IX DKA Call for Papers (ENG)

We are pleased to announce that the 9th edition of Days of American Culture, organized by American Studies Students' Research Society of the Jagiellonian University in Krakow in cooperation with the Institute of American Studies and Polish Diaspora of the Jagiellonian University in Krakow and Migrations Studies Students Society of the Jagiellonian University in Krakow will be held on April 5-7, 2017. This year's edition will be dedicated to Chicago.

Cities, especially American ones are extraordinary in some way that they encourage millions of people to come and get to know their inimitable attractions like museums or architecture, absorbing stories in their history but also restaurants with delicious food and exceptional music, unique parks and districts and – of course – people who are mainly responsible for the atmosphere of these cities. You can witness all of these and even more in the third-most populous city in the United States – Chicago. And that is why we decided to move to this amazing place for a few days during our next Days of American Culture.

 Chicago from the very beginning has played a vital role in the creation of American society. This city is not only placed in the centre of the USA but it is – in fact – its beating heart because of high-powered business, the music scope and multicultural community. It is embodiment of all that we understand under the word ‘American’.

Windy City is known from various famous people that took part in modulating its wide culture and history. These are for example two significant presidents – Abraham Lincoln – the one that abolished slavery and Barack Obama – the first African American president. Then Richard J. Daley and his son – long-time Mayors of Chicago, an economist Milton Friedman with his students and makers of Chicago schools of economics and many more. Musicians from Chicago are legends of blues, soul and rap and the city owes them its tremendously music scene. The city by the lake Michigan is also famous for great sports teams, mainly for Chicago Bulls thanks to whom the basketball became the global sport in 1990s. Chicago, as any other city, has also its dark side – now it wrestles with murders and in 1920s and 1930s it was known as ‘Al Capone empire’ because of illegal trade of alcohol.

But its irreplaceable character Chicago owes the men on the Clapham omnibus – architects of skyscrapers, designers of houses and gardens, artists like Anish Kapoor – an author of easy recognizable Cloud Gate, and also every single citizen that has had an impact on the appearance, culture and special vibes of this city through 180 years of its existence. Therefore, we would like to give them attention during our Days of American Culture and concentrate on migrations and ethnic things that are extremely important in Chicago’s history. What is more, we want to expose the Polish diaspora in Chicago and talk a little bit about their troubles and success, history and future, their assimilation and fight for preserving their identity.

The interdisciplinary conference Chicago – Heart of the USA will be devoted to many of the above issues. Therefore we invite cultural theorists, historians, anthropologists, sociologists, psychologists, political scientists and other representatives of the humanities and social sciences, who wish to present their research on the broadly defined history of Chicago and Chicagoans to send their presentation proposals.

If you wish to participate, please fill in the application form available here. We accept proposals in both Polish and English. The deadline for submissions is March 7, 2017. Authors of accepted presentations will be contacted no later than March 10, 2017. Please note that the presentations should not exceed 15 minutes. The conference fee for the presenters is 80 PLN. Non-presentation participation in the 2017 Days of American Culture is free of charge.

After the conference we plan to publish a peer-reviewed post-conference book; the speakers who will participate in the event will be notified about the details.

Should you have questions, please contact us at dniamerykanskie@gmail.com. For the updated information please visit our website: dnikulturyamerykanskiej.blogspot.com or the Facebook fanpage: facebook.com/dnikulturyamerykanskiej.

See you in Kraków!