The Middle Ground Journal

The Sixth Annual Conference of the Midwest World History Association
25-26th September 2015, Wabash College (Crawfordsville, Indiana)
EXTENDED DEADLINE May 15, 2015

The Midwest World History Association has extended the deadline for paper, poster, panel, roundtable, and workshop proposals for its annual conference, to be held at Wabash College in Crawfordsville, Indiana, on September 25th and 26th, 2015. The conference theme of “Feast and Famine in World History” is intended to encompass all topics of relevance to the production, consumption, exchange, and culture of food throughout history. Papers and panels on any theme in world history are also encouraged. The organizers encourage proposals from K-12 teachers, college faculty, students, and public historians, as well as scholars working in allied fields such as Anthropology or Sociology.

As an additional theme, the Conference Committee especially encourages and solicits contributions on topics related to the LGBTQ experience in Indiana and the world.

In light of the recent passage of the so-called “Religious Freedom Restoration Act” in the Indiana Legislature, the MWWHA Executive Board affirms its opposition to discrimination and its support of equality and diversity in all forms, including sexual orientation and gender identity. The Conference Committee will take every possible measure to ensure that all attendees will be able to enjoy a conference without fear of discrimination, and to encourage the many people and organizations who are working towards greater equality for all Hoosiers. In particular, we support the efforts of Crawfordsville mayor Todd Barton to pass a municipal anti-discrimination ordinance. Further measures to ensure a welcoming environment and to support the cause of equality will be announced later on the conference website.

The conference will feature both a keynote presentation and a teaching workshop by Professor Jonathan Reynolds, Northern Kentucky University. Dr. Reynolds’ keynote, “On the Cutting Edge of World History: Rethinking Food in World History, and Rethinking World History With Food” will examine the changing relationship between food and world history over the past century. His workshop, called “Changing Your World History Recipe: Using Food to Enrich the World History Classroom,” will address how food is often misused in world history classrooms, and provide a number of simple, constructive, and enlightening techniques to add a dash of food history to spice up and enrich the teaching of world history.

Please submit a 250-word abstract and a short curriculum vitae to the website http://my.mwwha.org no later than May 15, 2015. Where a complete panel is proposed, the convener should also include a 250-word abstract of the panel theme. Each panelist should plan to spend no more than 20 minutes presenting her or his paper.

Presenters must register for the conference by September 1, 2015, to be included in the program. Please, direct any questions to the Program Committee Chair, Dr. Nat Godley, at chairconferencecommittee@mwwha.org.

The MWWHA offers competitive Graduate Student Awards to offset part of the conference costs. Graduate students interested in applying should include a letter with their conference proposal explaining how the conference helps them with their studies, teaching, and/or future career plans.
We also invite accepted papers to be submitted to our journal, The Middle Ground, for potential publication: http://themiddlegroundjournal.org/.

Further information about the MWWHA, including membership and conference registration, can be found on our website: http://mwwha.org/.