Call for Papers

American Society for Legal History 2017 Annual Meeting

The 2017 annual meeting of the American Society for Legal History will take place in Las Vegas, Nevada, from October 26 - October 29, 2017. The Program Committee invites proposals on any facet or period of legal history, anywhere in the world. We also strongly encourage thematic proposals that traverse traditional chronological or geographical fields.


Limited financial assistance (covering airfare and ground transportation only) is available for presenters in need, with priority given to graduate students, post-doctoral fellows and scholars from abroad.


The Program Committee welcomes proposals for full sessions and individual papers. Given the number and high quality of submissions, however, individual papers are much less likely than full sessions to be accepted. Individual paper submitters are encouraged to connect with other scholars (through H-Law, etc.) to coordinate the submission of complete session proposals.


The Committee encourages the submission of a variety of different types of program proposals, including:

  • Traditional paper panels (2-3 papers, with a separate chair-commentator)
  • Incomplete panels lacking either one paper or a chair-commentator (whether 2-paper panels with a chair-commentator, or 3-paper panels without a chair-commentator), which the Program Committee will try to complete
  • Skills / Pedagogical Workshops (chair, 3-4 presenters)
  • Author-meets-reader panels (up to two (2) book authors, with 2-3 commentators)
  • Roundtable discussions (1-2 chairs, with 3-4 commentators)
  • "Lightning Round" Sessions (1-2 chairs, with 8-12 presenters, speaking for three-minutes each, on projects at any stage of development, in a related geographical/temporal/thematic/methodological field)
  • Pre-conference symposium programs (more information below)

Proposals for paper / book panels, workshops, roundtable discussions, and "lightning round" sessions should include the following:

  • Session title
  • Submitter's name and contact information
  • Titles of each proposed paper / presentation
  • A 300-word description of the proposed session
  • A c.v. for each presenter / chair / commentator (including complete contact information)
  • Any special scheduling requests (note that we may not be able to accommodate all scheduling requests.)
  • For paper-based panels only: a 300-word abstract of each paper

Individual paper submissions should include the following:

  • A 300-word abstract of the paper
  • A c.v. for each presenter (including complete contact information)

ASLH is also soliciting proposals for innovative full-day or half-day pre-conference symposia crafted around related themes, and designed to augment (not duplicate) traditional ASLH conference offerings. The Program Committee will work with the organizers of accepted symposia to finalize the program. Pre-conference symposium proposals must include:

  • Program title (and whether half-day or full-day)
  • Presenter bios and contact information
  • Program description (including summary, format, learning objectives, planned sessions, and how stated learning objectives will be met)
  • Equipment / technology needs

Please note that:

  • All program presenters must be current members of the Society by the date of the Annual Meeting.
  • Prospective participants may submit proposals for multiple sessions, with the understanding that no individual may appear more than once as a presenter, chair, or commentator in the final meeting program.

All proposals must be submitted via our online system (which will open for submissions in the coming weeks). Please visit http://aslh.net for updates and additional information.

The deadline for all proposals is April 3, 2017.

Begin a panel submission:

INCOMPLETE PANELS

PAPER PANEL

SKILLS / PEDAGOGICAL WORKSHOPS

AUTHOR-MEETS-READER

ROUNDTABLE DISCUSSION

LIGHTNING ROUND PANEL

Begin an individual paper submission:

Begin a preconference symposium submission:

PRE-CONFERENCE SYMPOSIUM