The Society for Military History

Calls for Papers and Panels

CALL FOR PAPERS
RMC History Symposium 2023
23-24 November 2023
Royal Military College of Canada, Kingston-ON

The RMC History Department is pleased to announce that the next RMC History Symposium will take place on 23-24 November 2023, at the RMC campus, Kingston, Canada. The 2023 symposium theme is “Canada and the Liberation of the Netherlands 1944-1946.” 

Between 1944-1946, the Canadian military played a central role in the liberation and immediate post-war recovery of the Netherlands. From September 1944 to 8 May 1945, more than 7600 Canadian soldiers, sailors and airmen died fighting to free the Dutch people from the yoke of Nazi oppression and to this day, a special relationship has existed between the Canadian and Dutch governments and people. While this feeling of mutual respect is undoubtably real, it does not tell the whole story. The liberation of the Netherlands was not exclusively a military affair nor did all those who experienced it have positive memories. Tensions existed between the Canadian Army and Dutch government both during and after the war. Air and land operations, as so frequently happens, resulted in civilian casualties. And Dutch men resented seeing their women marry Canadians and rush off to a new life on the other side of the Atlantic.

This symposium will bring together experts in military, social, and political history from around the world to establish a dialogue on the varying aspects, experiences, and perspectives of the liberation of the Netherlands. We have invited a diverse and exciting group of keynote scholars from Canada, the Netherlands, the UK, and the United States: Major John Rickard (Canadian Army Command and Staff College), Dr. Russell Hart (Hawai’i Pacific University), Dr. Caroline D’Amours (Royal Military College of Canada), Dr. Geoffrey Hayes (University of Waterloo), Dr. Mike Bechthold (Wilfrid Laurier University), Dr. Ben Schoenmaker (Netherlands Institute for Military History), Dr. Stephen A. Hart (Royal Military Academy Sandhurst), Dr. Erwin van Loo (Netherlands Institute for Military History), Melinda Jarratt (Curator New Brunswick Military History Museum), and Dr. Tim Cook (Canadian War Museum).

In addition, the conference organizing committee solicits proposals on all aspects of military, social, and political history related to the liberation of the Netherlands. The deadline for submitting individual papers is 14 July 2023. Individual paper submissions must include names(s) of author(s), institutional affiliation, email address(es), specify if in-person or online, one page CV, title of abstract, and an abstract of 250 words maximum. Proposals for individual papers must be submitted in MS Word format and in Times New Roman font size 12. Papers may be presented in English and French, however, simultaneous on-site translation will not be available.

Please direct your submissions to rmc.symposium.cmr@gmail.com with the subject header “Proposal RMC History Symposium, 2023.” For conference fees and other details access https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/2023-rmc-history-symposium-tickets-634220178627.

CALL FOR PRESENTERS
The Second World War Research Group, North America (SWWRGNA) is a regional branch of a larger global organization (https://www.swwresearch.com) dedicated to promoting scholarly work on the long global Second World War across an international community. We have a few more slots open for chapter- or article-length work in progress (as yet unpublished) to present at our monthly virtual reading group in 2023-2024. 
 
Those who have work on which they would like feedback, or who would like to join the virtual reading group, should contact the SWWRGNA co-directors Mary Kathryn Barbier and Jadwiga Biskupska at swwresearchgroupna@gmail.com.

CALL FOR PAPERS
Historical Urgency

The National Council on Public History and Utah Division of State History/Utah Historical Society jointly seek proposals for our 2024 annual meeting, to be held April 10-13, 2024 at the Hilton Salt Lake City.

SUBMISSION FORMS

• Submit an optional early topic proposal for feedback and to find co-presenters (due June 12): https://ncph.org/conference/topic-proposal-form/
• For final proposals (due July 15):
• Session proposal submission: https://ncph.org/conference/session-proposal-form/ 
• Working group proposal submission: https://ncph.org/conference/working-group-proposal-form/
• Workshop proposal submission: https://ncph.org/conference/workshop-proposal-form/

• Community engagement, particularly with communities whose histories face urgent existential threats
• Communicating the critical importance of history and historical thinking
• Discourse and dialogue in a time of extreme social polarization
• Ethics and processes of crisis and/or rapid collecting
• Evolving standards in commemoration and memorialization
• Oral history, especially the collection of oral histories from older generations
• Preservation of environmental and cultural resources endangered by climate change, and sustainability efforts more broadly
• Preservation of quick-moving, digital, and ephemeral sources of future historical information like social media
• Providing public historians and other cultural workers, especially the most vulnerable among us, with safe, secure working conditions and fair compensation
• Repatriation of human remains and cultural objects
• Responsiveness to rapid developments with an immediate impact on the work of history education, outreach, funding, and more—including legislative efforts, book bans, outlier events like COVID-19, and more.

