an initiative at Virginia Tech
Veterans
in Society
Veterans in Society Conferences:
Guidelines
Conference themes provide points of intersection and conversation among scholars who approach veterans in society, whether they emphasize what veterans do or how civilians receive and perceive veterans.
Draft format for proposing a ViS conference theme
VIS 20XX conference theme proposal
Proposed by: (email).
Submission date:
Proposed conference theme:
Veterans in Society: ____________
Abstract (xxx words)
Write this section to interest a diverse and potentially international audience of intelligent people whose expertise is different from your own. Please bear in mind the Veterans Studies Association’s statement about the scope of VSA’s intellectual enterprise .
Rationale (yyy words)
What makes this theme interesting? How might scholars and practitioners address the theme within and across their fields?
Topics that might anchor the conference schedule
The conference comprises plenary sessions, public events, concurrent sessions, workshops and such. Remarks in this section need not be fully formed as prompts for the call for papers, much less the formal program, but they should suggest the richness of the topic’s appeal to potential presenters and attendees. The conference organizers will flesh out the theme and the call. If you have possible (or at least exemplary) presenters in mind, list in brackets.
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Potential event topic: "What veterans past can tell veterans present and veterans future"
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"Is there a "veteran problem?" [Willard Waller]
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Another illustrative question
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Another Illustrative question
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Topic:
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Topic:
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Optional: major events
We welcome suggestions of specific topics and/or presenters we might invite for set pieces customary in ViS conferences. At least one presentation will be open to the public.
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Keynote address:
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Performance (eg, drama, film showing, literary reading, music):
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Luncheon speaker:
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Artistic or cultural display:
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Does your institution want to host a ViS conference?
Despite disruptions caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, ViS conferences are back on track to move around North America in the spring of even-numbered years -- so much so that VSA has received inquiries about hosting future conferences from universities around the US. VSA's first request for proposals offers a general sense of how the association expects to collaborate with local hosts going forward.