Call for Proposals Freedom in the Florida Territory: American and Caribbean Connections to the Underground Railroad May 29-31, 2003 Program Committee Co-chairs: Orloff Miller, National Underground Railroad Freedom Center Barbara Tagger, National Park Service Network To Freedom Program Marvin Dawkins, University of Miami Kristopher Smith, Florida Underground Railroad Project The National Underground Railroad Freedom Center, in cooperation with the Florida Underground Railroad Project, and the National Park Service's National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom Program, is sponsoring a conference to be hosted at the University of Miami, in Miami, Florida. This extraordinary three day conference will be devoted to the promotion of scholarship related to the resistance to enslavement through escape and flight in Florida and the surrounding areas of the Caribbean, as well as the mainlands of North, Central and South America; historic activity described by or associated with terms such as "cimarrón" or "cimarrónes," "marronnage," "palenques, "quilombos," and "Black Seminoles" among others, and known in the United States by the term "Underground Railroad." A highlight of the conference will be a moderated panel discussion exploring the needs and challenges facing collaborative and multicultural research and interpretation at the grass-roots, institutional and academic levels regarding historic Afro-Latin American resistance to enslavement through escape and flight. The conference will be open to all having interests in this area of study. The Program Committee invites proposals for individual or collective papers, sessions, workshops, roundtables, conversations, performances, films, and exhibits investigating the conference theme. Topics may address all aspects of historic resistance to enslavement through escape and flight in the region, including but not limited to maroon communities, historic escape routes, or the illegal and illicit activities of abolitionists, anti-slavery or secret societies, fraternal orders and native cultures. The committee welcomes proposals from both professional scholars as well as nonprofessional lay researchers. Anyone, regardless of affiliation, whose research is relevant to Florida and Afro-Latin American connections to the Underground Railroad is welcome to submit a proposal. Proposed presentations can and should represent work in progress, rather than published work. Presentations should offer unique, original work not presented elsewhere. Proposals should include the presentation's title, the participant's name, address, e-mail address, and telephone and fax numbers. The proposals should be single-sided (1-2 pages) and accompanied by a brief one-page resume. Proposals must state the presentation's theme (or argument, as appropriate), outline its scope and content, and discuss the methodology, as well as the major primary and secondary sources, used in research, development and interpretation. Any anticipated audio visual and special presentation needs must be noted, also. Possible Proposal Formats for Miami 2003 We invite proposals in two broad categories of untraditional formats: A. Sessions with Papers. These sessions include a chair, presentation of papers to an audience, and commentary, but papers will not be read aloud, allowing more time for informed, informal, and engaged discussion. "Talk" format. Presenters will write papers, as usual, and distribute them to the chair, commentator, and other panelists by the deadline. But in the session they will "talk" their paper from notes, speaking directly to the audience rather than reading line-by-line. Poster session. Presenters will post their materials on a large bulletin board that can accommodate text pages in large type, graphics, primary source extracts, etc. Video and audio clips can also be used. These sessions will feature three or four such presentations grouped around a common theme. The first half of the session gives the audience time to read and discuss each exhibit with the presenters. The second half encourages group discussion, facilitated by a chair and commentators B. Sessions without Papers. Performance format. Presenters will perform their work. This could include the range of artistic performing arts (dance, music, drama, spoken word, performance art) to multi-media presentations (video, film, audio, digital media) and readings of creative fiction and non-fiction. Dialogue format (roundtables). Presenters will engage in dialogues with each other and the audience. Possible formats could include roundtables of academics; forums with scholars, community activists, mass or alternative media-makers and public officials; conversations between performing and/or visual artists, curators, and educators. This format might be particularly well suited to creating linkages with the communities outside the academy (community centers, performing arts centers, museums, secondary schools, prisons, libraries, and other public sites). Workshop format. Presenters will create venues to verbally and physically interact with the audience. Educators, artists, and curators, for example, could lead these workshops to emphasize the interactive challenges and possibilities of this subject matter. Guidelines In order that as many people as possible will have the opportunity to be actively involved in the Regional Meeting, participants will be limited to one appearance in one session on the program. A person may not present a paper in one session and serve as a chair or commentator in the same or another session. The Program Committee will provide only standard audio-visual equipment. You may select from slide projector, overhead projector, VCR, CD player, audio cassette player, and/or 16-mm projector. Any audio-visual equipment must be requested by April 15, 2003. Sessions submitted without a chair will not be considered. Selection will be based on the proposed presentation's original or continuing contribution to the area of study. Proceedings of the conference will form the core of a subsequent published volume. Therefore, all presenters will be asked to produce a 1-2 page synopsis of their work, plus either a complete manuscript, or allow their session presentation to be videotaped as a prerequisite of the proposal's acceptance. Proposals must be received by February 24, 2003. Late and incomplete proposals will not be considered. Send proposals to: 2003 Regional Program Committee, c/o National Underground Railroad Freedom Center, 312 Elm St., Suite 1250, Cincinnati, OH 45202; Phone: (513) 419-6648; FAX (513) 241-7131. Electronic submissions are encouraged. To confirm receipt of a proposal, include a self-addressed, stamped postcard, or an email address, with the submission. Accepted proposals will be announced by March 15, 2003. For further information contact Tamara Williams [(513) 419-6648 or [email protected]] or one of the Program Committee Co-chairs: Orloff Miller, National Underground Railroad Freedom Center, [email protected], Barbara Tagger, National Park Service, National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom Program, [email protected], Kristopher Smith, Florida Underground Railroad Project, [email protected] Tamara R. Williams Project Administrator, Freedom Stations & Research Programs National Underground Railroad Freedom Center 513/419-6648 direct www.freedomcenter.org