Thomas Paine Studies (ITPS) at Iona University is excited to share a call for papers for our Sixth Biannual Conference, which considers how digital methods and practices can help us to teach the complexities of revolution more effectively. Similarly, as higher education and pedagogy shifts in the face of emerging, complex technologies from AI to virtual reality, “Teaching American and Digital Revolutions” will address how teaching revolutionary movements can help students, scholars, and educators alike to apply the relevance of past histories to our contemporary digital moment.
We invite scholars and educators to share their insights, experiences, and research on innovative approaches, methodologies, and technologies in teaching the history of the Age of Revolutions, the digital humanities, and the two together. The conference will also mark the launch of an open-access volume, American Revolutions in the Digital Age (Cornell University Press, 2024), and include discussions of how this volume contributes to those discussions. “Teaching American and Digital Revolutions” will also introduce several new initiatives at the ITPS related to a generous gift from Ruth and Sid Lapidus. For more about the ITPS, please see www.theitps.org.
The organizers welcome proposals that foreground primary sources, digital tools, public history sites, archival resources, interactive platforms, classroom strategies, and more. “Teaching American and Digital Revolutions” will be a fully hybrid program, with virtual and in-person components on the Iona campus in New Rochelle, which is located just outside New York City in Westchester County. Presentations can take the form of papers, posters, lightening talks, or non-traditional presentations (including film or other creative works), and pre-formed panels and roundtables.
Scholars of all levels are encouraged to apply, and from any disciplinary or professional background. If needed, financial support for participation may be available. Please include a 250-word abstract and either a one-page curriculum vitae or brief bio in one document labeled with the applicant or session organizer’s last name, with participant name (s), title, and email address at the top of the first page of the proposal. Submissions may be sent to itps@iona.edu by May 1st, 2024. Applicants will be notified of decisions by early May. For additional information, please contact Dr. Nora Slonimsky, ITPS Director, at nslonimsky@iona.edu, and the conference co-organizers and American Revolutions in the Digital Age co-editors Dr. Mark Boonshoft at boonshoftmd@vmi.edu and Dr. Ben Wright at bgw@utdallas.edu.