• ROUNDTABLE (90 mins): Roundtables are typically about half presentation, half discussion and feedback among presenters and the audience. Presenters should bring targeted questions to pose to others at the table in order to learn from and with each other.
• STRUCTURED CONVERSATION (90 mins): These facilitated, participant-driven discussions are designed to prioritize audience dialogue and may contain little or no formal presentation component.
• TRADITIONAL PANEL (90 mins): At least three presenters, a chair, and optional commentator. While this is the most traditional format, we still highly discourage the reading of papers.
• COMMUNITY VIEWPOINTS (90 mins): A showcase that features a variety of stakeholder and collaborator perspectives across stages of the project’s development.
• WORKING GROUP (2 hrs): Facilitators and up to 12 discussants grapple with a shared concern. Before and during the meeting, working groups articulate a purpose they are working toward or a problem they are actively trying to solve and aim to create an end product. Proposals are submitted by facilitators, who will seek discussants after acceptance.
• INDIVIDUAL (~30 mins): While individual proposals are welcome, individual presentations will either be shorter than a full session or will be combined with similar proposals to make a full session. These should be presentations of your work and, like all other sessions, not a reading of a paper.
• WORKSHOP (4 or 8 hrs): A half- or full-day workshop is a more intensive and skills-based deep-dive into a topic that includes concrete practical tools and lessons for a smaller group of attendees (recommended 15-30 people).

CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS
‘That Pageant Terrible’:  Cultural Representations of African American War Experience from the American Revolution to the Twenty-First Century  

Edited by Jennifer James and Steven Trout

Prompted by the recent release of  Spike Lee’s Da 5 Bloods and J.D. Dillard’s Devotion, the latest in a string of Hollywood films focused on African American military service, and the dedication of the national African American Veterans Monument in Buffalo, New York, in 2022, this interdisciplinary collection, the first of its kind, will examine the construction of African American war experience in a wide range of cultural artifacts, including literary texts, works of cinema, paintings, musical compositions, museum spaces (physical and virtual), and public monuments. The editors welcome proposals that consider Black war experience and its representation in connection with any armed conflict from the American Revolution to the War on Terror. Possible themes include (but are not limited to) the following:

• Race, citizenship, and war
• Race and war trauma
• Race, disability, and war   
• War and Black sexualities
• The War at home
• Twentieth-century conflict and the Great Migration
• War and African American masculinity
• Black women in wartime
• Sound Culture Studies and African American war experience
• African American military service in public memorials
• War and African American print culture
• African American war experience and diaspora and/or Pan-Africanism
• Anti-war and anti-imperialist dissent, activism, movements
• Race, war, and the environment

CALL FOR PAPERS
War College of the Seven Years’ War at Fort Ticonderoga
May 18-20, 2024

2024 marks the 250th anniversary of the last year before war broke out once again across North America, eventually evolving into the American War of Independence. Despite being the year before the hostilities of the American Revolution, 1774 also marks the last year of the often-tense decade of peace since the end of the global Seven Years’ War. This earth shattering conflict, spread across more of the globe that any previously, had shaken up power structures from Madrid to Missouri to Manila with profound consequences for millions across the world. To explore the events of that conflict, and their repercussions, Fort Ticonderoga seeks proposals for papers broadly addressing the period the Seven Years’ War for its Twenty-Eighth Annual War College of the Seven Years’ War to be held May 18-20, 2024.

We seek new research and perspectives of one of the most important military and political events of its era, covering a diverse range of topics and perspectives from across the global Seven Years’ War. We welcome paper proposals from established scholars in addition to graduate students, museum professionals, and others that relate to the origins, conduct, and legacy of the Seven Years’ War. We are especially interested in topics and approaches that engage the international quality of the conflict as well as representing the variety of peoples and places involved.

We welcome interdisciplinary approaches and perspectives covering the period from at least the 1740s to the 1760s. Papers may include or engage:

• Material Culture
• Biographical Analysis
• Campaign Histories
• Archaeological Investigations
• Cultural, Social, and Political Ramifications
• Indigenous Populations

CALL FOR PAPERS
THE TRAFALGAR CHRONICLE
PUBLICATION DATE: FALL 2024
THEME: NAVAL INTELLIGENCE IN THE GEORGIAN ERA

For the 2024 edition of The Trafalgar Chronicle, the editors seek carefully-researched articles on ‘Naval Intelligence in the Georgian Era’. We invite well-researched tales of intelligence gathering, espionage, secret plots, assumed identities, deception and denial, clandestine operations and intrigues.

