NATIONAL
CONFERENCE OF BLACK POLITICAL SCIENTISTS
40TH ANNUAL CONFERENCE
Call For Papers
CROWNE PLAZA
HOUSTON-DOWNTOWN
1700 SMITH STREET
HOUSTON-TEXAS
MARCH 18-22, 2009
ROOM RATES
$109.00 Run of the House
RESERVATIONS CAN BE MADE BY
CALLING 1-800-227-6963
DIRECT TELEPHONE NUMBER: 713-739-8800
PLEASE
REQUEST THE RATE FOR THE NATIONAL CONFERENCE
OF BLACK POLITICAL SCIENTISTS.
- ALL RESERVATIONS REQUIRE A ONE NIGHT
ROOM DEPOSIT OR GUARANTEE WITH A MAJOR
CREDIT CARD.
- RESERVATIONS MUST BE RECEIVED ON OR
BEFORE March 4, 2009
- CANCELLATIONS MUST BE MADE 48 HOURS
PRIOR TO SCHEDULED DATE OF ARRIVAL. FAILURE
TO CANCEL WILL RESULT IN ONE NIGHT’S
ROOM AND TAX CHARGE.
|
Need More Information?
Please Contact Us Using The Information Below:
Kathie Stromile Golden
Tel: 662-254-3092
Fax: 662-254-3096
E-mail: kstromile@aol.com
2009 NCOBPS Call for
Papers
“Racial Americana?
Continuities and Changes in Racial Politics”
40th Anniversary Meeting of
the National Conference of Black Political
Scientists
March 18 – 22, 2009,
Houston, Texas / Crowne Plaza Downtown Houston
DEADLINE: NOVEMBER
18, 2008
Has the United
States (America) moved beyond race? Is “racial
politics” an
anachronistic concept? Forty-years of ebbs
and flows in American racial politics still
leave many wondering if, how, and when democracy
will be deepened in this country. Some however
continue to promote postraciality—a questioning
of the centrality, necessity, and analytical
leverage afforded by race and racial categorizations.
At the same time, enhanced and diversified
levels of black representation and office seeking
(i.e., federal, state, and local), of black
economic prowess (e.g., purchasing power, economic
development), of black educational attainment,
and of worldwide consumption of black American
cultural products (e.g., music, art, iconography)
suggest that democracy has indeed yielded to
black American demands. On the other hand,
acts of racial insensitivity and outright hostility,
as well as racial disparities in health, education,
incarceration, and housing (just to name a
few), persist in various forms and intensities.
Simultaneously, U.S. trade relations with African,
Caribbean, and other Non-Aligned nations—as
well as military interventions in the Middle
East—remain tilted against nation-state
sovereignty, domestic production and consumption
of indigenous materials, and political imagination.
Much has changed and much has remained the
same. The National Conference of Black Political
Scientists (NCOBPS) will celebrate its 40th
Anniversary by calling scholars to examine
what continuities and changes in racial politics
have meant and will mean for U.S. (American)
domestic and foreign policy.
In Racial Americana, anthropologist
John Jackson invoked the term (racial Americana)
to denote why scholars remain “skeptical
of postraciality” and of “academia’s
current phase of racial détente, an
identificatory peace born of collective agreements
among scholars about the need to transcend
racial essentialism at all costs.” For
Jackson, there remains “aspects of
Americanity…[which] constitute American
exceptionalism through the historical prism
of racial animus, affect, and privilege.” Yet,
the permanency of Racial Americana remains
in the question—e.g., the historic 2008
presidential cycle; the dawn of a new decennial
census in 2010; and widespread reports that
a new generation of blacks and non-blacks reject
voting by/for racial or ethnic identity. Consistent
with the theme, but not excluding other submissions,
scholars are invited to consider some possible
questions. Are racial categories necessary
for analyzing public policy? Does racial or
ethnic identity still affect political attitudinal
and behavioral orientations? What are the implications
for studying American politics without regard
to structural inequalities? How has American
exceptionalism manifested itself in recent
foreign policy endeavors, and how does it specifically
differ when dealing with non-Western countries?
How have white attitudes towards black leaders,
both in America and abroad, changed over the
last forty-years?
The 2009 National Conference
of Black Political Scientists invites a wide
range of papers that interrogate race politics,
history (within and beyond the U.S. context),
Diaspora politics, transnational politics,
electoral politics, the intersection of the
afore-listed, and other related topics, especially
ones utilizing multiple methods and innovative
theoretical approaches. We strongly
encourage participants to think broadly, creatively,
and with historical acumen.
