Sphinx

11^th European Social Science History Conference 2016, Valencia, Spain, 30 March – 2 April 2016

Antiquity network: Call for Papers and Sessions

The ESSHC is a biennial conference that brings together historians and other scholars from across the world who are interested in studying the past using the methods of the social sciences.  The programme is organised around Networks, each of which organises panel sessions (including collaborative sessions with other networks): some of these are period-based, some based on geographical area, and some focused on themes or methods.  You can find further information about the ESSHC on its web page, http://esshc.socialhistory.org/.

The ESSHC has had an Antiquity network since its inception; it has become the main regular forum for discussions of ancient economic and social history, an opportunity to meet scholars from other countries as well as to see what’s happening in other periods and other fields. The network is currently co-chaired by Neville Morley (Bristol) and Arjan Zuiderhoek (Ghent).

We now invite proposals for panel sessions and individual papers for the next meeting of the ESSHC, in Valencia in 2016.  Panel sessions last two hours, and generally involve four (sometimes three) papers on a specific theme, with or without a discussant, and with a chair.  Ideally, panel contributors should come from a mix of countries, and certainly a mix of universities.  We are particularly interested in proposals for inter-disciplinary and comparative panels, on such themes as urbanisation, credit and debt, or poverty and inequality, but we will be happy to discuss any ideas you wish to put forward.  The earlier you contact us, the more advice we’ll be able to offer.

There is also scope for proposing an individual paper, of roughly 20 minutes, if you do not wish to organise a whole panel; if your proposal is accepted, we may put you in touch with the organiser of a relevant session, to see if your paper could be accommodated there, or we may seek to put together a composite panel of individual submissions.  Again, the sooner you contact us to discuss your ideas or submit your proposal, the better.

Two important notes.  Firstly, proposals for both panel sessions and individual papers need to be submitted via the ESSHC website using their online pre-registration form by 1^st of May 2015 in order to be considered, even if you have been discussing the idea with us. Panel organisers need to ensure that all participants in their panels have sent in their abstracts and pre-registered by the deadline, with an indication of the name of the session to which their paper belongs. Secondly, the ESSHC does have a relatively substantial conference fee (but with a good discount for postgraduates), and does not have the resources to support travel expenses, so if you’re organising a panel you will need to make sure that all your speakers are aware that they’ll have to cover their own costs.

Once again, please do contact one or both of us if you would like to discuss proposing a paper or a panel.

Arjan (andriesjohan.zuiderhoek@ugent.be) & Neville (n.d.g.morley@bristol.ac.uk)