December 12, 2023
Call for Applications: GSA Emerging Scholars Workshop (ESW) 2024
We are excited to issue this call for the next Emerging Scholars Workshop (ESW) to be hosted at the 48th German Studies Association Conference in Atlanta, Georgia, from September 26–29, 2024. This workshop is exclusively for graduate students.
The ESW will run parallel to the established seminars, regular conference sessions, and roundtables. It will convene Friday through Sunday, 8am–10am. Participants must commit to participating in all three workshop meetings. For general conference information, see https://www.thegsa.org/conference/current-conference.
Over the past decade or so, graduate programs across the country have contracted. Fewer graduate students now encounter fewer regular graduate courses that have often also become more general in content in order to produce satisfactory enrollment. As a result, much of the specialized but crucial field training has moved into one-on-one tutorials and directed readings. The ESW seeks to give the up-and-coming cohort of scholars access to the leading faculty in their field, increase the advice and mentoring they receive, and allow them to come together for sustained professional conversations. The goal is to enable the next generation of Germanists to produce their best possible work, be competitive across fields, and contribute to the vitality, relevance, and productivity of our field at large.
The topic of this year’s workshop is “Global German Studies and the Politics of Belonging.” It will be facilitated jointly by two faculty mentors:
- Michelle Lynn Kahn, University of Richmond
- David D. Kim, UCLA
This workshop engages graduate students with several core questions:
- How can we expand the boundaries of German Studies in ways that move beyond nation-state borders and emphasize translocal connections?
- How do we highlight the agency of individuals and communities who tend to be excluded from dominant scholarly or public narratives of what it means to be “German”?
- In what ways does the field of German Studies create critical and sustainable avenues for scholarly activism and allyship to promote a radical politics of belonging?
Topics of interest include, but are not limited to, race, racism, and racialization; displacement, migration, and mobility; imperialism, decolonization, and postcoloniality; gender and sexuality; activism and social justice movements; humanitarianism and human rights; far-right extremism; and the politics of Holocaust memory.
The ESW is open to students who are enrolled in graduate programs. Students working on any time period or at any level under the broad umbrella of German Studies (literature, history, cultural studies, art history, musicology, anthropology, Queer Studies, Black Studies, architectural history, political science, sociology, and others) are encouraged to apply. Participants in past ESW workshops (2020-23) are not eligible. This policy ensures participation from as many young scholars as possible.
Selected participants will be asked to read assigned scholarly texts in preparation for daily discussions, and to share insights, challenges, and opportunities from their research. An initial Zoom session will take place prior to the conference for the faculty mentors and participants to get to know each other.
Please note that workshop participants will not be allowed to submit a paper in a regular panel session. They may take on one additional role in the conference as a moderator of another session or as a participant in a roundtable. ESW participation counts as a full conference participation and may be listed on the CV accordingly.
To apply, please submit your CV and a well-crafted, succinct cover letter of no more than 500 words, in which you answer the following questions:
- What is the description of your current research project? Early-stage graduate students should share their research focus and plans for their MA thesis or dissertation. Advanced graduate students should address their dissertation projects.
- What would you like to share with us about your biography and positionality?
- Why are you interested in the subject of this year’s workshop: “Global German Studies and the Politics of Belonging?”
The deadline for applications is Sunday, January 29, 2024, by 11:59 pm PST. Please email your CV and cover letter to emergingscholarsworkshop@gmail.com. Late applications will not be considered. Following the submission of applications, the workshop’s faculty mentors will select the participants. Applicants will be notified of the decisions by mid-February 2024.
As you consider applying to the ESW, please keep in mind the two GSA funds available to help offset conference and travel costs: the GSA Conference Community Fund and the GSA Travel Grants.
Please direct inquiries to the workshop’s faculty mentors at emergingscholarsworkshop@gmail.com. We look forward to receiving your application!