BAAS 61 & IAAS 46
7-9 April 2016
Queen’s University Belfast
The 61st annual conference of the British Association for American Studies
will be a joint event with the Irish Association for American Studies as it holds
its own 46th annual conference. For the first time in a generation both
associations will come together for what promises to be an exciting and notto-be-missed conference at The Queen’s University of Belfast.
2016 will mark a number of anniversaries in these islands, most notably the centenary of
the Easter Rising in Dublin in 1916. Americanists will mark the 240th anniversary of the
Declaration of Independence and Belfast is an ideal location for this collaboration between
the IAAS and BAAS. The Belfast News Letter was the first English language newspaper in
Europe to publish details of the Declaration of Independence in 1776; in 1796, George
Washington established a US Consulate in Belfast, appointing Belfast-born James Holmes
on 20 May (coincidentally, Holmes’ brother-in-law Henry Joy was owner of the News Letter)
as the first US Consul to Belfast. Other notable anniversaries include the centenary of
James Montgomery Flagg’s Uncle Sam recruitment image in July 1916, and also the
bicentenary of Uncle Sam’s first appearance in literature.
The 2016 conference will be a three-day conference beginning on Thursday 7 April and
concluding with the conference banquet at Titanic Belfast on the evening of Saturday 9
April.
We are delighted to announce our plenary speakers:
Richard Ford: award-winning author of major contemporary American novels
including Independence Day, Canada, and Let Me Be Frank With You
Deborah Willis: Professor and Chair of the Department of Photography and
Imaging, the Tisch School of the Arts at New York University
John Howard: Professor of American Studies, King’s College London
Paper and panel proposals are welcomed on any subject that falls under the remit
of American Studies. We invite proposals from individuals and from other interest
groups including associations linked to BAAS and IAAS, such as the APG, BGEAH,
BrANCH, TSA and HOTCUS.
Usually, the IAAS runs a themed annual conference. Given the anniversaries of
revolutions and independence with which this event coincides, we warmly welcome
suggestions for related papers and panels on this particular conference sub-theme.
Proposals for 20-minute presentations should be a maximum of 250 words and
include a provisional title. Proposals by two or more people sharing a common
theme are warmly invited and we welcome panels that cross disciplinary
boundaries. The conference organisers hope to continue the initiative shown at
previous BAAS and IAAS Annual Conferences by scheduling roundtable
discussions and innovative panel presentations (with, for example, pre-circulated
papers, video presentations, or other modes of delivery) and we aim to include such
panels in every session of the conference. All proposals should be submitted to
baasiaas2016@qub.ac.uk by 1 November 2015.