The Trafalgar Chronicle is the scholarly flagship publication of The 1805 Club, a charity registered in England and Wales (number 1071871) with an international membership of scholars and enthusiasts of the Georgian maritime era (1714 – 1837). The 1805 Club takes its name from the iconic Battle of Trafalgar that gave Nelson his place in history and confirmed the role of the Royal Navy in asserting Britain’s sea power. Seaforth Publishing is our publisher.

Additional Topics: We also seek general interest articles with unique perspectives on the maritime and naval history of the Georgian era. We invite biographical portraits, articles about battles at sea, maritime economics, exploration of foreign shores, foreign relations, politics, etc. We also welcome well- documented reports on preservation efforts regarding the artifacts, graves, memorials, and monuments of the Nelson era.

Proposal Submission Guidelines: Please submit a proposal/abstract of no more than 500 words and a paragraph about your background (a biographical sketch). Proposals are due by 1 September 2022. Applicants will be notified of acceptance status by 1 October 2022. Submit all proposals and inquiries to tc.editor@1805Club.org. Detailed author guidelines are available upon request.

Article Guidelines: Articles should be 3000 to 5000 words long in MSWORD (unprotected) following the New Oxford Style Manual. Please include two to five high resolution illustrations, each in a separate file (jpeg, pdf, or tiff). Articles are due 1 February 2024, at which point they will be edited and, in some cases, submitted to peer review. Articles will be returned to authors for revisions by 1 March 2024. Revisions are due 1 April 2024. Publication will be Fall/Autumn 2024.

While we do not pay our contributors, each author will receive a copy of the Trafalgar Chronicle upon publication. All authors will also receive a PDF of their published article for their portfolio, reprint requests, or to feature on a website or a blog. Authors retain copyright to their articles.

Our Contributors: We welcome articles from 1805 Club members and anyone with an interest in the history of the Georgian Navy and other navies of the period. Our articles have come from writers of varied backgrounds: historians, journalists, university students, military personnel, preservationists, and novelists. Contact tc.editor@1805Club.org for additional information.

CALL FOR PAPERS
The National WWII Museum’s Jenny Craig Institute for the Study of War and Democracy in New Orleans is pleased to issue this call for papers for its Emerging Scholars Colloquium, “Confronting the Nazi Genocide: New Directions in Holocaust Studies.” This three-day program will take place at the Museum on September 6–8, 2023.
Full details, including submission portal link, are at https://www.nationalww2museum.org/2023-colloquium-emerging-scholars?fbclid=IwAR2iPqkGvJa7k89qeV5STjWoIIng-vszHE7ge_gQ3gN6aXdRYGYU7ZmXv2I.

CALL FOR PAPERS
The Society of Civil War Historians will host its biennial conference at the Sheraton Raleigh in Raleigh, North Carolina, from June 19-22, 2024. It seeks to promote the study of the American Civil War era and to bring greater coherence to the field by encouraging the integration of social, military, political, and public history. The SCWH welcomes proposals that speak to any chronological or thematic aspect of the Civil War era, defined broadly as including the era of slavery and westward expansion through Reconstruction and its aftermath. This year, we especially welcome work that addresses the legacies of the Civil War era in later generations, including our own time, and papers or panels that seek to bridge the gaps between military history and other subfields, especially African American history. We hope to engage academic historians, graduate students, independent scholars, and professionals who interpret history in museums, national parks, archives, and other public history sites.   
The deadline for receipt of proposals is September 15, 2023.  Proposals should be submitted online at https://scwh.memberclicks.net/conference-proposals-2024-. Although non-members may submit proposals, participants in the conference must be members of the SCWH at the time of the conference. (For more information about membership, go to https://scwh.memberclicks.net/membership.)

Proposals for complete panels should include a title and overview (approximately 250-300 words), a one paragraph abstract of each paper, and a one-paragraph biography of each participant. Proposals for roundtables should include a title and overview along with one-paragraph biographies of each participant. Proposals for single papers should include a title, one-paragraph abstract, and one paragraph biography. Email addresses must be provided for each participant. 

We also welcome proposals that depart from the traditional panel format and instead experiment with other forms, such as workshops, roundtables, or other means of engaging with the audience.  Due to the excessively high costs of providing computers and projectors—well over $1000 per day per room— if you request technology please explain the value it adds to each presentation. 

We further encourage panels to include participants of different racial and ethnic backgrounds, genders, and varying levels of professional rank.  We also welcome panels that include diversity of thought, including interdisciplinary approaches. 
 
Direct queries to program committee chair Timothy Williams at timw@uoregon.edu.

