Institute for the Humanities issues call for papers




Mississippi State’s Institute for the Humanities invites faculty members to submit individual paper proposals for the 2018-2019 Interdisciplinary Forum Workshop Series to be held in the upcoming academic year.

The Interdisciplinary Forum Workshop Series will consist of six gatherings anchored around the theme of “Examining Governance from an Interdisciplinary Perspective.” Each workshop will host and discuss two pre-circulated works in progress, for a total of 12.

At the end of the 2018-2019 academic year, a public roundtable discussion -- open to the MSU and Starkville communities -- will draw connections and conclusions from each of the previous meetings.

“By hosting and sponsoring the workshop series, we aim to provide a friendly and supportive space for cross-disciplinary conversations about research taking place on campus,” said director of the Institute for the Humanities Julia Osman.

Osman said the series will “further enhance intellectual exchanges between scholars in the humanities and sciences.”

The Institute for the Humanities welcomes paper proposals that explore different aspects of governance and its relationship to societies and/or the natural environment. Examples of potential paper topics may include (but are not limited to): theoretical analyses of governance, historical changes in governance, governance in specific sociopolitical contexts, institutional governance, multi-level vs. community-based governance, governance and resilience, governance and the use of new technologies, governance in human and non-human relations, governance under social and political conflicts, governance and matters of health, governance in agri-food systems, human and wildlife interaction, and environmental governance, among others.

Submission and selection process

Paper proposals should be sent to humanities@msstate.edu by August 29, 2018. Proposals (400 words maximum) should clearly state the argument or research questions central to the paper, highlight the relevance to the series theme and explain the potential for establishing cross-disciplinary dialogues.

Priority will be given to scholarly papers that are in preparation for publication but have not been previously reviewed or submitted. The selection of the proposed papers will be based on the relevance of topics and their matching/complementarity with other proposals. Selected papers will be uploaded and available to MSU faculty via the online “portal” for easy sharing among participants.

Theme: Examining Governance from an Interdisciplinary Perspective

In recent years, scholars in the humanities and physical and social sciences have turned toward the concept of governance to understand historical processes and the tensions of an increasingly complex world.

Defining “governance” broadly as the exertion of various forms of authority, control, management and power by a range of actors (broadly defined), governance can be examined in its myriad forms: How do individuals, institutions, communities and groups react to and/or resist governance at a variety of scales? How does the concept of governance change over time? What kinds of market, state, civil society, technical and non-human actors can be understood as governing? How is governance measured? What makes governance ubiquitous, or invisible or a failure? What does it mean to govern humans and non-humans? What new engagements, technologies, methods or analyses are required in the governance of transnational phenomena like migration, climate and environmental changes, sociopolitical conflicts or humanitarian crisis?

For additional information, contact Osman at humanities@msstate.edu.

Sarah Nicholas | College of Arts & Sciences


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