Midwest Labor and Working-Class History (MLWCH) Graduate Student Colloquium University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
February 17 & 18, 2012
(Paper Proposals by December 1, 2011; Completed Papers by January 9, 2012)
The 2012 Midwest Labor and Working-Class History Graduate Student Colloquium (MLWCH) will be held February 17 and 18, 2012, at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. This year’s colloquium seeks a broad range of topics directly and tangentially related to the sub-fields of labor and working-class histories. The MLWCH is a graduate student conference that allows developing scholars an opportunity to present their work in a collegial, supportive setting, so as to receive feedback to help with future research.
The conference organizers are soliciting papers of approximately twenty-five pages from graduate students across a spectrum of disciplines and a broad range of genres.
Of particular interest are papers that critique, and suggest new directions for, various sub-disciplines related to working-class history, labor scholarship, or historiographies of peoples’ struggles; papers that draw upon historical or contemporary movements that have challenged neoliberal labor policies and practices; those that examine transnational workers’ or peoples’ struggles against global capitalism in its various forms; those that draw upon culturally specific or coded understandings (gender, race, ethnicity, etc.) of interactions with capital; and those that analyze working-class artistic expressions (visual art, music, etc.). Despite these specific focuses, the conference organizers hope to solicit a broad range of scholarship from graduate students and welcome submissions aside from those listed above.
The format of the conference will include moderated breakout discussions in which scholars will interact with one another and provide helpful, collegial suggestions for further development of one another’s work. Papers will be grouped into related categories, and will be distributed well in advance of the colloquium, allowing attendees to become familiar with the scholarship of each grouped session. Each presenter will be allowed several minutes to talk about their paper in any manner they deem appropriate, after which the moderator and other group participants will interact with the author to discuss, critique, and make suggestions for further scholastic development.
All events will be open to the public, and we encourage attendance from a wide array of scholars, activists, teachers, citizens, and students.
Please direct paper proposals, CVs, and questions regarding the conference, travel, and lodging accommodations to: gradconferenceMKE@gmail.com.