CALL FOR PAPERS
Material Matters: It’s in the Details
January 20, 2024

The vast majority of participants in the military events of the long 18th century left no written traces of themselves. Fortunately for scholars, and the public, evidence of their presence survives in material form. From the arms they carried, to the archaeological evidence of their presence, the material experience of soldiering extensively survives if we look carefully. Often seen as mementos or souvenirs of war, or as distinct areas of avocational collecting, military material culture is pervasive, yet understudied, as a rich body of material culture.

However, “military material culture” is not limited to the weapons men wielded or the uniforms they wore. The dense networks of manufacturing supporting early modern militaries connected civilians across the world and expands our definition of this area of study. Furthermore, militaries left their impact on societies through the appropriation and re-use of materials, as well as physically on landscapes shaped by the presence, or absence, of soldiers. Thus, material culture provides a unique and compelling way to engage with topics and individuals for which no written sources survive.

The Fort Ticonderoga Museum seeks papers relating broadly to material culture made, used, or altered in a military context. From soldier’s encounters with domestic furnishings on campaign, to the weapons designed and built for battle. We are seeking new research from established scholars in addition to graduate students, professionals, and artisans that relate to material culture made, used, or altered in a military context between roughly 1609-1815. Papers may engage but are not limited to:

• Objects made for military purposes
• Civilian objects used in military contexts
• Archeological research into sites of military occupation
• Ephemeral material cultures such as food or fuel
• Military material culture crossing cultural, national, and geographic lines
• Construction and fabrication of material culture
• Craft, trade, experimental archeology, or living history perspectives on material culture
• Art and representations of material culture in military contexts

CALL FOR PAPERS
The Center for Cryptologic History (CCH) and the National Cryptologic Foundation (NCF) have announced the call for proposals and/or papers to be presented at the 19th Cryptologic History Symposium to be held on May 8-10, 2024. The Symposium will take place at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Lab Kossiakoff Center in Laurel, Maryland on May 8-9, 2024 and at the National Cryptologic Museum on May 10, 2024.
 
The theme for the symposium is "Engage the Past - Educate the Future." Proposals are due September 5, 2023.
 
To read the full announcement and for more information visit:
 
https://www.nsa.gov/History/Cryptologic-History/Cryptologic-History-Symposium/
 
or
 
https://cryptologicfoundation.org/community/conferences/symposium.html  
 
If you have questions, please send them to cchevents@nsa.gov.

CALL FOR PROPOSALS
Announcing a New Series from Naval Institute Press
Studies in Marine Corps History and Amphibious Warfare
William A. Taylor, Series Editor
 
This series advances understanding of Marine Corps history and amphibious warfare by publishing original scholarship across a broad spectrum of innovative studies. The series analyzes an extensive array of vital aspects of the Marine Corps, amphibious warfare, and their collective role in global security, including battles, leaders, strategy, operations, tactics, doctrine, technology, personnel, organization, and culture. Incorporating both historical and contemporary perspectives, this series publishes important literature about the Marine Corps and significant works relevant to amphibious warfare that span the globe, feature diverse methodologies, and reach general audiences. As a result, the series provides a professional home, central venue, and premier destination for the best and newest research on Marine Corps history and amphibious warfare.

William A. Taylor is the holder of the Lee Drain Endowed University Professorship, previous department chair, and award-winning professor of global security studies at Angelo State University in San Angelo, Texas. A graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy, he holds an MA degree in history from the University of Maryland, an MA degree in National Security Studies from Georgetown University, and MPhil and PhD degrees in history from George Washington University. Taylor is the author or editor of four books, including Military Service and American Democracy (University Press of Kansas) and Every Citizen a Soldier (Texas A&M University Press).

Send inquiries and proposals to william.taylor@angelo.edu.

CALL FOR BOOK PROPOSALS
New Series – Vernon Press Series in Classical Studies

Vernon Press invites proposals on the history, literature, art, philosophy, political or social structures, religion, languages, or archaeology of the ancient Greek and Roman civilizations for its new Series in Classical Studies.

The classics are the earliest branch of the humanities, with a long history of scholarly value, but the field continues to evolve. The past two decades have seen exciting developments in key research areas, especially material culture, reception studies and gender studies. The books in this series will examine such growth areas, while also being open to more traditional approaches.

Comprising edited volumes, co-authored books and single-author monographs, the series will be useful for senior researchers, scholars and practitioners with an interest in this field of study, as well as undergraduate and postgraduate students.

