CALL FOR PAPERS
First administrative cabinet under the Jones Act.
One-Hundred Years of The Jones Act and Puerto Rican U.S. Citizenship
In anticipation of the centennial (1917-2017) of the enactment of the 1917 Jones Act,
the Center for Puerto Rican Studies (CENTRO) will sponsor a symposium examining
the history and legacy of the collective naturalization of Puerto Ricans as United
States citizens. The collective naturalization provision of the Jones Act not only
departed from all prior precedents, but also established a new precedent for the
extension of citizenship to annexed territories. The goal of this symposium is to
examine the complexities surrounding the collective naturalization of the inhabitants
of an unincorporated territory.
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Deadline for Abstract: March 16, 2015
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Deadline for drafts of papers to be presented at Symposium: August 31, 2015
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Reception and Symposium Dates: October 15-16, 2015
The Center for Puerto Ricans Studies (Centro) seeks original research proposals that
result in unpublished academic papers for a symposium, and their consideration for
ultimate publication in CENTRO: Journal of the Center for Puerto Rican Studies, a
peer-reviewed publication. Centro seeks papers from scholars from a variety of
disciplines for presentation at the symposium, with a goal towards informing
scholarly debates around the issue of citizenship for Puerto Ricans in the following
areas and themes of interest:
Territorial Citizenship (Pre-1898) - Backdrop and context that frame the
post-1898 citizenship debates: What precedent was in place for the extension
of citizenship to the territories in 1898? Was the Citizenship Clause of the 14th
Amendment to the U.S. Constitution operative in the territories prior to 1898?
Contextualizing the 1917 Jones Act (1898-1917) – The institutional context
that gave way to the passage of the Jones Act in 1916: What forms of
citizenship were used to govern Puerto Ricans prior to 1917? Did Congress
enable Puerto Ricans to naturalize prior to 1917? What is the legal and
political context of the 1917 Jones Act.
The Legacy of the Jones Act – The consequences of the Jones Act: Why did
Congress replace the 1917 Jones Act with the 1940 Nationality Act? What are
the prevailing interpretations of the citizenship status for Puerto Ricans? What
challenges have been posed to the citizenship status for Puerto Ricans? Can
Congress unilaterally expatriate Puerto Ricans? Can Puerto Ricans acquire a
Puerto Rican citizenship? Can they naturalize in order to acquire a
constitutional citizenship?
Citizenship and Puerto Ricans in the Mainland – What was the impact of the
collective naturalization of the residents of Puerto Rico on Puerto Ricans
residing in the mainland United States and its territories?
Puerto Rican Citizenship in Comparative Contexts – How does the
citizenship status of Puerto Ricans compare to the status of the residents of
other territories in the United States and elsewhere?
To apply please send a one-page narrative of the proposed topic, outlining the
relevance of the subject matter and approach, the research questions to be
addressed and methods for research, along with a one-page summary of a
proponent’s CV.
Submit Proposals and Inquiries to:
Carlos Vargas-Ramos
Center for Puerto Rican Studies
Hunter College
695 Park Avenue, E1429
New York, NY 10065
cvargasr@hunter.cuny.edu
Confirmed invited panelists:
Silvia Álvarez Curbelo (UPR)
José Álvarez González (UPR)
Linda Bosniak (Rutgers)
Pedro Cabán (SUNY-Albany)
Christina Duffy Ponsa (Columbia)
Samuel Erman (USC)
Sanford Levinson (UT-Austin)
Efrén Rivera Ramos (UPR)
Susan K. Serrano (University of Hawai’i)
Rogers Smith (Penn)
Bartholomew Sparrow (UT-Austin)
Lorrin Thomas (Rutgers)
Hon. Juan Torruella (U.S. Court of Appeals)
Neil Weare (We The People)