The 2015 Postgraduate Forum (PGF) of the German Association for American Studies (Deutsche Gesellschaft für Amerikastudien, DGfA) calls for submissions to this year’s conference.

The PGF is an annual forum for young scholars working in the field of American Studies who have completed their MA (or equivalent) to discuss their work and meet their peers. This year’s PGF is jointly organized by PhD candidates from the University of Bamberg and the University of Bayreuth. The conference itself takes place at the University of Bamberg from November 6 to 8, 2015.

During this three-day conference, young scholars in the field of American Studies are invited to present their current research – such as essays or dissertations and postdoc projects. The PGF offers participants a platform to address various issues. There is no topical restriction, although we especially encourage paper proposals on North American poetry, animal studies, comic studies, food studies, as well as on war and illness in American literature, culture, history and politics.

We would like to invite you to submit an abstract of 200–300 words by July 31, 2015. Your proposal should be in English and should include a brief biographical sketch of 150–200 words stating your academic background, your university affiliation, your research interests, and the current status of your project. We especially encourage young researchers who have little or no conference experience to participate and present their current research. In order to leave enough time for lively discussions, presentations must not exceed 20 minutes.

Please send all proposals to: pgf@dgfa.de

Selected contributions will be published in the peer-reviewed online journal COPAS (Current Objectives of Postgraduate American Studies).

Further information regarding this year’s PGF in Bamberg, including the conference program, travel directions, accommodation options and more will be available on our website: https://pgf2015bamberg.wordpress.com

We kindly ask all participants (presenting and non-presenting) to register no later than September 30, 2015 via our website.

Your PGF-Team 2015
Laura Oehme, Judith Rauscher, Theresa Roth, Mareike Spychala

Download: Call for Papers (PDF)