To receive more information about submitting a proposal or to discuss your idea, please contact James McGovern: james.mcgovern@vernonpress.com

Information also available on: https://vernonpress.com/proposal/47/24ac37c606272b4a01c1bcc8b4b15627

CALL FOR CONTRIBUTORS
From Balloons to Drones

Established in 2016, From Balloons to Drones is an online platform that seeks to provide analysis and debate about air power history, theory, and contemporary operations in their broadest sense including space and cyber power. Air power is to be understood broadly, encompassing not only the history of air warfare, including social and cultural aspects but also related fields such as archaeology, international relations, strategic studies, law and ethics.

Since its emergence during the First World War, air power has increasingly become the preferred form of military power for many governments. However, the application and development of air power is controversial and often misunderstood. To remedy this, From Balloons to Drones seeks to provide analysis and debate about air power through the publication of articles, research notes, commentary and book reviews.

From Balloons to Drones welcomes and encourages potential submissions from postgraduates, academics, and practitioners involved in researching the subject of air power. Submissions can take the following forms:

• Articles – From Balloons to Drones publishes informative articles on air power that range from historical pieces to the analysis of contemporary challenges. These well-researched articles should attempt to bridge a gap between the specialist and non-specialist reader. They should be around c.1,000 to 1,500 words, though From Balloons to Drones will accept larger pieces and we reserve the right to publish them in parts.
• Air War Books – From Balloons to Drones publishes a series of review articles that examine the top ten books that have influenced writers on air power.
• Commentaries – From Balloons to Drones publishes opinion pieces on recent news on either contemporary or historical subjects. These should be no longer than c.1,000 words.
• Research Notes – From Balloons to Drones publishes research notes related to contributor’s current research projects. These take the form of more informal pieces and can be a discussion of a source or a note on a recent research theme. These should be c.500 to 1,000 words.
• Book Reviews – From Balloons to Drones publishes occasional book reviews that aim to be an accessible collection of appraisals of recent publications about air power.

CALL FOR ARTICLES
International Bibliography of Military History
of the International Commission of Military History
Published by Brill (Leiden and Boston)

In existence since 1978, the International Bibliography of Military History (IBMH) has traditionally published historiographical articles, review articles, and book reviews. Since its recent move to Brill, however, it has been undergoing a transformation into a fully-fledged military history journal. As a next step in this process, the portfolio will be enlarged to include also original research articles.

The IBMH thus invites scholars to submit articles on any military historical topic that can appeal to an international readership, e.g. a topic involving more than one nation and, preferably, based on multi-archival research. There is no chronological limitation. The journal publishes articles ranging from antiquity to the contemporary period, as long as the research method is historical.

The articles should be based extensively on primary research, not have been published in another form or outlet, and not currently be considered by another journal. The submitted work should be between 8,000 and 10,000 words (including footnotes), and be thoroughly referenced. For further information on style and referencing, please visit the journal’s website.

Submitted articles will – after a first editorial screening – be sent out for peer-review (double-blind). This process, from submission to decision, normally takes six to eight weeks. Please submit your article directly to the Scientific Editor, Dr Marco Wyss (m.wyss@chi.ac.uk), who is also available for any potential preliminary queries.

CALL FOR CONTRIBUTIONS
The Council on America’s Military (CAMP) past is calling for papers for its Journal. We welcome submissions of interesting, original articles on American military history, especially topics that deal with significant sites (which could include installations, battlefields, ships and airplanes).  We also welcome articles on biography and historic preservation, especially if they are related to particular sites.  Maps and photos are strongly encouraged.  We ask that authors submit manuscripts by e-mail to our editors, using a system that is compatible with Microsoft Word.  The length of the articles that we publish varies roughly between 2,500 and 7,500 words.  The author is responsible for obtaining permission to publish any copyrighted material, and for bearing the costs of obtaining or reproducing illustrations. Interested parties should refer to the CAMP website or contact the editor, Vincent Rospond at EditorJamp@yahoo.com.

A non-profit educational association, CAMP was founded in 1966, representing diverse professions from historians to archeologists, museologists to architects, engineers to authors, active and retired military of all ranks, genealogists to archivists, and just plain hobbyists, the Council on America’s Military Past has only one requirement for membership: commitment to its objectives.

Its focus is on the places and things from America’s military past, and their stories. CAMP looks to all types of military and naval posts, from stockade forts of early New England to adobe presidios of the Southwest, from temporary camps and battlegrounds of a military on the move, to elaborate coastal defense installations along America’s coastlines. For CAMP, old ships and airplanes are also posts.

The Journal of America’s Military Past is a scholarly publication with interesting, illustrated articles on historic posts and battlefields and their people. The journal includes a robust book review section that, by itself, makes it worth reading. It is published three times a year.