Submit all paper and panel proposals
online: http://convention3.allacademic.com/one/ncobps/annual09/
Section I. African and Diaspora Politics
Lisa Aubrey, Arizona State University, lisa.aubrey@asu.edu
Menna Demessie, University of Michigan, demessie@umich.edu
This section invites papers relevant to politics
on the continent of Africa and in the Diaspora.
Papers may revolve around topics including
the state, civil society, governance, regime
change, (under)development, grassroots movements,
constitutionalism, ethnicity, and related topics.
Section II. Politics, Inequality,
and Social Justice
Adolphus Belk, Winthrop University, belka@winthrop.edu
Melynda J Price, University of Kentucky, College
of Law, mjpric2@email.uky.edu
This section seeks papers related to differential
access, opportunities, outcomes people of African
descent face in a wide range of situations
and institutions globally. Papers might also
examine challenges and resistance to the status
quo, as well as movements demanding a wide
range of rights.
Section III. Comparative Politics,
International Relations, and Transnational
Relations
K.C. Morrison, University of Missouri-Columbia, morrisonk@missouri.edu
This section seeks papers which compare and
contrast state structures, governance styles,
leaders and leadership modalities, ideologies,
and movements, as well as papers that interrogate
relations between and among states, governments,
nations, and non-governmental institutions.
Section IV. Identity Politics: Gender,
Class, Ethnicity, Sexuality, and Religion
Wendy Smooth, Ohio State University, smooth.1@osu.edu
This section seeks papers on topics which
probe ways in which groups mobilize and express
themselves politically for certain ends. The
variegated modes in which groups define themselves
in their relational environment vis-à-vis
the ways in which their relational environment
defines groups is also of relevance, especially
when their identities become politicized.
Section V. Teaching, Scholarly Research,
and Professional Development
Tiffany Howard, George Mason University, thoward3@gmu.edu
Valeria Sinclair-Chapman, University of Rochester, vsan@mail.rochester.edu
This section seeks papers focusing on original
research or "best practices" within the three
tenets of faculty development: teaching, scholarly
research and professional service. It
explores pedagogical issues such as new technologies/techniques
for teaching in/outside the classroom, service
learning, civic engagement, and opportunities
for research with undergraduates, mentoring
and advising both undergraduate and graduate
students on internships, thesis/dissertation
preparation. Additionally, it seeks topics
on publishing scholarly research and balancing
professional duties.
Section VI. Undergraduate Research
Tiffany Howard, George Mason University, thoward3@gmu.edu
Valeria Sinclair-Chapman, University of Rochester, vsan@mail.rochester.edu
This section seeks papers, panels and/or poster
presentations focusing on the research, scholarly,
and creative experiences of undergraduate students. It
provides students with the opportunity to present
their projects in a benevolent and professional
environment, and to impress upon them the importance
of faculty-mentored projects to their overall
educational careers, especially for those considering
graduate education.
Section VII. Political Theory, Philosophy,
and Methodology
Shanaysha M. Furlow Sauls, Duke University, smf9@duke.edu
Diarra Osei Robertson, Bowie State University, dorobertson@bowiestate.edu
This section seeks papers geared toward interrogating
the relationship between individuals, society,
and the state. Interrogations of "classical" political
theory are welcome as well as that of Black
political theory.
Section VIII. Political Institutions
and Public Policy
Sekou Franklin, Middle Tennessee State University, SFran10121@aol.com
Teri Fair, Suffolk University, tfair@suffolk.edu
This section welcomes papers on state craft,
state transformation, and decision-making.
Papers that examine the institutions of governance-local,
national, international and global-and assess
their effectiveness are welcome, alongside
papers that interrogate the roles of citizens
and peoples' organizations in affecting how
public polices are made, executed, and transformed.
Section IX. Politics and Popular Culture
Andra Gillespie, Emory University, andra.gillespie@emory.edu
Marvin Haire, Mississippi Valley State University, mhaire8@yahoo.com
This section invites papers that look at the
interplay between politics and contemporary
culture in its multiform expressions. Papers
that examine how politics are being expressed
through popular culture are welcomed, as well
as papers that tease out how popular culture
is being affected by the politics of the day.
Section X. Public Opinion and Political
Participation
David Wilson, University of Delaware, dcwilson@UDel.Edu
Angela K. Lewis, University of Alabama at
Birmingham, dralewis@uab.edu
This section welcomes papers that query public
opinion, and the various ways it is formed
and expressed. Papers may query whether or
not there truly exists a "collective opinion." In
tandem, this section invites papers that look
at various forms, outputs, and outcomes of
political expression.
2009 Program Chair:
Tyson King-Meadows
University of Maryland Baltimore County
Department of Political Science
Public Policy 309
Baltimore, Maryland 21250
tkingmea@umbc.edu
Submit all paper and panel proposals
online:
www.ncobps.org/2009
DEADLINE: November 18,
2008
