and globalization (19th through 21st centuries); of the question of staggered text reception and translation; and even of the question of unexplored interlocutions (e.g., Councils of Trent and the Indies) and overlooked genealogies (e.g., the ties between debates over the treatment of heretics and indigenous evangelization/rationality and modern human rights discourse).
Papers and panels are solicited that explore received and new topics through new comparative and perspectival lenses, that take into account intersecting and parallel Christian trajectories (including intersections with Christianity’s Others) between metropoles and peripheries, between global South and North, and between and within nation-states (e.g, Black and Indigenous Christianities in comparative hemispheric perspective).
Proposals from the following periods and categories, inter alia, are welcomed:
- Early Christianity and patristic literatures
- Medieval and Byzantine
- Reformation and Early Modern Atlantic
- American: Colonial to Contemporary
- Africana, broadly construed
- Latinx and Latin American
- Modern European
- Ocean Basins
- World Christianities
We also continue to welcome proposals that address any other aspect of the history of Christianity and its interactions with culture, within traditional categories of historical periodization and geographical area, or across periods or regions. We especially encourage proposals that engage in interdisciplinary discussion; place theological ideas and lived religious practices in historical context; examine particular genres, source materials or methods, including the use of digital humanities and non-textual sources; or treat the current state of the study of histories of Christianity.
Sessions that deal with pedagogical issues of concern in the teaching of the history of Christianity, or with issues in the publication and dissemination of research to specialist and general audiences are also invited, as are sessions on the guild’s role in facilitating future historical work on contemporary majority Christianities whose current existential exigencies challenge traditional archival and mentoring practices. Sessions may also consider a major recent book, offer critical assessments of a distinguished career, or take the form of panel and round table discussions.
Types of Proposal
We solicit three types of proposal for presentation: regular panels, roundtables, and individual papers. Each type is defined below.
Regular Panel: Structured presentations from three (or, rarely, four) scholars of original research papers. These papers must be no more than twenty minutes each. Moderated by a chairperson, these presentations are often commented upon by a respondent, after which there is a conversation among the panelists as well as time for audience questions.
Roundtable: Structured group discussion of a topic, question, theme, or book significant to the discipline of the history of Christianity. Such a discussion can be proposed in a variety of ways, at the discretion of the person submitting the proposal. Roundtables are limited to six participants, along with the chairperson. The aim of the roundtable is a discussion among the participants, who may present short papers (~five minutes each) to frame their further contributions. The roundtable format should reserve a substantial amount of time for interaction with the audience at the end of the formal discussion.
Individual Paper: While the Program Committee gives strong preference to regular panel and roundtable proposals, one can also propose an individual paper for presentation on the conference program. If accepted, an individual paper will be placed into a panel — usually constructed of other individual paper submissions —by the Program Committee.
To ease scheduling and foster diverse dialogue, the ASCH limits the participation of conference attendees to:
- 1 presentation of a paper, and
- 1 comment on a session or participation on a roundtable, and
- 1 chairing of a session.
Deadlines For Proposals
The regular ASCH deadline for proposals is March 15, 2019.
The priority deadline, by which all proposals to be co-sponsored by the AHA must be submitted, is February 15, 2019. Persons submitting AHA co-sponsored proposals must submit them to both the AHA and the ASCH, using the proposal submission forms of each society.
The Program Committee will do its best to announce the results of all submissions by April 30, 2019 May 20, 2019.
Submission Guidelines
To submit a proposal for a full panel, roundtable, or individual paper, go to churchhistory.org/proposals.
Proposers will be required to enter basic information about their proposal, as well as submit a proposal document.
Proposal Documents
Full panel and roundtable proposal documents will consist of a single PDF or Word file containing:
- session title
- a description of less than 500 words outlining the topic of the session
- a description of less than 300 words of each paper
- a biographical paragraph of less than 250 words for each presenter, the session chair, and the respondent if applicable
- an e-mail address and phone number for each participant
Full panel and roundtable proposals should exhibit diversity (gender, ethnicity, rank, scholarly location, etc.) in their composition. Sessions are typically ninety minutes in length and allow for three or four papers, a formal response, and audience interaction. The committee reserves the right to reconfigure sessions as needed.
Individual paper proposals will consist of a single PDF or Word file containing:
- a description of less than 300 words
- a biographical paragraph of less than 250 words about the applicant
- an e-mail address and phone number for the proposed presenter
Video Projection
Panels or papers requiring video projection should provide a clear rationale for doing so, as the expense involved is considerable. While we will make every effort to accommodate requests, unfortunately the Program Committee cannot guarantee that projection equipment will be available for every presentation.
Membership and Registration Requirements
All session participants (except those living and working outside the United States) must hold a 2020 ASCH membership by November 15, 2019 in order to remain on the program. For information about ASCH membership, go to http://www.churchhistory.org/membership
All session participants must purchase a registration for the 2019 Annual Meeting by November 15, 2019 in order to remain on the program.
Submit A Proposal Now
To submit a proposal, go to http://www.churchhistory.org/proposals
Download a PDF of the 2020 Call For Papers
Click here to download a PDF of the Call For Papers. Please distribute it widely.
Additional Questions
If you have any questions related to the Call For Papers or the conference program, please contact the ASCH at asch@churchhistory.org